Denver Weather: Near Record Heat Raises The Fire Danger, Storm Arrives Tuesday

DENVER (CBS4) - This October is already one of the warmest on record in Denver and it's about to get even warmer on Monday. High temperatures will reach at least 80 degrees in the metro area with wind gusts reaching at least 30 mph.

The record high temperature for October 25 in Denver is 84 degrees from 2017. That record seems safe at this time.

The combination of warm temperatures, gusty winds, dry soil, and very low relative humidity has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a rare Red Flag Warning for most of the metro area that includes the entire City and County of Denver. All of Adams and Arapahoe and most of Douglas and Elbert Counties are also included.

The wind is ahead of a major storm system on the West Coast referred to a "bomb cyclone". The main storm will never reach Colorado but a small piece of energy from the base of the storm will eject northeast to the Rocky Mountain region on Tuesday. The result will be a good chance for snow and wind in the mountains on Tuesday and a relatively good chance for rain around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins Tuesday afternoon. It will be much too warm for any snow at lower elevations.

For the I-70 mountain corridor between Georgetown and Avon, up to 4 inches of snow is possible and travelers should plan on winter driving conditions and significant slowdowns by late morning on Tuesday. Wind gusts up to 50 mph will also cause blowing snow and very limited viability at times.

Farther south there is a Winter Weather Advisory for the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado where the highest accumulation in the state will be found. The advisory starts at midnight Monday night and continues through midnight Tuesday night for 4-8 inches of snow for the mountains around Telluride, Lake City, and Ouray as well as the Wolf Creek Pass area.

Dry weather will return to Colorado on Wednesday but it will continue to be windy at times. Then warmer weather redevelops for Thursday through Saturday before the next weather maker arrives on Halloween. It looks cool for Trick-or-Treating in the metro area Sunday evening with a 20% chance for sprinkles or very light rain. We'll keep you posted!