Weather Center: Colorado

Current alerts

4 freeze warnings touch Colorado. 4 freeze warnings (touching Colorado)

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NWS alerts checked 05:35Z · Data: NOAA/NWS

Sources & update times

SPC Day 1 outlook issued 05:14Z · Data: NOAA/SPC

SPC Day 2 outlook issued 16 Oct 17:24Z · Data: NOAA/SPC

SPC Day 3 outlook issued 16 Oct 19:22Z · Data: NOAA/SPC

SPC discussions checked 05:35Z · Data: NOAA/SPC

SPC storm reports checked 05:35Z · Data: NOAA/SPC

WPC Day 1 outlook issued 00:56Z · Data: NOAA/WPC

WPC Day 2 outlook issued 16 Oct 19:17Z · Data: NOAA/WPC

WPC Day 3 outlook issued 16 Oct 19:17Z · Data: NOAA/WPC

Each feed is judged on its own clock. The masthead’s reading is the site’s publishing health, which is a different thing: a publishing delay does not make a freshly read warning stale, and a fresh check does not make an old outlook newly issued.

NWS warnings / WPC selected forecast: feeds current

NWS warnings: Feed current; checked 05:35Z.

WPC selected forecast: Feed current; checked 05:35Z.

Checked means retrieved, not newly issued. Each graphic retains its issue, observation, initialization or valid time. Site publishing status is separate.

Hazard & forecast product

WPC Day 3 Excessive Rainfall Outlook, Sunday 18 Oct

Source: WPC

Now, not forecast: Current warnings as of 05:35Z are drawn over the outlook for Sunday 18 Oct, the warnings hatched so the forecast shows through. They are in force now; the outlook is for its own period. Show the forecast alone

Forecast: WPC’s scale

1 · Marginal

View scale

1 · Marginal
2 · Slight (not outlined)
3 · Moderate (not outlined)
4 · High (not outlined)

In force now

Freeze Warning 4
High Wind Warning outside Colorado

WPC Day 3 Excessive Rainfall Outlook, valid 18 Oct 12:00Z to 19 Oct 12:00Z, issued 16 Oct 19:17Z · Data: NOAA/WPC. Warnings and watches are as of 05:35Z (now), not for the outlook’s period.

Everything on the map, as a list

WPC Day 3 Excessive Rainfall Outlook: Marginal
Freeze Warning: Sedgwick County; Phillips County, until 15:00Z
Freeze Warning: Lower Yampa River Basin; Central Yampa River Basin; Upper Yampa River Basin; Central Colorado River Basin; San Juan River Basin, until 15:00Z
Freeze Warning: Yuma County; Kit Carson County; Cheyenne County; Cheyenne; Rawlins; Decatur; Norton; Sherman; Thomas; Sheridan; Graham; Wallace; Logan; Gove; Greeley; Wichita; Dundy; Hitchcock; Red Willow, until 15:00Z
Freeze Warning: Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County; Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft; Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Ft; Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet; Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Ft; Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Ft; Crowley County; La Junta Vicinity/Otero County; Eastern Las Animas County; Western Kiowa County; Eastern Kiowa County; Las Animas Vicinity/Bent County; Lamar Vicinity/Prowers County; Springfield Vicinity/Baca County, until 15:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: High Wind Warning: Central Laramie Range and Southwest Platte County; North Snowy Range Foothills, until 18 Oct 01:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Cimarron; Texas; Beaver; Dallam; Sherman; Hansford; Ochiltree; Lipscomb; Hartley; Moore; Hutchinson; Roberts; Hemphill; Oldham; Potter; Carson; Gray; Deaf Smith; Randall; Armstrong; Palo Duro Canyon, until 14:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Trego; Ellis; Scott; Lane; Ness; Rush; Hamilton; Kearny; Finney; Hodgeman; Pawnee; Stafford; Stanton; Grant; Haskell; Gray; Ford; Edwards; Kiowa; Pratt; Morton; Stevens; Seward; Meade; Clark; Comanche; Barber, until 14:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Phillips; Smith; Jewell; Rooks; Osborne; Mitchell; Valley; Greeley; Nance; Sherman; Howard; Merrick; Polk; Dawson; Buffalo; Hall; Hamilton; York; Gosper; Phelps; Kearney; Adams; Clay; Fillmore; Furnas; Harlan; Franklin; Webster; Nuckolls; Thayer, until 14:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Harper; Ellis, until 14:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Northwest Plateau; Espanola Valley; Santa Fe Metro Area; Middle Rio Grande Valley/Albuquerque Metro Area; Lower Rio Grande Valley; Central Highlands; South Central Highlands; Upper Tularosa Valley; Far Northeast Highlands; Union County; Harding County; Eastern San Miguel County; Guadalupe County; Quay County; Curry County; Roosevelt County; De Baca County; Chaves County Plains; Eastern Lincoln County; Southwest Chaves County; San Agustin Plains and Adjacent Lowlands, until 15:00Z
Outside Colorado, for context: Freeze Warning: Arthur; Keith; Perkins; Chase; Eastern Cherry; Keya Paha; Boyd; Brown; Rock; Holt; Hooker; Thomas; Blaine; Loup; Garfield; Wheeler; McPherson; Logan; Custer; Lincoln; Hayes; Frontier, until 15:00Z

Briefing details · Where, When, Main hazards

Sunday briefing for Colorado

Highest anywhere in Colorado: no risk area

This is the outlook, a forecast. Warnings in force here are listed above it and outrank it.

The highest category anywhere in the state, from its outline; not every point in it.

When: Outlook valid 18 Oct 12:00Z to 19 Oct 12:00Z: the period it covers, not when storms arrive. This period has not begun.
Prepare: No additional flood preparation is indicated by this outlook.
Rain and rivers: Expected rain: 0.1 in or more at its highest in Colorado, in WPC’s forecast for the 24 hours 18 Oct 12:00Z to 19 Oct 12:00Z. An amount for the area its contour covers, not a total for any one street.
Rain that fell: under 0.01 in at its highest in Colorado, in the 24 hours to 05:00Z, by MRMS’s radar estimate over a grid about 5 km across: a measurement of the past, not corrected to rain gauges.
Rivers: no river gauge in Colorado is in flood or forecast to flood, by NWS’s lists read 05:35Z. Gauges are on larger rivers, not every creek: this is not a sign that nothing can flood.
Three sources, each its own window. None is a chance of flash flooding, which is WPC’s outlook above; a flash flood is a warning’s. Gauges in the Live tracker

Official discussion

WPC’s discussion held was issued 00:58Z, and the map 16 Oct 19:17Z: they are different issuances, so the text is not shown with this map until the matching one is read.

WPC’s outlook page

Forecast details

The chance that rainfall exceeds flash flood guidance within 40 km (25 miles) of a point during the valid period, as WPC defines its categories. Marginal is at least 5%, Slight 15%, Moderate 40% and High 70%. WPC’s categories are separate from SPC’s severe-storm categories, and an outlook category is not a warning: a Flash Flood Warning means flooding is happening or imminent. WPC’s definitions.

Coming days · Colorado

2026-10-17Severe storms: No severe area outlinedFlash flooding: No excessive-rainfall area outlined 2026-10-18Severe storms: No severe area outlinedFlash flooding: No excessive-rainfall area outlined

These are daily outlooks, not arrival times. Days 4–8 retain SPC’s predictability and potential-too-low wording in the dated outlook controls.

Severe storms

General thunderstorms at its highest nationally. SPC’s convective outlook, on its own scale.

View severe outlook

Recent reports

Reporting period: 12Z 16 Oct – 12Z 17 Oct

0 tornado · 0 wind · 0 hail in Colorado

Preliminary reports: a count of reports, not of storms. None reported is not proof that nothing happened.

View reports: map, table & download

No watches or mesoscale discussions in Colorado. Watches, discussions and warnings in the Live tracker

Warnings in Colorado

4 warnings touching Colorado

4 warnings touch Colorado, most urgent first. A warning across a state line is counted here and in the other state.

NWS alerts checked 05:35Z · Data: NOAA/NWS

Since 04:36Z: no change in the warnings.

Warnings 4

Freeze Sedgwick County; Phillips County until 15:00Z Track: Freeze Warning, Sedgwick County; Phillips County
Freeze Lower Yampa River Basin; Central Yampa River Basin; Upper Yampa River Basin; Central Colorado River Basin; San Juan River Basin until 15:00Z Track: Freeze Warning, Lower Yampa River Basin; Central Yampa River Basin; Upper Yampa River Basin; Central Colorado River Basin; San Juan River Basin
Freeze Yuma County; Kit Carson County; Cheyenne County; Cheyenne; Rawlins; Decatur; Norton; Sherman; Thomas; Sheridan; Graham; Wallace; Logan; Gove; Greeley; Wichita; Dundy; Hitchcock; Red Willow until 15:00Z crosses Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska Track: Freeze Warning, Yuma County; Kit Carson County; Cheyenne County; Cheyenne; Rawlins; Decatur; Norton; Sherman; Thomas; Sheridan; Graham; Wallace; Logan; Gove; Greeley; Wichita; Dundy; Hitchcock; Red Willow
Freeze Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County; Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft; Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Ft; Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet; Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Ft; Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Ft; Crowley County; La Junta Vicinity/Otero County; Eastern Las Animas County; Western Kiowa County; Eastern Kiowa County; Las Animas Vicinity/Bent County; Lamar Vicinity/Prowers County; Springfield Vicinity/Baca County until 15:00Z Track: Freeze Warning, Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County; Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft; Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Ft; Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet; Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Ft; Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Ft; Crowley County; La Junta Vicinity/Otero County; Eastern Las Animas County; Western Kiowa County; Eastern Kiowa County; Las Animas Vicinity/Bent County; Lamar Vicinity/Prowers County; Springfield Vicinity/Baca County

All 4 warnings touching Colorado, with their full text, in the Live tracker

65 warnings elsewhere in the country: the national list. Track Colorado live

Not an official warning service. Warnings and watches are the National Weather Service’s, outlooks and reports the Storm Prediction Center’s and the Weather Prediction Center’s (Data: NOAA/NWS, NOAA/SPC, NOAA/WPC). When a warning is issued for you, act on it, and use weather.gov or a NOAA Weather Radio for where you are.

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