As we head into the weekend, a couple round of strong and potentially severe storms will be possible for the eastern Rockies across southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. There is a lot of instability in play east of the Rockies, but storms need to overcome the “cap”, or stability, to reach severe potential.

Saturday

On Saturday, there is a level 1 out of 5 threat for severe weather (marginal risk) from I-25 east into the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma and south of HWY 50 in Colorado to I-40 into portions of Texas and New Mexico.

A few isolated storms will fire up in the afternoon heat, with wind and hail our primary concerns.

Storms will bubble up in the afternoon heat, initializing first over the higher terrain and move across a more unstable enviornment through the evening hours. Storms won’t be widespread, but a couple could have an attitude.

Later into the night, the severe weather threat diminishes, and heavy rain will impact portions of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. Gusty winds will be possible in some of the stronger storms.

Sunday

We once again have a marginal risk of severe weather on Sunday, with storms arriving later in the day across southern Colorado and New Mexico.

The morning will start off quiet again on Sunday, with heat building through the plains. Like clockwork, storms will develop over the higher terrain in the afternoon, but look to be less intense overall. Still, a storm or two could reach severe criteria (winds in excess of 58 mph, quarter sized hail or larger).

Rainfall Accumulation

Storms will be isolated, but within these storms we could see up to 1-2″ of rain.

We will continue to keep you updated on the severe storm potential through the weekend on WeatherNation. Our western regional forecast is always :50 past the hour!