Southwest Pattern Change Ahead

While much of the country, and in particular the Southwest, has been baking underneath a historic heatwave, a shift in the jet stream will mean cooler and wetter weather ahead!

By this weekend, stronger upper-level winds will begin to overspread the Desert Southwest. As this occurs, rain and high elevation snow chances will increase both on Sunday and Monday with afternoon heating.

Unfortunately, drought conditions have been building across much of the West for the last couple of weeks. Extreme and Exceptional Drought now covers the majority of western Colorado. The good news is that there is some confidence in above-average precipitation as we head into April.

Precipitation chances will persist through much of next week, particularly so for the Four Corners on Tuesday. Another strong upper-level low dropping in from the Northwest could keep things active through the latter half of next week.

Although not a "Drought Buster" by any means, these systems will at least help put a dent into the record-low snowpack across the West, along with some relief from the heat!