Why Unsettled September Weather Is Triggering Flash Flood Warnings Across Burn Scars

So much for that little taste of early fall.

A cold front is moving through, temperatures are dropping back toward normal, and a week of unsettled weather is setting up across Western Colorado.

And Monday could get particularly interesting.

Monday Could Get Stormy

There are already showers and storms hanging around overnight, with more widespread rainfall expected into Monday morning.

The National Weather Service is saying, daytime heating gets involved, and that's where things could get rowdy. Some storms Monday could produce hail, gusty winds and heavy rainfall, with a few potentially becoming severe.

The best chance for stronger storms appears to stretch from southeastern Utah toward the Grand Mesa, although exactly where things fire up will depend heavily on how much cloud cover sticks around Monday morning.

Heavy Rain Could Cause Problems

The biggest concern isn't necessarily hail. It's water.

Some storms could produce moderate to heavy rainfall, and that could lead to localized flash flooding, particularly around burn scars and other vulnerable terrain. Rockfalls and mudslides are also possible.

Even if storms don't organize into a neat line of severe weather, embedded stronger cells could still dump a lot of rain in a short amount of time.

In other words, Monday is not the day to assume that a cloudy sky means nothing interesting is happening.

The Storm Chances Stick Around

Unfortunately for anyone hoping we're done with this nonsense after Monday, the atmosphere has other plans.

Moisture will remain in place through at least the middle of the week, keeping showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. A subtle disturbance could move in Wednesday and give storms another boost.

By Friday, the moisture should finally begin to decrease as the larger storm system moves east, but we're not quite ready to put the umbrella away yet.

Read More: CDOT Highway Warning: Why October and November Bring Peak Deer Collisions on the Western Slope

At Least the Temperatures Calm Down

The upside to all this? We're done with the unusually warm temperatures for now.

The passing cold front will bring temperatures back to near-normal levels for the coming week.

So we're trading the heat for storms, heavy rain and the occasional bit of hail. Not exactly a fair exchange, but this is Colorado in September. The weather apparently wanted one more plot twist.