Sunny blue skies and warmth will settle over metro Denver Thursday with possible afternoon rain from scattered thunderstorms falling mostly west of the city in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n
Any storms could kick out gusts of wind at speeds as fast as 45 miles per hour, weather service forecasters said. Sudden intense rain may raise risks of flooding on mountain forest burn scars from 2020 fires northwest of Denver.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists anticipated that Denver and Colorado’s Front Range urban corridor probably will stay mostly dry. If storms spread eastward over the Interstate 25 corridor, they’ll likely hit after 4 p.m. forecasters said, estimating the likelihood of rain at 10%.<\/p>\n
The high temperature in Denver will be 94 degrees, decreasing to 68 degrees at night, forecasters said. On Friday, the temperatures are expected to reach 95 degrees.<\/p>\n
Early Thursday, smoke spreading from fires in the Pacific Northwest and Canada obscured blue skies in northeastern Colorado. Only light smoke and haze were expected along I-25 north of Denver.<\/p>\n