NWS

Elevated risk for grass and wildland fire returns to southeast Colorado Tuesday as winds increase and relative humidity drops.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for portions of eastern Colorado.

Twenty Colorado counties are under a severe thunderstorm watch Saturday afternoon.

Colorado's first significant snow storm of the fall is expected to enter the state Sunday night, continuing into Monday.

After weeks of increasingly intensifying drought, Colorado saw some slight improvements.

Extreme drought grew to cover more than half of Colorado according to the latest report from the National Drought Mitigation Center.

In northwest and north central Colorado, extreme conditions expanded to cover all or portions of Rio Blanco, Moffat, Routt, Jackson, Larimer and Grand counties. Along the Front Range, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Boulder, Jefferson, Adams, Denver, Arapahoe and Douglas counties also saw severe conditions shift to extreme drought.

The National Weather Service has issued fire weather watches through Tuesday for portions Colorado, including most western slope counties and the southeast plains. Much of the watch area is suffering under severe to extreme drought conditions.

Extreme drought made another large increase in southern Colorado according to the most recent update from the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Remaining areas of Las Animas, Bent, and Baca counties that had been in severe drought shifted into extreme conditions. Extreme conditions also grew in Huerfano, Crowley, and Lincoln counties, and entered southeast Pueblo County.

Colorado's fire risk is increasing again for the weekend.

Three tornado warnings were issued in southeast Colorado Tuesday evening, with two tornadoes confirmed by spotter near Sugar City in Crowley County.