Good Friday morning to you!

Skies are mostly clear over Colorado, but to our southeast, Hurricane Harvey will steal the show.

Hurricane Harvey

Harvey is not far from the Texas coast and is at Category 2 strength (Cat 5 is the strongest).

While the wind is always an issue with hurricanes, the bigger story most of the time, and in this case specifically, is storm surge and flooding. Especially for Harvey because the storm may stall for many days near the coast.

Here is the 7-day precipitation forecast. Yes, you're looking at the graphic correctly. That's 20+ inches of rain along coastal Texas.

For more information about the hurricane, here is the National Hurricane Center's official forecast: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?cone#contents

Here in Colorado

The 7-day precipitation forecast for Colorado is pretty light, with a better chance for a few storms over the southern mountains.

In general, the next 5-7 days will be rather dry with a lower chance for storms compared to the past week. This is good news for your outdoor adventures!

For temperatures during the next 7 days, areas west of the continental divide will be above average and areas east will be near and below average.

This means that the mountains of Colorado and areas of the western slope will be pretty darn warm for the next week, while areas east of the mountains will stay closer to average.

Winter Forecast

I am not going to talk about the winter ahead for a while. But I did just write this article about last year's forecasts and if they were accurate.

Check it out: http://opensnow.com/news/post/long-range-weather-forecasts-stink-a-look-back-at-the-winter-snow-forecast-for-2016-2017

Next update

I don't see any cold spells in the near future but will continue to post on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. My child's due date is today (8/25), but he's not here yet, so I hope to post again on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

JOEL GRATZ