Thursday will be the warmest day of the year so far, with Denver temperatures finally creeping up into the mid-70s, according to the National Weather Service.

Denver can enjoy the sunny, breezy weather Thursday and Friday before the next storm moves in Friday night, according to NWS forecasters.

A mix of dry, warm and windy weather across Colorado’s eastern plains Thursday have created elevated to near critical fire weather conditions , according to a NWS hazardous weather outlook.

Critical fire conditions are expected to spread across the plains and Palmer Divide Friday, with Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches taking effect Friday morning and lasting through the evening, the hazardous weather outlook stated.

Denver will see temperature highs hovering around 73 degrees Thursday and Friday, before temperatures dip down into the high-30s and low-40s overnight, NWS forecasters said.

Although relatively mild winds are forecasted for the metro area Thursday, Friday’s windy weather could gust upwards of 40 mph, forecasters said.

The fire weather won’t last long, with relief coming in the form of the weekend’s rain and snow storms.

The storm system moving into Colorado Friday night will bring snow showers to the mountains and scattered snow and rain across the lower elevation foothills, metro area and plains, the outlook stated.

The eastern slopes will be hit the hardest with weekend snow, forecasters said. A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for parts of the eastern mountains, projecting up to 10 inches of snow.

Rain showers are likely to start in the Denver area between late-night Friday and early-morning Saturday, according to NWS meteorologists. Showers will continue off-and-on Saturday, mixing with snow around 10 a.m.

The weekend storm will drop temperatures nearly 25 degrees, hitting back down in the low 50s, meteorologists said.

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