Clouds and rain likely will spread into the sunny blue skies over metro Denver Monday afternoon, bringing possible severe storms with lightning and hail, according to the National Weather Service.

Any storms likely will hit Denver after 4 p.m. and before 7 p.m. Then skies gradually will clear, weather service forecasters said.

Meteorologists estimated the chances of rain and thunderstorms at 30%.

Elsewhere around Colorado, dry terrain and wind in the San Luis Valley and southwestern counties have created conditions favorable for fires. The weather service on Monday issued red flag fire danger warnings covering those areas.

South of metro Denver in northern El Paso and Kiowa counties, storms developing over the Palmer Divide between Denver and Colorado Springs after 1 p.m. are expected to gain momentum on the high plains, bringing hail, bursts of wind at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, and cloud-to-ground lightning, forecasters said.

The high temperature in Denver will be 84 degrees, decreasing to 57 degrees Monday night, forecasters said. On Tuesday, the high is expected to be 86 degrees.