Severe weather will rumble from the Rocky Front Range to the western High Plains tonight. Devastating winds and large hail will be the biggest risks, although an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.

A complex storm will reach the western High Plains tonight and tonight. Thunderstorms with a history of damaging winds of 50 and 60 mph over Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming will move eastward tonight and tonight and reach the northern and western High Plains between the western Dakotas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.

Warnings for severe thunderstorms are in effect from eastern New Mexico and Colorado to southeastern Wyoming, far northwestern Kansas, and western Nebraska. Cheyenne, Wyo., Scottsbluff, Sidney and North Platte, Neb., Goodland, Kan., Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Trinidad, Colo., and Roswell, Clovis and Tucumcari, N.M., are included.

Additional clusters or lines of strong thunderstorms will multiply and spread across much of northern and eastern Montana later this afternoon before slowly unfurling overnight or early Wednesday morning, just ahead of and preceding the warm front of the storm. Unfortunately, these thunderstorms could potentially produce damaging winds, hail larger than the size of a dime, and an isolated tornado or two.

The government’s Storm Prediction Center has a Increased risk for severe weather in western Nebraska, northeastern Colorado and far northwestern Kansas. Isolated wind gusts of 75 to 80 mph are possible here, along with isolated incidents of hail larger than quarters. Fort Morgan and Sterling, Colo., and Scottsbluff, Neb., are in this severe weather danger zone.

There is a larger zone of extreme weather from the US-Canada border, around the Increased risk from Montana and western North Dakota all the way to eastern New Mexico. Larger cities such as Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora, Colo., Rapid City, S.D., and Glasgow, Mont., should keep a close eye on the skies for threatening weather.

So far today, there have been more than a few handfuls of severe weather forecasts littering Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. A 72 mph gust was measured near Blende, Colorado, with a 71 mph gust clocked near Yoder, Colorado. Oxford, Colorado, recorded a 63 mph gust earlier today, with a 62 mph gust reported near Wellsville, Utah.

It is important to be prepared for the weather so that you do not have to prepare. One of the ways to do this is by knowing alerts and their respective meanings. If a watch is issued, it means that severe weather is possible and you should remain vigilant for changing weather. If a warning is issued, it means severe weather is approaching and you need to act quickly to stay safe. Remember, “When thunder roars, go indoors!”