Soaking rains are slamming southern and eastern Colorado tonight, but most of the Denver metro and northern Front Range will stay much quieter and fairly dry.Look for mostly cloudy skies along the Front Range overnight into Thur sday morning as lows drop into the upper 40s to low 50s. Watch Denver7 Meteorologist Danielle Grant's forecast video below: Few showers, cloudy skies in Denver metro tonight; clearing, warmer ThursdayA strong upper-level storm system is now pushing east across Arizona and New Mexico, merging with the remnants of Hurricane Polo and pulling a huge plume of moisture north and east. The strongest energy is staying south of Colorado, but a zone of steady rain is developing across southern Colorado, especially from Lincoln County west across the Palmer Divide into Park County.The Flood Watch covers far southeastern Elbert County and southern Lincoln County along with the majority of southern and eastern Colorado. It will stay in effect until noon Thursday as up to three to four inches of rainfall is still possible in these areas.Higher elevations farther south will get more of the action. The Mosquito and Tenmile ranges, along with the southern Front Range from Jefferson County into Park County, could see several tenths of an inch of rain. Snow is possible above about 11,500 feet, with 1 to 3 inches possible. Despite the rain and high-elevation snow, no significant travel impacts are expected.Are you ready for another change? A warm, dry stretch takes over. High pressure builds across Colorado Friday through the weekend, shutting down the rain and sending temperatures above normal. Friday highs should reach the upper 70s to around 80 across the plains, then climb another 3-5 degrees Saturday. Sunday stays warm as well, with only a slight cooldown possible.Looking ahead to next week, the forecast gets less certain Monday into Tuesday. A weak disturbance could bring a few showers to the high country, but rainfall looks light and snow levels will remain very high. The bigger story is the heat, with highs generally in the low 80s across the plains and possibly even the mid-80s continuing well above normal for early October.Rain will linger across the eastern plains through early Thursday, with gradual clearing by the afternoon. We'll see plenty of sunshine by tomorrow afternoon and temperatures will climb into the upper 60s to low 70s.Gorgeous weather will settle in for the weekend as a ridge of high pressure builds over the Rockies. We'll see lots of sunshine from Friday through the weekend, with highs in the upper 70s!DENVER WEATHER LINKS: Hourly forecast | Radars | Traffic | Weather Page | 24/7 Weather StreamClick here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream. ...read more read less