DENVER After the hottest weekend of the year, highs will ever so slightly cool on Monday, warming into the upper 80s in the Denver metro. Parts of the SE Plains on Monday will remain in the 90s and 100s as a cold front gets hun g up across central and northern parts of the state in the morning.Smoke from fires out west and new blazes in western Colorado will continue to impact air quality on Monday, with an Air Quality Alert in effect until at least 9 am. Based on the latest modeling, the weather team at Denver 7 suspects that this will be extended. Sunday evening forecastAlso of note in this dry, windy pattern is the fire danger. It will remain elevated to critical early this week. Red Flag Warnings will remain in effect from noon to 9 pm Monday for higher-terrain areas along and south of I-70. Fire Weather Watches have also been issued for Tuesday.Energy coming out of the northern Rockies may lead to a few showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon on the NE Plains, but rain is not likely to reach the metro area.Highs will rebound into the lower 90s early next week before reaching the middle to upper 90s as we approach the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, as our unseasonably dry weather pattern looks to continue.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