Hot temperatures to persist as the heart of summer arrives
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Temperatures are at eighty-five degrees, headed to the upper eighties, under mostly sunny skies this Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. The heart of summer arrives Monday and lasts into the first weekend of August, with the warmest average high temperature of the year reaching eighty-four degrees. The forecast high temperatures this week will not disappoint, despite a weak cool front arriving by Wednesday and cooling high temperatures by several degrees. Modest moisture associated with the front will result in limited shower chances from later Tuesday through Wednesday, with additional shower chances possibly arriving for the weekend.
A ridge of high pressure is centered over the Desert Southwest while a weak storm is moving southward along the British Columbia coast. The storm and some associated energy moving along its southern end will be deflected eastward by the ridge, bringing some Pacific moisture into our area starting later Tuesday, and several degrees of cooling on Wednesday.
The limited moisture and dry lower atmosphere mean any storm that develops will likely produce more wind than rain as precipitation evaporates in the dry subcloud layer. Storm chances decrease on Thursday before increasing again by Friday as a ridge of high pressure begins to build over the Southeast and elongate westward. This is a favorable pattern for the tardy North American Monsoon as moisture begins to rotate northward toward our area by Friday in the clockwise flow around the Southeast ridge.
We have been spared the smoke from several widlfires burning in north-central New Mexico and Arizona, including the White Sage fire north of the Grand Canyon, ignited by lightning last Wednesday. So far, the smoke has been trapped underneath the Desert Southwest ridge, but southwest winds ahead of the approaching cool front may transport some smoke into our area by Monday afternoon, according to the latest NOAA Smoke Plume model.
The smoke should clear as winds shift to be from the west and northwest on Tuesday and Wednesday, but may return later in the week if southerly flow associated with the monsoon is established. Let’s hope we can eke out some rain from later Tuesday through Wednesday, and I’ll have the latest details on the developing monsoon in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Hot weather to return Sunday
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Low seventy-degree temperatures, on their way to the low to mid-eighties, and cloudy skies are over Steamboat Springs late this Thursday morning. Meager shower chances are expected this afternoon, likely producing more wind than rain, and will be followed by another cool front on Friday, with even lower shower chances and similar temperatures. Dry weather is forecast for the weekend, with Saturday’s comfortable high temperatures rising to approach ninety degrees on Sunday.
The remnants of a small and weakening eddy are moving through the area, bringing cloudy skies and a cool front that will drop our ninety-degree high temperature yesterday to just below eighty-five degrees today, right around our average of eighty-three degrees. After this morning’s rumble of thunder, there will be another chance this afternoon of storms that would produce more wind than rain due to precipitation evaporating in the dry lower atmosphere.
Meanwhile, a wave moving through the Canadian Plains will drag another cool front through our area later Friday, keeping the comfortable high temperatures around and leading to another chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms that will again produce more wind than rain.
A ridge of high pressure begins to build over the West Coast on Saturday behind the Canadian wave, bringing dry weather and high temperatures approaching ninety degrees on Sunday. This hot and dry weather will persist to start the workweek before we may see another grazing cool front by later Tuesday or Wednesday.
Enjoy the relatively cooler days to start the weekend, and check back Sunday afternoon for my regularly scheduled weather narrative for details on the next incoming cool front, which may kickstart a weak surge of monsoonal moisture that will hopefully be with us through the following weekend.
Increasingly hot and dry weather ahead of cool front to arrive Thursday
Sunday, July 6, 2025
A sunny and cool Sunday morning in Steamboat Springs follows over an inch of needed rain on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. High temperatures will rise under mostly sunny skies from the mid-eighties today toward the ninety-degree mark on Wednesday before a couple of cool fronts arrive on Thursday and Friday.
After a relatively dry June when only 0.58” of precipitation fell, an inch shy of average, a well-advertised cool front this last Thursday night brought just over an inch of rain to town, right after the first ninety-degree day of the season was reached on Wednesday. The cooler temperatures on Independence Day inhibited further showers, but warmer temperatures on Saturday acted on the lingering moisture to produce another couple of tenths of an inch of rain from a strong thunderstorm that moved through just before 2 pm.
Aside from a small chance of an afternoon shower today, rain chances are near nil through midweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West ahead of an eddy of low pressure that formed off the coast of northern California. Mid-eighty-degree high temperatures are forecast for today and Monday, with upper eighties for Tuesday and another ninety-degree day likely on Wednesday.
Similar to last week, a storm rotating through the Gulf of Alaska and eventually the Pacific Northwest will drag the California eddy eastward, crossing the Great Basin late on Wednesday and bringing a cool front through our area on Thursday. However, unlike the last storm, there will be no moisture drawn northward from the Mexican Plateau, crimping the chance of showers when the front moves through.
High temperatures on Thursday will fall back to a degree or two above our average of eighty-three degrees with some westerly breezes. Another degree or two of cooling is advertised for Friday, with northwesterly breezes, as trailing energy behind the Pacific Northwest storm drags another cool front through our area by morning.
Enjoy the very summery start to the workweek and check back for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon, where I’ll have the details on what is looking like a warm and dry weekend ahead.
Likely rain chances to start the Independence Day weekend
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Temperatures are near eighty degrees under partly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. An approaching storm will combine with subtropical moisture to bring likely rain chances starting tonight that will linger through a cooler Independence Day. Mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures return starting Saturday for a beautiful end to the long holiday weekend that will last into the following workweek.
Southerly winds ahead of an area of low pressure moving through the Great Basin have drawn moisture pooling over the Mexican Plateau northward. The upward motion associated with the storm, combined with this moisture, brings likely chances for wetting rains starting this evening.
Thanks to the heating during the day, which cooks the atmosphere, we could see moderate to strong thunderstorms this evening with periods of heavy rainfall, small hail, and gusty winds. The thunderstorm threat diminishes overnight, but does not disappear, as rain showers might transition to a gentler and steadier rain.
A cool front associated with the storm will pass through early Independence Day morning, continuing shower chances through some of the morning. Refreshingly cooler high temperatures approaching eighty degrees may be accompanied by some afternoon sun and a renewed chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
Much drier air invades our area behind the storm starting on a mostly sunny Saturday, with high temperatures right around our average of eighty-two degrees. The mid-eighties are forecast for a mostly sunny Sunday, with lots of sun and even warmer temperatures for the following workweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West.
The NOAA Smoke Plume model, which is run four times a day, is showing hazy skies on Saturday as smoke from the large Madrid wildfire in southern California, ignited just yesterday, is transported across the Great Basin by southwest winds. If the smoky skies materialize, they may persist for several days as clockwise winds rotate around the building high pressure system over the West.
So enjoy the rapidly improving Fourth of July weekend, hope for the needed moisture to start the long weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for details on next week’s warmth.
Good rain chances to arrive Thursday
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Temperatures are in the low eighties, on their way to the mid-eighties, with mostly sunny skies this Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. Some moisture associated with a storm to our north may allow for an afternoon or evening thunderstorm that would produce more wind than rain, ahead of more hot and dry weather through midweek. An approaching storm will bring good chances of rain on Thursday, with late-day storm chances possibly persisting on Independence Day and the start of the weekend.
A ridge of high pressure centered over the Desert Southwest is bordered by a storm moving through the Dakotas and a storm forming off the coast of central California. The storm to our north has dragged a modicum of moisture overhead, increasing the chance of an afternoon or evening thunderstorm today that would produce more wind than rain, as any precipitation evaporates before reaching the ground.
The good news is that breezes have shifted from the southwest to the west and northwest, clearing the air of haze from the France Canyon wildfire in southern Utah. As the Dakotas storm and the California storm both move eastward to start the workweek, the Desert Southwest ridge expands northward, keeping the hot and dry weather around through midweek. High temperatures just above eighty-five degrees on Monday and Tuesday, compared to our average of eighty degrees, will be followed by upper eighties on Wednesday as winds turn southwesterly ahead of the California storm.
Wetting rains are currently promised Thursday afternoon and evening as moisture from the Mexican Plateau is first carried northward by southerly winds ahead of the California storm before being lifted by the storm itself as it moves over our area later Thursday.
There is weather forecast model uncertainty regarding whether the storm remains cohesive, as forecast by the European ECMWF, or breaks apart in a piecemeal fashion, as forecast by the American GFS, which would prolong the shower chances into Independence Day and the weekend.
Enjoy the prelude to the long holiday weekend, and I’ll have more details on the increasing moisture for the end of the workweek in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
