Weekend weather to clear after wintry storm for Friday
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Mostly cloudy skies with temperatures in the low sixties are over Steamboat Springs on this Thursday mid-afternoon. A strong cold front tonight will bring wintry weather on Friday, with significant snowfall at all elevations, followed by mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures for the weekend.
Our next weather-maker is moving southeastward through Idaho, with a strong cold front stretching from central Utah into northwest Wyoming. Southwest breezes ahead of the front will continue through the afternoon before the cold front blasts through mid-evening, with snow showers starting at all elevations by around midnight.
Snowfall rates may be as high as an inch per hour at times between 3 am and noon on Friday, with brief showers occurring during the afternoon in our favorable cold and unstable northwest flow behind the storm. We could see 5-10” of snowfall on the hill, with around half that in town by sunset on Friday, with high temperatures in town struggling to rise above freezing, over 20 degrees below our 55-degree average.
If skies clear by Saturday morning as forecast, we will be greeted by wintertime temperatures reaching as low as the teens in town, below our average of 27 degrees, and single digits at the top of the now-closed Steamboat Ski Resort.
Mostly sunny skies on Saturday should allow high temperatures to rise into the mid-forties in town, followed by another warmer, but still cold Sunday morning, with high temperatures rising to around 60 degrees.
Meanwhile, another storm is forecast to develop over the Aleutian Islands on Friday, strengthen as it ingests cold air moving southward across Alaska, and elongate to the south as it moves across the Gulf of Alaska mid-weekend, eventually forming an eddy off the northern California coast on Monday.
Southerly winds ahead of the eddy will allow high temperatures to keep rising as a ridge of high pressure builds overhead, eventually reaching around 70 degrees by Tuesday. The pleasant weather is forecast to continue through most of the workweek until the eddy is forced eastward across the West by energy moving across the northern Pacific.
Our end-of-workweek weather will depend upon the northern stream energy and its eventual interaction with the eddy, with weather forecast models varying both between and within themselves. So, welcome the wintry-springtime moisture on Friday, enjoy the mostly sunny weekend, and I’ll have more details about the incoming eddy in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Workweek to start and end colder with likely precipitation
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Mostly sunny skies are over Steamboat Springs late this Sunday morning with temperatures in the mid-fifties, on their way to the mid-sixties. An approaching storm will bring cooler weather with some shower chances on Monday, followed by even colder temperatures and precipitation on Tuesday. Behind the storm, temperatures rebound on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of a colder, stronger storm bringing snowfall to all elevations for the end of the workweek.
A strong storm centered over northern California and headed our way has brought impressive snowfall to the Sierras, with 28” of snowfall already recorded at Kirkwood, and more coming! The storm will elongate and stretch to the southwest as it enters the Great Basin on Monday, eventually splitting as it moves overhead on Tuesday.
After a pleasant day today, with high temperatures around 10 degrees above our average of 54 degrees and afternoon breezes from the southwest, cool air will begin to filter into our area tonight as the Pacific storm enters the Great Basin and ejects waves of cool air and moisture. High temperatures drop to around or just below average on Monday, with chances for passing showers starting tonight and continuing through tomorrow.
A stronger wave rounding the storm during Monday will bring a cold front through our area Monday night, lowering snow levels to around 7,500′ and bringing a rainy Tuesday in town, perhaps with some snowflakes mixed in, and 3-6” of upper-elevation snowfall. High temperatures will finally fall below average for a change, reaching only around 50 degrees.
Skies will partially clear behind the storm during the day on Wednesday, with high temperatures rebounding toward average, followed by around 60 degrees on a Thursday that should start mostly sunny.
Meanwhile, a chunk of cold air from Siberia will travel across the Gulf of Alaska on Monday and cross the Vancouver coast on Tuesday. More cold air from western Canada will strengthen the wintry storm on Wednesday as it travels across the Pacific Northwest, traversing the Great Basin on Thursday and bringing a strong cold front with likely significant snowfall for all elevations starting Thursday night or early Friday.
Until then, enjoy the Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel and the Wailers concerts at the base of the now-closed Steamboat Ski Resort today, hope for more moisture than forecast on Tuesday, and I’ll have more details about the wintry end-of-week storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Pleasant weekend with possible showers later today and Saturday
Thursday, April 9, 2026
A mix of sun and clouds is over Steamboat Springs early this Thursday afternoon with temperatures around 60 degrees. Other than some shower chances later today, with a better chance Saturday, warm and pleasant weather is forecast for the weekend, followed by a stretch of cool and unsettled weather next week.
The official March data from the weather station near the high school have been published, with the most notable extremes being the warmest March day and month since 1893, when record-keeping began in Steamboat Springs.
The new March high-temperature record of 81 degrees, reached on both Saturday, March 21, and Tuesday, March 24, shattered the previous record of 70 degrees set in 2017. Unbelievably, that was even warmer than the highest temperature ever recorded in April, 79 degrees, set in the last 2 days of April, 2000, and the last day of April, 1943.
Additionally, we tied or broke daily high-temperature records for 12 of the last 14 days of March, resulting in the warmest average high temperature for the month of 60.3 degrees, shattering the old record of 52.7 degrees in 1910, and even the 14th warmest for April! The monthly average temperature record (the average of every daily high and low temperature) was also broken, reaching 42.6 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 37.1 degrees set in 2017.
Now a low-pressure eddy sits off the northern California coast while the northern part of a split storm moves southeastward across the Gulf of Alaska. Some Pacific moisture has moved overhead in advance of the eddy, bringing the chance of a late-afternoon or evening shower, with high temperatures in the mid-to-upper sixties, well above our average of 53 degrees.
The eddy will be kicked eastward while weakening, even as it is eventually replaced by the Gulf of Alaska storm, which will itself form an eddy. A transient ridge of high pressure ahead of the weakening eddy on Friday will allow warmer high temperatures to reach the low seventies, despite mid and high-level clouds.
Shower chances increase on Saturday, perhaps as early as noon and continuing through the night, as the weakening eddy moves across Utah, grazing our area with a cool front that will lower high temperatures back into the mid-sixties.
The new eddy is forecast to move into Northern California by Saturday night, with drier air, afternoon breezes, and high temperatures in the low sixties gracing the Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel and the Wailers concerts at the base of the now-closed Steamboat Ski Resort on Sunday.
It is forecast to weaken as it moves eastward, bringing showers and cooler weather into our area by later Monday, with possible snowflakes in town and significant snowfall at higher elevations on Tuesday. Enjoy the pleasant weekend ahead, and I’ll have more details on the incoming storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Warm weather to turn unsettled starting later Tuesday
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Our welcome stretch of wintry weather is temporarily over in Steamboat Springs, with bluebird skies and temperatures on this Easter Sunday at noon around 50 degrees in town, on the way to 60 degrees, and 30 degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort on its Closing Day. The workweek will start sunny and a bit warmer, with afternoon and evening precipitation chances emerging by Tuesday and continuing through the workweek.
After 16” of snowfall was reported at mid-mountain from Wednesday through Saturday morning, bringing the season total to 171”, and 17” up top, including a mid-winter powder day on Friday, a ridge of high pressure has built over the West behind the departing storm, and ahead of a splitting trough of low pressure extending south from the Gulf of Alaska.
While the departing storm is bringing wintry weather to the upper Midwest and eventually the Northeast, our area will enjoy sunny skies today with 60-degree high temperatures, above our average of 52 degrees. Clockwise winds rotating around a high-pressure cell over Texas will combine with a modicum of incoming Pacific moisture to our south in a monsoon-like pattern, bringing clouds to our area by later Monday, while still allowing a few degrees of warming.
Though Tuesday should start mostly sunny, a stronger Pacific wave will bring more moisture and a chance of showers by Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Meanwhile, the northern part of the splitting East Pacific trough will cross the British Columbia coast Monday night, while the southern end forms an eddy well off the coast of northern California. The northern wave will cross the northern Rockies on Tuesday, perhaps dragging a cool front through our area on Wednesday, switching our winds from the southwest to the west, and continuing the afternoon and evening shower chances.
The eddy is forecast to drift toward the West Coast later in the workweek, with mild temperatures and afternoon and evening shower chances continuing as winds shift back to the southwest and carry additional Pacific moisture overhead.
The weekend forecast is uncertain and will depend on the track of the eddy and whether it interacts with another round of energy moving across the Gulf of Alaska. So enjoy a beautiful Closing Day, and I’ll have more details about the weekend, as well as a recap of March’s record temperatures, in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Pleasant and warmer weekend to follow significant snow Thursday night
Thursday, April 2, 2026
After 3” of snow was reported at mid-mountain this morning, 7” up top, and 2/3 of an inch of rain in town, skies have partially cleared early this Thursday afternoon in Steamboat Springs with breezes accompanying the mid-fifty degree temperatures in town and mid-twenty degree temperatures near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. A much colder and more prolific snowstorm tonight will bring wintry weather to all elevations and much colder temperatures on Friday, followed by a mostly sunny and warming weekend.
Unlike the last storm, in which a decaying Pineapple Express atmospheric river joined forces with a warm low-pressure eddy from the eastern Pacific, this next storm is quite cold, having traveled across the Gulf of Alaska while mixing with cold air from the north. Winds ahead of the storm have already gusted up to 50 mph at the top of the ski area, possibly reaching 60 mph when the cold front associated with the storm blasts through around 6 or 7 pm today.
Snowfall rates will quickly increase this evening, peaking as high as 2” per hour, perhaps accompanied by some thunder, and making travel hazardous over Rabbit Ears Pass, and possibly in town as well. Temperatures will plummet, reaching the single digits at the top of the hill by the 6-12” Friday morning ski report, briefly bringing mid-winter conditions back to the area.
Town will not be spared the wintry weather, waking up to 2-5” of new snow Friday morning and seeing high temperatures only in the upper-thirties, over ten degrees below our average of 51 degrees. As the storm travels through Wyoming on Friday, additional snow showers persisting through the day and night in our favorable cold, moist, and unstable northwest flow behind the storm could leave another 1-4” for the Saturday morning ski report, but only minor additional accumulations in town.
This will be quite a shock after our record-warm March, which I will describe in more detail once the official weather data from the climate monitoring station behind the high school are published. Probably the most eye-popping statistic so far is that we set or tied the highest-ever March temperature on 8 different days, culminating in the 81 degrees set twice on Saturday, March 21, and Wednesday, March 25. Not only did that shatter the old 70-degree record set in 2017, but it also exceeded the highest April temperature of 79 degrees set in 2000 and 1943!
Behind the cold storm, and ahead of another storm developing in the eastern Pacific, a ridge of high pressure will build over the West, bringing mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures for the weekend, with high temperatures in town around average on Saturday and 60 degrees on Sunday.
The pleasant weather is expected to last into the start of the workweek, with unsettled weather returning as early as later Tuesday. So enjoy the ironically appropriate mid-winter powder day on Friday as we head into Steamboat Ski Resort’s Closing Weekend, and I’ll have more details about next week in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
