Light snow continues through this evening before a spectacular weekend

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Steamboat ski area reported 2” mid / 1” top this morning, and the 11 am report had an additional 2” mid / 2.5” top. Light snow should continue today and taper off this evening as a lobe of energy passes over the area early this afternoon. I expect 3-7” to be reported by Saturday morning before skies clear.

A transient ridge then builds over our area for the weekend bringing beautiful sunny and warm spring-like weather, likely lasting through Monday. The next Pacific storm is very similar to the current one and affects our area by Tuesday. However, some cold air rotating around the persistent Hudson Bay vortex is forecast to phase with this storm around Monday creating a colder and more dynamic system. The evolution of this storm will be very dependent upon the amount of cold air entrained, and details should become clearer as we move closer to the event.

Current forecasts have light snow starting as early as Tuesday morning and intensifying during the day as the storm moves closer. This storm again splits around us by Tuesday night, but snow or snow showers are likely to continue through the day Wednesday. A break in snow will occur on Thursday before another fast moving wave is forecast to bring showers into our area by late Friday.