Hot and dry follows an unsettled Monday and cool Tuesday
Sunday, June 12, 2016
After another round of afternoon of showers in the Steamboat Springs area today, the southern part of the Pacific storm that split off the West Coast yesterday will cross the southern California coast tonight and move northeastward across the Great Basin during the day Monday, eventually crossing Colorado soon after midnight on Monday.
Moisture and lift in the southwest flow ahead of the storm will bring a better chance of storms for Monday, possibly starting by as soon as noon and continuing into the overnight hours.
The storm is now forecast to move faster than on my Friday forecast, so any overnight precipitation should end by Tuesday morning, followed by drying and slight cooling in the west to northwest flow behind the departing storm.
The flow backs to the southwest by late Tuesday, bringing in very dry air from the desert southwest and starting a warming trend on Wednesday that will see dry conditions and increasingly hot temperatures continue into at least the beginning of the weekend.
Though another strong Pacific storm approaches the northwest coast around Tuesday of this work week, the strong June sun will amplify the central US ridge and shunt the storm to our north when it eventually moves inland early in the weekend. However, we may see some relief from the unseasonably hot temperatures by Sunday as models drag some cool air from this passing storm over our area.
