Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Tuesday afternoon
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
The Steamboat Powdercam showed 8” of new snow overnight Monday and today from the storm that is mostly moving east of the area, putting us right around the 400” mark for the season had the Steamboat ski area been open. Two more storms will affect our area for the next week in a complicated manner starting Thursday afternoon and again mid-weekend as they cross the Great Basin.
Snow showers will decrease overnight as a shallow ridge builds between the departing and incoming system, with the NAM model showing more dry air over our area than the AVN on Wednesday. Showers may still be around for Wednesday, though they will be weaker and more sporadic than what we saw today, and we may see some peaks of sun.
After a brief break Wednesday night into Thursday morning, the next storm will bring another round of moderate to heavy snow showers to the area by Thursday afternoon and extending through the night. There may be short-lived accumulations on the roadway in the valleys during the heavier showers, but the majority of valley accumulations should be on grassy surfaces. The mountain, on the other hand, will see another 3-6” of snow by early Friday morning.
Persistent showers will continue through Friday morning with an additional inch or two on the mountain.
The second storm, forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast on Friday night and then take up residence in the Great Basin for the weekend and beginning of next week, will mix with energy from the first storm spinning over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The complicated interaction will likely keep the cool and showery unsettled weather around through the weekend and into the first part of next week, with the details evolving each day.
