Cool start to the weekend followed by modest moisture next week
Friday, August 19, 2016
The well-advertised cool front is currently moving through the Steamboat Springs area with most of the precipitation occurring south of our area. There may still be a chance of a shower this evening, but drying behind the front will limit any rainfall.
Even drier air works into the region by Saturday afternoon, and combined with a final push of cool air by a trailing wave Saturday night, Sunday morning will start quite chilly. However a rapidly building western ridge will allow temperatures on Sunday to reach above normal.
Another Pacific Northwest storm approaches the coast on Sunday and drags some weak energy loitering off the California coast eastward. Southwesterly flow ahead of the southern portion of the storm will allow moisture to work back into the area, possibly producing some Sunday afternoon clouds and a stray shower.
Moisture, though modest, will continue to increase through Wednesday as the parent storm moves along the U.S. - Canadian border and continues to drag the southern portion of the storm across the Great Basin and over our area on Tuesday and Wednesday. This should produce a decent chance of wetting rains those days, with some of the storms possibly lasting into the overnight hours.
Earlier this week, it looked like dry air would overspread the area for the end of the work week in westerly flow, but now models have another push of cool air traveling southward from the Canadian Plains as the old Pacific Northwest storm phases with a storm over Hudson Bay. Most of the energy is currently forecast to stay north and east of our area for mostly dry and seasonably cool temperatures.
