Snows continue through early Wednesday

Sunday, February 4, 2018

The overall weather pattern for the Steamboat Springs area has changed very little since my last forecast, with a ridge of high pressure to our west and a deep and very cold vortex of cold air over Hudson Bay. Waves of energy and moisture traveling over or through the ridge of western high pressure will mix to varying degrees with cold air over western Canada through Tuesday, with the amount of mixing the main uncertainty in the forecast.

Over the past several days, we’ve had plenty of moisture and favorable northwest flow, but the warm temperatures are strangling our potential snow accumulations. That looks to change around midnight tonight as some cool air finally makes its way over our area. Until then expect cloudy and warm temperatures with minimal snow accumulations, but snows should increase after midnight and become moderate to heavy at times through at least the early morning hours.

Since we may see snowfall rates over an inch per hour at times, I would expect 2-5” of snow by the morning report. Additional waves of moisture and energy will keep the snow going through the day and overnight Monday, and I would guess 2-5” during each twelve hour period, leaving a 4-10” forecast for Tuesday morning.

Snowfall will taper off for a time Tuesday before picking up again in the afternoon as the the last wave in this series crosses the area. This will also bring the coldest temperatures of the storm cycle, and while the moisture decreases, the colder temperatures will mean lighter and fluffier snow., especially after sunset Tuesday. The timing and strength of this final wave is still uncertain, but I could see another 2-5” for the Wednesday morning report.

There appears to be a break in the weather around midweek, with the weekend forecast becoming more uncertain as the weather models change their predictions. The end result is there may or may not be some sort of storm for the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival weekend.

Save your soles! If you do any walking in your ski boots on hard surfaces, then you know the grating and grinding sounds you hear can’t be good. In fact, worn boot soles make your binding unsafe as it interferes with the boot-binding interface. Cat Tracks are a flexible protector that keeps your boot soles pristine, and adds a cushion for walking comfort. When it’s time to click into bindings, I take them off and stash them in my coat pocket. Yaktrax are similar, but I have not used them since they appear they would take up a bit more space in my jacket pocket. But you get a rocker sole that promotes a natural stride which may be worth the space sacrifice. If I did not have to carry them around all day, these would be my choice.

• Posted at 12:31:15 PM in Steamboat forecast discussion
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