Cooler temperatures for the weekend
Thursday, August 16, 2018
The Steamboat Springs area will see continued hot temperatures for this Thursday and Friday before an incoming Pacific storm knocks afternoon temperatures back toward or even below our 81 F average high for this time of year in time for the weekend.
Currently, some moisture has been drawn northward underneath the ridge of high pressure over the western U.S. that is responsible for our hot temperatures, though the moisture is forecast to stay largely south of our area today. By Friday, we will see some of that moisture move near or over north central Colorado, and that will lead to a better chance of some clouds and a slight chance of some weak and gusty afternoon storms that may produce brief, locally heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, the incoming Pacific storm is forecast to cross the West Coast on Friday and bring a cool front through our area sometime around Saturday morning. As currently predicted by weather forecast models, we should see our best chance of showers early in the day as the cool front passes, with a break early in the afternoon as drier air infiltrates behind the front.
But several reinforcing surges of cool air in northwest flow on the backside of the storm may get showers going again later Saturday and again Sunday afternoon before skies clear overnight, leading to relatively cool Sunday and Monday mornings.
After a pleasantly cool Monday with temperatures slightly below average, a final surge of cool air will keep cool temperatures around early Tuesday before they soar to above average by Tuesday afternoon as the western ridge of high pressure rebuilds behind the departing storm.
Another Pacific storm will be deflected northward by this ridge early in the work week, though not before moving it eastward enough so we may see some increasing monsoonal moisture by midweek. This would lead to an increasing chance of showers for around Wednesday and Thursday before the atmosphere dries again during the end of the work week. After that, weather forecast models disagree on the strength and southern extent of another cool front timed for around the following weekend.
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