Quick Friday forecast
Thursday, January 16, 2020
I have been having internet issues with the local cable provider in Steamboat Springs this morning, and wanted to put out a quick forecast for the Friday storm ahead of my usual weather narrative that will have to wait until Friday.
A well advertised storm will affect Colorado on Friday. The quick-moving storm will bring a cold front through our area within a few hours of noon on Friday, with strong southwesterly winds ahead of the front shifting to the west during frontal passage and the northwest behind the front.
The strong winds will created banded snowfall ahead of the front with localized snowfall rates around an inch or two per hour for areas under the bands, though light snowfall should occur early in the morning. The front itself should be quite impressive, with localized snowfall rates up to 3” per hour for a short time before more consistent snows occur in the favorable moist, cold and unstable northwest flow behind the front.
Travel will likely be difficult during the storm, probably at its worst between 9 am and 3 pm or so. Snows will become showery and taper off later in the afternoon and evening before ending before midnight, We could see as much as 6-12” on the cold Saturday morning report, almost all of which will have occurred during the day Friday.
