Springtime returns for some of the work week
Sunday, April 17, 2022
A mix of rain and snow is over the town of Steamboat Springs this Sunday morning as temperatures hover near freezing. Unsettled and cool weather will linger through today before sunny skies and springtime temperatures return to start the work week. A grazing cold front will bring increasing precipitation chances from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning before skies clear later on a cooler day. A beautiful Thursday looks to be followed by another significant wintry storm as we head into the weekend.
A quick-moving and mild disturbance passed overhead last night, starting precipitation in town as rain before some snow fell this Easter morning with accumulations limited to grassy areas. But colder temperatures at the higher elevations has allowed 3” of accumulation on the Mid-mountain Powdercam and 5” on the Sunshine Peak Powdercam by 9 am this morning. Moist and unstable flow from our favorable northwest direction will keep the cool and unsettled weather going today, with rain showers at the lower elevations and a couple more inches of snow possible at the higher elevations through the afternoon.
But springtime weather returns in force on Monday and Tuesday, with sunny skies and high temperatures reaching the sixties, which is between five and ten degrees above our average of 54 F. A quick-moving storm from the west will increase precipitation chances Tuesday night, with up to several inches possible at mid-mountain by Wednesday morning and snowflakes possible in town, with any accumulations confined to grassy areas. And even though the day starts cool, we should be able to reach near average high temperatures as we see some strong April sun.
Thursday will be a warm and beautiful springtime day before another round of wintry weather starts around the end of the work week. The remnant of former typhoon Malakas is currently well east of Japan, and is forecast to mix with a storm currently evolving in the Bering Sea before crossing the West Coast late in the work week. There is a fair bit of weather forecast model uncertainty regarding the speed and strength of the resultant wintry storm, and how its pieces will eventually move across our area.
It appears we will see at least two days of wintry weather with significant precipitation likely, though it is unclear if it arrives on Friday or Saturday, with the American model currently more eager than the European model. Stay tuned to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon where I’ll have more details on our next chance to add to our snowpack.
