Nice start to the workweek ahead of Thursday storm
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Temperatures are nearing fifty degrees under sunny skies in the Steamboat Springs area early this Sunday afternoon. Monday will see a similarly nice day, with winds picking up on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a modest storm for Thursday.
A stream of moisture associated with a storm currently in the Gulf of Alaska is bringing precipitation to western Washington State. The storm is forecast to incorporate cold air moving southward across Alaska and elongate along the West Coast through midweek. Our area should see pleasant weather today and Monday with plenty of sun and high temperatures around our average of 51 F.
Tuesday will be the warmest day of the workweek with high temperatures around five degrees above average as winds from the southwest pickup ahead of the evolving storm. The storm should be moving east on Tuesday thanks to an upstream wave of Pacific energy that will eventually slingshot around the bottom of the storm and cause it to split over the Great Basin on Thursday.
We should see temperatures drop a few degrees on Wednesday, but still stay above average, as winds stay from the southwest ahead of the splitting storm. That slingshotting piece of energy is forecast to move overhead by Thursday midday quickly followed by the northern part of the splitting storm. Much cooler temperatures with highs dropping into the lower forties and increasing chances for showers are forecast for Thursday. Any showers may start as rain early in the day in the Yampa Valley, and we may see a rain-snow mix before snow is forecast by the afternoon.
Moisture quickly dries out by Friday, so the storm will be relatively short-lived, limiting snowfall amounts. Plus, snowfall is always uncertain in the southwest flow ahead of storms, and our favorable northwest flow behind the storm never really gets going. We may see around an inch or two of snowfall in town and 4-8” at the Steamboat Ski Resort from this storm, but splitting storms are notoriously unpredictable and there may be changes in the forecast.
So stay tuned to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon where I hope to be discussing the ongoing storm and what is looking like a nice start to next weekend.
