Significant wintry storm starts later Monday
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Temperatures are around thirty degrees under cloudy skies this Sunday noon in Steamboat Springs after the Steamboat Ski Resort reported two inches at mid-mountain and three inches up top on the 5 am ski report. We should see some peeks of sun today and a cloudy Monday ahead of an arctic front that will bring moderate to sometimes heavy snowfall to our area from later Monday through Tuesday, along with very cold temperatures. The snows will end Tuesday night but the cold will stick around on Wednesday before temperatures moderate for the rest of the work week ahead of a snowy weather pattern that likely starts around next weekend.
A vigorous storm currently affecting the Pacific Northwest will continue to mix with arctic air from western Canada as it moves through through the Cascades on Monday and the Great Basin early on Tuesday. A piece of energy ejecting out ahead of the storm will keep the skies from turning mostly sunny for early this afternoon, as originally expected in my last Thursday weather narrative, though the peeks of sun and perhaps sunny late afternoon will be gone tomorrow as thicker clouds invade our area ahead of the approaching storm.
The arctic front will be on our northern doorstep by Monday afternoon with snow showers likely starting at the higher elevations up north by the afternoon. The front should blast through our area by mid-evening accompanied by winds and moderate to sometimes heavy snows that should be heaviest from Monday night into Tuesday morning, followed by good snow showers through the rest of the day and Tuesday evening in the favorable cold, moist and unstable flow from the northwest that will make driving over Rabbit Ears pass difficult at times.
I would expect 6-12” of snow between Monday and Tuesday evening, along with very cold temperatures with highs in town relegated to the high teens or low twenties on Tuesday, about fifteen degrees below our average of 34 F, and low temperatures Wednesday morning around zero, about ten degrees below our average of 11 F, or even colder if skies clear by sunrise.
The cold start to Wednesday will warm thanks to mostly sunny skies behind the storm and winds turning to be from the west, bringing warmer air overhead. High temperatures should rise to near thirty degrees, with another nice day on Thursday with continued sunny skies and temperatures rising to near forty degrees.
Meanwhile, another wave currently moving across the Bering Sea is forecast to mix with another chunk of arctic air moving south across Alaska and develop into a strong elongated storm along the West Coast by Thursday. Not only will this storm incorporate subtropical moisture as it extends to the south, but it will also eventually interact with another wave of energy currently moving across the Kamchatka Peninsula.
While we have to get past the significant storm between Monday and Tuesday evenings, it does look like an active and snowy pattern will follow starting around the end of the work week or next weekend. Be sure to stay tuned to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon as I’ll have a better idea how the upstream pieces evolve and when we may expect our next snowfall.
