Cold with best snow chances around midweek
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-teens at all elevations are over the Steamboat Springs area late this Sunday morning. A series of Pacific disturbances moving through the Pacific Northwest will keep the cold air around through the work week and bring the best chances for some light accumulating snowfall from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
After three inches of fluffy snow fell on Saturday thanks to unstable and moist flow from our favorable northwest direction, we have some sunshine on this cold Sunday morning thanks to a ridge of high pressure between the departing storm yesterday and an approaching storm currently in Nevada. Unfortunately, the Nevada storm is forecast to head further south and then east across New Mexico by Tuesday, so expect only increasing clouds later today and some overnight and early Monday morning flurries.
Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure is forecast to continue building in the eastern Pacific and direct modest waves of Pacific energy and moisture moving down its east side over our area by later Tuesday. Additionally, the counter-clockwise circulation around a very cold vortex of low pressure over Hudson Bay will allow cold air to be incorporated into these Pacific weather systems, keeping quite cold air over our region through the work week.
Our best chance of snow is forecast to be between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Similar to Saturday, light but persistent fluffy snow could produce 2-5” for the mid-mountain Steamboat ski report on both Wednesday and Thursday morning.
There is some weather forecast model uncertainty as to whether we see some more chances for light snow for the end of the work week and heading into next weekend, though a more active pattern may emerge around the end of next weekend. Be sure to check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon where I hope to have more details on our next snowy pattern.
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