A couple of storms this work week
Sunday, February 5, 2023
Temperatures have warmed into the mid-twenties in the town of Steamboat Springs and near thirty degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort under partly sunny skies this Sunday noon. Breezy winds from the southwest will pick up today ahead of a storm lasting from tonight into Monday night. We’ll see a short break on Tuesday and Tuesday night ahead of the next storm lasting from Wednesday into Thursday morning. Nice weather is then forecast as we head into the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival weekend.
Winds have picked up from the southwest at the higher elevations ahead of a storm that traveled through the Gulf of Alaska on Saturday and crossed the West Coast last night. The storm is forecast to split as it crosses the Great Basin today, with our snowfall dependent upon how much energy and moisture ends up in the northern part of the split. Current forecasts have the cold front moving through our area around midnight, with 3-6” of snow expected for the Monday morning report. Snowfall will continue at lighter rates through the day as cold, moist and unstable flow from our favorable northwest direction follows behind the storm, with another 2-5” expected by Monday night by the time the snowfall tapers off.
Temperatures will take a dive from today, with highs around ten degrees up top and near twenty degrees in town on both Monday and Tuesday, though we may see some sun on Tuesday as a weakening ridge of high pressure quickly moves through the area.
The second storm is currently just south of the Aleutian Islands and is forecast to mix with some cold air originally from Siberia as it moves through the Gulf of Alaska on Monday and crosses the Pacific Northwest Coast on Tuesday. Weather forecast models have trended stronger with the storm, though there is uncertainty with the timing, with the best snowfall starting between Wednesday afternoon and evening along with increasing windy conditions as the day progresses. We could see 4-8” by the Thursday morning report with another inch or two possible in the morning if enough moisture lingers in our favorable cool and unstable northwest flow.
Meanwhile, another Pacific storm is forecast to mix with more cold air originally from Siberia and approach the West Coast next weekend. Weather forecast models tentatively agree that some sort of eddy will form, and a ridge of high pressure ahead of that eddy over the Intermountain West means warming temperatures and lots of sun to end our work week and start the weekend.
That eddy but more likely another upstream storm may affect our weather during the following work week, so stay tuned to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for a better idea of when the next stormy pattern emerges.
