Friday snow chances fizzling

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Temperatures are in the low thirties under mostly cloudy skies this Thursday noon in Steamboat Springs. Snowfall chances for Friday have considerably diminished as an approaching storm looks to stay mostly south of our area, but some sun on Saturday and warming temperatures for Sunday and most of the next work week are still in the weather forecast.

A broad trough of low pressure currently extends from the West Coast across the Mississippi River Valley. A weak storm in Nevada will be guided mostly south of our area as it moves through the low pressure area, with showers possible from this afternoon through Friday. Accumulations will be hard to come by, with a only modest chance of up to several inches of snow occurring at mid mountain by later Friday at the Steamboat Ski Resort.

The storm will move through New Mexico early on Friday and Texas later in the day, and will eventually be responsible for the rain likely around Baltimore on Sunday for the AFC Championship Game. But after some cool air behind the storm briefly visits our area Saturday morning, a ridge of high pressure moves over the West that will be with us for most of the rest of the work week.

Some sun will be around for Saturday, but moisture moving through the ridge of high pressure will bring the clouds back for most of Sunday, with high temperatures in town rising from the low thirties to start the weekend, just above our average of 30 F, to the upper thirties to end the weekend.

Warming temperatures around the forty degree mark are forecast to start the work week with increasing sunshine, and we could see low forties by midweek. Enjoy the break in the winter weather as longer range weather forecast models have a cooler and wetter pattern advertised starting by next weekend, and I’ll be back Sunday afternoon with my next regularly scheduled weather narrative to update that possibility.