Temperatures to cool toward eighty degrees by Sunday
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Temperatures reached the mid and upper eighties early this Thursday afternoon in Steamboat Springs, but have cooled a bit thanks to a passing shower near the Steamboat Ski Resort that left no measurable rain. Today will likely be the warmest day through the weekend while Sunday will likely be the coolest with high temperatures only reaching around eighty degrees. Shower chances are highest on Friday and decrease considerably for the weekend.
A stout ridge of high pressure extending from the Mexican Plateau through the Intermountain West toward the Arctic Circle is sandwiched between areas of low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska and Hudson Bay. None of these features will move much through the weekend, leaving our area under the influence of subtle features moving southward through the jet stream.
One such feature is a wave of energy currently moving through Montana that is forecast to graze our area on Friday. High temperatures will drop a few degrees toward the mid-eighties along with the best chance for showers through the weekend. However, moisture is limited, so generally only meager precipitation amounts are expected, but a localized thunderstorm could produce brief moderate to heavy rain along with gusty winds.
Slightly drier air behind the eave will bring a degree or two of cooling for Saturday even as slim afternoon and evening shower chances persist.
The Gulf of Alaska low pressure area is forecast to move across the Gulf of Alaska through the weekend, squeezing and amplifying the ridge of high pressure over the Intermountain West. Fortunately, our area will be on the eastern side of this ridge, allowing cool air from the north spinning around the Hudson Bay vortex to drop our high temperature on Sunday toward eighty degrees, almost five degrees below our average of 84 F and our first below-average day in almost two weeks.
There is dry air lurking underneath the ridge of high pressure centered to our west, and it is not clear yet if that will be close enough on Sunday for another day with only slim shower chances.
Not much change in the jet stream is forecast until later in the work week as the Gulf of Alaska storm makes landfall around Vancouver and pushes the ridge of high pressure eastward, perhaps opening the door to some monsoonal moisture from the southwest on the backside of the ridge. So enjoy the pleasant weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for more details about that possible pattern change.
