Spectacular weather to continue through most of Labor Day weekend
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Bluebird skies, breezes from the west and northwest, and temperatures in the upper-seventies are gracing the Steamboat Springs area this Thursday mid-afternoon. Temperatures will slowly rise to the low-eighties under sunny skies by Saturday which should mark the warmest day of the upcoming week. Moisture is then forecast to begin increasing on Sunday, bringing some afternoon clouds, with more moisture on Monday bringing more clouds and perhaps even slim shower chances.
A storm cruising across the southern Canadian Prairies is responsible for the breezy conditions and cooler temperatures than yesterday, which officially reached 83 F, a bit warmer than our average of 79 F. But a ridge of high pressure behind the storm and ahead of another storm strengthening over the Aleutian Islands is forecast to build over the West through the weekend, bringing more sunny skies and warming temperatures that will again be almost five degrees above average on Saturday.
The dry air overhead has also resulted in cool mornings with temperatures around our average of 40 F as there is sparse moisture aloft to trap the surface heat. That begins to change by Sunday as the ridge of high pressure is forced eastward by the eastward-moving Aleutian storm. Additionally, a piece of the Canadian Plains storm, left behind over the eastern Pacific in the form of an eddy, is forecast to make landfall near the border between California and Oregon on Labor Day.
The result will be a trickle of monsoonal moisture entering our area by Sunday for some afternoon clouds, and continuing on Labor Day for more afternoon clouds and only the slightest chance for a late-day shower. High temperatures will drop a degree or two on Sunday, and that again on Monday toward average as clouds block some sunshine. But the increasing moisture will also modestly insulate the earth’s surface and allow low temperatures to warm into the mid-forties.
So enjoy the spectacular weather through much of the long Labor Day weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon to see if the showers stay away for the ubiquitous Labor Day barbeques.
