Dry and warmer weather to follow small storms later today and Tuesday
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Temperatures are in the mid-thirties in the town of Steamboat Springs and mid-teens near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort under mostly cloudy skies this Sunday noon. A couple of small storms will bring chances for snow later today and Tuesday with nice weather for Monday and midweek lasting into the weekend.
We’ve had the warmest morning in town since the end of November with a low temperature of twenty degrees, almost fifteen degrees above our average of 6 F, thanks to overnight clouds acting like a blanket. A piece of the approaching storm brought some snow showers last evening, and more snow showers should arrive later today and tonight as the rest of the storm passes to our north, with 1-4” possible at mid-mountain.
A quick-moving ridge of high pressure on Monday ahead of our next storm, which is currently moving through the Gulf of Alaska, will bring a pleasant day with mostly sunny skies, though clearing by Monday morning means another cold start to the day.
The next storm is moving in from the Pacific Northwest, a more favorable direction than this last storm which crossed California, thanks to moisture sneaking through first the Cascades along the Columbia River Basin and then the Boise River Basin, rather than being interrupted by the Sierra Nevadas.
Snow showers should start before noon on Tuesday and continue through the day and evening as winds shift to be from our favorable northwest direction. We could see 2-5” reported at mid-mountain for the Wednesday morning ski report if the storm keeps trending in the more favorable direction.
Meanwhile, a large and complex storm is forecast to develop over the Aleutian Islands, forcing a ridge of high pressure to build ahead of the storm. Pieces of energy ejecting from the storm will keep the ridge moving eastward and toward our area, bringing mostly sunny skies by Wednesday. Temperatures will warm at the higher elevations, though clear skies and light winds may redevelop a pesky temperature inversion and keep the Yampa Valley on the cool side, with high temperatures in the thirties, compared to our average of 30 F.
A grazing wave moving over the top of the high pressure ridge may influence our weather on Thursday, with current forecasts keeping us dry and breezy, which may help mix the cold air at the bottom of the Yampa Valley, breaking the temperature inversion and allowing high temperatures to approach the forties.
That Aleutian storm is forecast to move eastward, and may eventually help the weather pattern become colder and wetter as energy ejecting out of the storm begins interacting with the ridge of high pressure over the West near the end of next weekend or early the following workweek.
So enjoy the snow that we do get, and of course the nice weather after the storms, and I’ll have more details on the possible pattern change in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
