Near-record cold arrives with some snow Friday night
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Bluebird skies are over Steamboat Springs late this Thursday morning, and while temperatures are in the mid-teens in town, they have done nothing but warm from the mid-teens yesterday afternoon to the upper-twenties near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Soak up the beautiful day today as Friday marks a transition to a frigid, near-record-cold arctic outbreak that will engulf our area by Friday night and last through the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Snow showers will accompany the front and continue behind it, and though there is limited moisture, surprisingly high snow totals might occur due to its very low density.
An eddy of low pressure off the southern California coast trapped under a ridge of high pressure over the West Coast has turned our mountain-top winds from the cold northwest to the warm southwest. While this has warmed the upper elevations, the Yampa Valley will only reach around five to ten degrees below our normal high temperature of 29 F as a stout temperature inversion, where air warms as elevation increases, blocks the warm air aloft from mixing down.
Clouds should increase on Friday, and if they appear before sunrise our low temperatures may warm above our average of 5 F for the first time in almost a week as they act like a blanket to insulate the surface. Otherwise, expect subzero low temperatures to start the day again.
The arctic cold front looks to pass through our area within several hours of sunset Friday. While moisture is limited in the very cold air, snow ratios could be inflated, similar to the monster accumulation last Saturday night, due to the unstable air and ideal temperatures for dendrites, the classic branched snowflake, to form.
While the conservative forecast calls for 3-6” of snow by the Saturday morning report, with an additional 1-4” during the day, a particularly optimistic model has over a foot by the report and two feet by the evening. This sometimes-right but often-wrong model was closest in predicting last weekend’s storm, so keep an eye on the mid-mountain Powdercam and the upper-mountain Powdercam!
Temperatures will plummet behind the front, only reaching around zero degrees up top on Saturday and around ten degrees in town. Overnight lows for Sunday could be in the minus-teens at all elevations, with light snow showers possible in the bitterly cold air.
Another push of even colder air is forecast for Monday, and after another morning with well below-zero low temperatures, high temperatures in town may not reach the record coldest high temperature of 8 F for the date. Tuesday morning will be the coldest period in this arctic outbreak, with lows in the minus-twenties, and if skies clear we could be threatening the coldest low temperature of -34 F for the date.
So enjoy the beautiful day today, hope for the more optimistic snow forecast that starts this arctic outbreak and prepare for the dangerously frigid temperatures. Check back for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon where I hope to discuss moderating temperatures for at least some of the workweek.
