Two winter storms to start and end the workweek
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Bluebird skies and temperatures in the mid-thirties at all elevations are over Steamboat Springs late this Sunday morning. Enjoy the last full day of springlike weather that started last week ahead of increasing clouds by Monday afternoon, heralding the arrival of the first of two winter storms that will bring significant snows to start and end the workweek.
An eddy of low pressure approaching the Texas Panhandle has stayed south of our area, keeping our stretch of sunny days uninterrupted for today. But that changes on Monday as a splitting storm along the West Coast moves inland. Most of the storm energy will be in the southern part of the split, forming an eddy that moves across the Great Basin early Monday and Colorado Monday night.
After a mostly sunny start to Monday, clouds will overspread the area around noon ahead of a cold front in the afternoon, bringing moderate to heavy snow showers that will last through midnight. Snowfall rates around an inch an hour or more at times may lead to difficult travel over Rabbit Ears Pass.
Snowfall rates will decrease for a time by Tuesday morning ahead of a secondary cold front associated with the northern part of the split dragging cool air from western Canada down the Rockies. We could see 5-10” of snow reported at mid-mountain at the Steamboat Ski Resort by Tuesday morning before snow showers restart by the afternoon in our favorable cool, moist and unstable northwest flow behind the storm.
We could see another 3-6” fall between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, with snow showers grudgingly ending by noon. A short break in the weather will last into Thursday before the next and perhaps more significant storm brings another round of accumulating snowfall from Thursday afternoon into Saturday morning.
While we may see a brief return of springlike weather after these two storms, enjoy today’s gorgeous warm weather and the winter weather to start the workweek, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for more details on the second winter storm.
