Increasingly hot and dry weather ahead of cool front to arrive Thursday
Sunday, July 6, 2025
A sunny and cool Sunday morning in Steamboat Springs follows over an inch of needed rain on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. High temperatures will rise under mostly sunny skies from the mid-eighties today toward the ninety-degree mark on Wednesday before a couple of cool fronts arrive on Thursday and Friday.
After a relatively dry June when only 0.58” of precipitation fell, an inch shy of average, a well-advertised cool front this last Thursday night brought just over an inch of rain to town, right after the first ninety-degree day of the season was reached on Wednesday. The cooler temperatures on Independence Day inhibited further showers, but warmer temperatures on Saturday acted on the lingering moisture to produce another couple of tenths of an inch of rain from a strong thunderstorm that moved through just before 2 pm.
Aside from a small chance of an afternoon shower today, rain chances are near nil through midweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West ahead of an eddy of low pressure that formed off the coast of northern California. Mid-eighty-degree high temperatures are forecast for today and Monday, with upper eighties for Tuesday and another ninety-degree day likely on Wednesday.
Similar to last week, a storm rotating through the Gulf of Alaska and eventually the Pacific Northwest will drag the California eddy eastward, crossing the Great Basin late on Wednesday and bringing a cool front through our area on Thursday. However, unlike the last storm, there will be no moisture drawn northward from the Mexican Plateau, crimping the chance of showers when the front moves through.
High temperatures on Thursday will fall back to a degree or two above our average of eighty-three degrees with some westerly breezes. Another degree or two of cooling is advertised for Friday, with northwesterly breezes, as trailing energy behind the Pacific Northwest storm drags another cool front through our area by morning.
Enjoy the very summery start to the workweek and check back for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon, where I’ll have the details on what is looking like a warm and dry weekend ahead.
Likely rain chances to start the Independence Day weekend
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Temperatures are near eighty degrees under partly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. An approaching storm will combine with subtropical moisture to bring likely rain chances starting tonight that will linger through a cooler Independence Day. Mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures return starting Saturday for a beautiful end to the long holiday weekend that will last into the following workweek.
Southerly winds ahead of an area of low pressure moving through the Great Basin have drawn moisture pooling over the Mexican Plateau northward. The upward motion associated with the storm, combined with this moisture, brings likely chances for wetting rains starting this evening.
Thanks to the heating during the day, which cooks the atmosphere, we could see moderate to strong thunderstorms this evening with periods of heavy rainfall, small hail, and gusty winds. The thunderstorm threat diminishes overnight, but does not disappear, as rain showers might transition to a gentler and steadier rain.
A cool front associated with the storm will pass through early Independence Day morning, continuing shower chances through some of the morning. Refreshingly cooler high temperatures approaching eighty degrees may be accompanied by some afternoon sun and a renewed chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
Much drier air invades our area behind the storm starting on a mostly sunny Saturday, with high temperatures right around our average of eighty-two degrees. The mid-eighties are forecast for a mostly sunny Sunday, with lots of sun and even warmer temperatures for the following workweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West.
The NOAA Smoke Plume model, which is run four times a day, is showing hazy skies on Saturday as smoke from the large Madrid wildfire in southern California, ignited just yesterday, is transported across the Great Basin by southwest winds. If the smoky skies materialize, they may persist for several days as clockwise winds rotate around the building high pressure system over the West.
So enjoy the rapidly improving Fourth of July weekend, hope for the needed moisture to start the long weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for details on next week’s warmth.
