Weekend to turn unsettled ahead of an approaching wintry storm
Thursday, May 14, 2026
After a weak cool front passed through Steamboat Springs last evening, temperatures are around 70 degrees under sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon. Temperatures will rise into the mid-seventies under mostly sunny skies to start the weekend, with increasing clouds, winds, and eventual shower chances by later Saturday ahead of a wintry storm approaching from the northwest. The storm will move overhead in pieces through the early workweek, leaving much colder temperatures and significant precipitation by Monday night, with some snow possible in town.
A flat ridge of high pressure ahead of an advancing storm in the Gulf of Alaska will bring mostly sunny skies to our area on Friday and Saturday morning, with afternoon breezes and temperatures rising into the mid-70s, around 10 degrees above our 64-degree average. The storm is forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest around Friday night, ingesting cold air from western Canada as it moves into the Great Basin on Saturday.
Winds and clouds will increase by Saturday afternoon, and additional Pacific energy slingshotting around the storm will bring an increasing chance of late-day showers that may continue into the overnight. Cooler temperatures in the mid-60s will follow on Sunday, with uncertain shower chances, as they depend upon the eventual strength, track, and timing of the evolving storm to our west.
But a strong cold front should be arriving Monday morning, with much colder temperatures likely struggling to reach 50 degrees, accompanied by possible snowfall at all elevations. I’ll have more to say about that in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon, so until then, enjoy the beautiful start to the weekend, and look forward to another round of precipitation.
