Beautiful Memorial Day to be followed by Tuesday showers
Monday, May 25, 2026
Temperatures are around 70 degrees, on their way to the upper seventies, under mostly sunny skies late this Memorial Day morning in Steamboat Springs. While there may be a chance of showers today, shower chances are good on a cooler Tuesday before decreasing again for the rest of the workweek.
A complex weather pattern is over the western U.S. with a large eddy of low pressure moving southward along the Pacific Northwest coast, two small low pressure areas over Arizona and eastern Texas, and a ridge of high pressure over the northern Rockies.
Some moisture from the Arizona storm will be drawn northward by the southerly winds ahead of the Pacific Northwest storm today, bringing some clouds this afternoon with chances for some showers. But that won’t stop high temperatures from reaching into the high 70s, almost 10 degrees above our 69-degree average.
The Arizona storm will shear apart as it moves northward on Tuesday, combining with moisture moving around the eastern Texas storm and bringing a good chance of afternoon and evening showers, perhaps starting before noon, and cooler temperatures in the low 70s.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest storm is forecast to stall over northern California by midweek, with its southerly winds now carrying drier air overhead on what might be a mostly sunny Wednesday, allowing high temperatures to rise back to the upper 70s.
However the Texas storm will also be moving northward across Kansas by Wednesday, with the weak counterclockwise winds around the storm perhaps bringing some moisture back to Colorado. There is some uncertainty regarding the westward extent of this moisture on Wednesday, with the American GFS having a chance of late-day storms. Weather forecast models are more in agreement on Thursday for a chance of late-day showers, but not before temperatures reach around 80 degrees.
While that stalled northern California eddy is forecast to finally move northeastward around Friday, it may or may not be close enough to affect the weekend weather. So enjoy the traditional Memorial Day barbecues on this beautiful, unofficial first day of the summer season, and I’ll have more details on the coming weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
