Warming temperatures to be accompanied by shower chances around midweek
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Temperatures are in the low-80s under mostly sunny skies late this Sunday afternoon in Steamboat Springs. We may see a few degrees of warming through midweek, with modest shower chances on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by drying and upper 80s to close out the workweek. Moisture may return around next weekend.
The cloudburst over the Steamboat Ski Resort yesterday afternoon typified the not-unusual brief, locally heavy rain, strong gusty winds and small hail associated with summertime thunderstorms. The temperature fell over 15 degrees, from the low 70s to the high 50s in the half-hour centered at 2:15, with 2 tenths of an inch of rain near the base, 3 tenths downstream of Fish Creek Falls, and a tenth downtown.
That adds to the Wednesday night rainfall, where the town reported 7 tenths of an inch of rain, while I measured 3 tenths near the base of the mountain.
Today and Monday will be dry, with high temperatures right around the falling 82-degree average. A storm moving through the Gulf of Alaska has split, with most of the storm headed southward, well off the coast of California, and the rest forecast to graze our area on Wednesday.
We may see a modicum of moisture drawn northward ahead of the northern part of the split storm on Tuesday, for a small chance of late-day showers, and a better chance on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure that was over the Southeast has been oozing westward as a trough of low pressure descends on the Great Lakes. The ridge will build over the West after midweek behind the departing storm, with dry days on Thursday and Friday and high temperatures in the upper 80s.
The southern part of the split storm is forecast to be kicked eastward by a storm forecast to move across the Aleutian Islands by the weekend, crossing the West Coast late in the workweek or early in the weekend. Southerly winds ahead of the storm may funnel another round of monsoonal moisture northward over our area during the weekend, bringing the return of shower chances and cooler temperatures, though the timing is uncertain.
So enjoy another summery week, and I’ll have more details about the shower chances for next weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
