Weekend to see likely showers, ending with cooler temperatures
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Mostly sunny skies and temperatures headed toward the upper 80s are over Steamboat Springs this Thursday mid-afternoon. Along with another couple of hot days on Friday and Saturday, the second of two storms moving through the Pacific Northwest will bring a good chance of showers starting on Saturday and continuing through Sunday night. A weak cool front will graze our area by Sunday, bringing the first below-average temperatures in 2 weeks.
A persistent ridge of high pressure over the Rockies will be weakened and moved eastward by a couple of storms rotating through the Pacific Northwest, but not before bringing another four 90-degree days between last Wednesday and Saturday, highlighted by the 95 degrees on Friday, which tied last year’s record for the date.
That brings the tally of 90-degree-or-above days through last Monday to 28, including 17 in July, the hottest month in our recorded history, and 11 so far this month, one short of the record 29 days in 2002.
But moisture is on the way as the two Pacific Northwest storms weaken and push the high-pressure eastward. While the first is already rotating to the northeast toward Canada, a mass of cool air moving southward through the Gulf of Alaska will strengthen the second storm as it moves through Washington and Oregon on Saturday, and northern Idaho and Montana on Sunday.
A small chance of late-day storms will be possible on another hot Friday, possibly continuing overnight, with high temperatures again in the upper 80s, well above the 79-degree average. By Saturday, the high-pressure ridge will have moved far enough east so monsoonal moisture wrapping around its backside can combine with energy ejecting out of the second Pacific Northwest storm. Shower chances become likely by Saturday afternoon and evening, with cloud cover cooling high temperatures to near 85 degrees.
Storms could produce brief, heavy rain, gusty winds, and small hail as they interact with energy ejecting out of the second Pacific Northwest storm. They may continue overnight Saturday, with shower chances staying high on a cooler Sunday, with high temperatures in the mid-70s, our first below-average day in 2 weeks.
While shower chances decrease on a Monday with average temperatures, they may become likely again on Tuesday as another storm develops in the Gulf of Alaska and moves southward, perhaps interacting with a forecast tropical storm.
The weather is becoming active again as the jet stream strengthens and moves southward, coincident with the loss of daylight in the northern latitudes and just in time for meteorological fall, beginning September 1st. Even though we are close to the 1.61” average rainfall for this month and were above the 1.72” in July by a half inch, hope for beneficial rainfall this weekend, and I’ll have more details about the possible influence of a tropical storm early next week in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
