Storm to bring the first snow to the Steamboat Ski Resort by midweek
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Steamboat Springs is drying out this Sunday at noon after receiving as much as a half inch of rain on Saturday ahead of an approaching storm. Showers later today and Columbus Day will pick up on Tuesday as a Pacific Northwest storm approaches, bringing the season’s first snowfall to the Steamboat Ski Resort starting Tuesday night. Cold temperatures in town with highs in the 50s and lows below freezing will accompany the storm’s cold front, with precipitation on Wednesday clearing by Thursday. Warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies will end the workweek and persist through the weekend and into the following workweek.
A cold, elongated trough of low pressure extending southwestward from the Pacific Northwest has captured the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel, with eastern Nevada and western Utah forecast to receive the best precipitation through tonight.
Southwest winds ahead of the storm carried some moisture from Rachel overhead on Saturday, with some temporary drying through mid-afternoon today before showers pick up again tonight. High temperatures will be about 70 degrees today, above the 61-degree average, with gusty southerly winds. Columbus Day will see possible showers throughout the day, with highs in the low-to-mid 60s, as the trough of low pressure evolves into an eddy and travels through the Great Basin beginning Monday night.
Shower chances increase on Tuesday and become likely by Tuesday night as the Great Basin eddy reaches the western Colorado border, bringing a cold front through our area. Snow levels will fall from about 10,000′ to 9000′ from Tuesday night through Wednesday, when we should see the bulk of the precipitation. Snow above as low as 8,500′ and rain below will transition to showers and continue into Thursday morning in the favorable cool, moist, unstable northwest flow behind the storm, with 3-6” of snow possible above mid-mountain. Be sure to keep an eye on the Steamboat Powdercam during the storm as the season’s first snowfall accumulates!
High temperatures in town may struggle to reach 50 degrees on a raw, rainy Wednesday, with highs in the mid-50s on a clearing Thursday, and lows in town falling below freezing for the first time this season. Even colder lows in the mid-20s are likely Friday morning as the clear skies behind the storm allow for efficient nighttime cooling.
Temperatures warm into the 60s under mostly sunny skies to end the workweek as a ridge of high pressure moves over the West ahead of a developing storm in the Gulf of Alaska. So enjoy the nice afternoon today, brace for the midweek storm, and look forward to a picturesque, snow-capped Mt. Werner on Thursday. I’ll have more details on the likely pleasant weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
