Nice start to the workweek followed by increasing shower chances
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Temperatures are just below 65 degrees with mostly sunny skies in Steamboat Springs this Sunday mid-afternoon. After a nice start to the workweek, shower chances increase from the moisture associated with yet another decaying hurricane, our third so far this year, and depend upon the evolution of a Gulf of Alaska trough and its interaction with the hurricane. Next weekend’s weather outlook will depend on how these features interact, and the eventual effects of another storm moving through the Gulf of Alaska.
A storm off the Vancouver coast is splitting, with the southern part of the storm forecast to form an eddy off the California coast by Tuesday. Additionally, a weak area of low pressure lies over the southern California border, and Hurricane Trudy is south of the Baja Peninsula.
As the Vancouver storm elongates southward, southwest winds ahead of the storm will carry the Southern California low northeastward, bringing some clouds and a small chance of a shower late Monday afternoon. High temperatures will once again rise to the low-to-mid 60s, above our 58-degree average.
Similar weather is forecast for Tuesday, before moisture from the northward-moving Hurricane Trudy is ingested into the southwest winds ahead of the developing California eddy.
Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure over Texas starts building by midweek, just as the California eddy begins moving eastward. While the forecast initially called for likely rain around or soon after midweek for a day or two, the Texas ridge may complicate the eddy’s movement and its interaction with the remnants of Trudy, perhaps slowing or splitting the eddy.
The ridge will be close enough for another several degrees of warming on Wednesday, with shower chances later in the day dependent upon the proximity of the eddy. Similar uncertainty extends into Thursday, with another Gulf of Alaska storm crossing the Vancouver coast and adding additional forecast uncertainty for the end of the workweek and the weekend.
Until then, the local trails have dried out nicely behind last week’s storm, so enjoy the pleasant weather to start the workweek, and I’ll have more details on the evolving storms in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Beautiful and seasonable weekend ahead
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Temperatures have reached 50 degrees under mostly sunny skies late this Thursday afternoon in Steamboat Springs after several wet, stormy days, including significant high-elevation snowfall overnight. After a chilly Friday morning with low temperatures in the teens, the season’s coldest so far, mostly clear skies and temperatures warming into the seasonable low-60s are forecast for a beautiful weekend.
The wet weather came from the remnants of former Hurricane Rachel, steered overhead by a cold Northern Pacific storm, which eventually brought our upper-elevation snowfall. Mid-mountain received 5” of snow from late Wednesday afternoon through this morning, with 8” recorded at the top.
Snow levels fell to 8,000′, with even some snowflakes in town late yesterday afternoon and again early this morning.
Precipitation since last Saturday was impressive, with about 0.4” during that day, 0.3” on both Monday and Tuesday, and as much as an inch yesterday, bringing about 2” of beneficial moisture, just shy of the 2.2” monthly average.
But we are drying out through the weekend and into next week as a ridge of high pressure builds and moves over the West behind the departing storm and ahead of a cold storm developing in the Gulf of Alaska. And with clearing skies behind a cold storm, expect temperatures to plummet tonight to the coldest of the season so far, reaching the teens, well below the 26-degree average.
High temperatures will warm to around our average of 59 degrees on Friday despite the cold start, and reach the low 60s for a beautiful weekend under mostly sunny skies. Low temperatures will also rise into the mid-to-upper 20s on Saturday morning and the low 30s on Sunday morning.
The beautiful weather will extend into the next workweek as the intensifying Gulf of Alaska storm is deflected to our north by the western ridge of high pressure. However, the remnants of former Typhoon Koguma, now south of the Aleutian Islands and expected to ingest cold air traveling south across Alaska, are forecast to form another elongated trough of low pressure off the West Coast by Tuesday, similar to this past storm.
Longer-range weather forecast models have the southern part of the storm forming an eddy around California, traversing the Great Basin through midweek, and possibly affecting our area just after midweek. So enjoy the gorgeous weekend ahead, and I’ll have more details about the incoming storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
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.
Pattern change with active weather to start Saturday
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Temperatures are in the mid-70s, well above our 63-degree average, under mostly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. Another summery day on Friday will precede an active weather pattern starting Saturday due to a Gulf of Alaska storm interacting with not one, but two tropical disturbances over the next week. While we will see cooling temperatures with showery periods through the weekend, the heavier precipitation does not arrive until after, with the season’s first snowfall likely at the Steamboat Ski Resort by midweek.
A trough of low pressure that extended south from the Aleutian Islands yesterday has split, with the northern part of the split traveling across the Gulf of Alaska. The storm will intensify on Friday as it ingests cold air from eastern Alaska and western Canada, elongating southward along the West Coast on Saturday before it absorbs former Hurricane Rachel, now well west of the Baja Peninsula.
While the complex storm is forecast to continue elongating southward along the West Coast through Columbus Day, increasing southwest winds ahead of the storm will carry some energy overhead by Saturday, leading to a chance of showers during the day. Showers will intensify overnight as moisture from Rachel is carried over Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
The best moisture will be to our west on Sunday as the remnants of Rachel are carried over Nevada and Utah, but shower chances will remain over our area, with high temperatures cooling from a 70-degree Saturday into the mid-60s.
The storm is forecast to form an eddy by Columbus Day just off the southern California coast and move eastward across the Great Basin on Tuesday. Some dry air is now forecast to be carried over our area ahead of the eddy, perhaps providing a break in the showers Monday and possibly Tuesday.
Additionally, Tropical Storm Simon, now well south of the Baja Peninsula and soon to strengthen into a hurricane, will move slowly northward through the weekend. It may be close enough to be ingested into the complex storm by midweek, though current forecasts have it affecting areas to our south and east by midweek.
Finally, the incoming eddy will be cold: cold enough for accumulating snow at the Steamboat Ski Resort on Wednesday, and possibly some snowflakes in town by Thursday. But lots of moving pieces before the season’s first snowfall can be predicted with certainty, so enjoy what is left of our summery weather, and I’ll have more details on the mercurial incoming storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Small chance of showers to briefly interrupt more summery weather
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Temperatures are already near 70 degrees under sunny skies in Steamboat Springs on this Sunday at noon. Other than a brief increase in cloudiness early in the workweek, with a small chance of a shower, our summery stretch of weather will continue into next weekend. Soak up the summery weather now, however, as an abrupt change to more seasonable weather may occur soon after.
The fall color spectacle has been great this year, despite its late arrival and the warnings of dull color. Leaves above 9.000′ are falling as the color migrates to the lower elevations.
A ridge of high pressure over the West is responsible for this stretch of spectacular weather. A weak area of low pressure approaching the central California coast is forecast to cross the Great Basin through Tuesday, though the clouds and only a slight chance of a shower will not keep high temperatures from the mid-70s, above our 65-degree average.
Differences between some of the short-range models mean clouds may arrive as soon as late Monday, with clearing afterwards, or as late as late Tuesday, lasting into Wednesday, with the later arrival perhaps accompanied by a slight chance of a shower.
Otherwise, mostly sunny skies return for the rest of the workweek, with the beautiful weather extending into at least the start of next weekend. However, changes occurring in the Eastern Pacific this week portend changes occurring over our area by mid-weekend, or early the following workweek.
A wave in the jet stream ahead of the northeastward-moving Super Typhoon Choi-Wan off the southeast coast of Japan will strengthen as cold Arctic air pours through the Bering Straight. The wave will elongate and split near the Dateline by midweek, move through the Gulf of Alaska, and approach the Pacific Northwest coast by early in the weekend. Additionally, Hurricane Rachel, southwest of Baja, may also interact with the incoming storm after it crosses the Pacific Northwest coast.
While the ridge of high pressure over the West will offer some resistance, the incoming storm will eventually win, bringing below-average temperatures and a chance of the season’s first snowfall above mid-mountain at the Steamboat Ski Resort. Lots of moving pieces need to interact before any certainty can be added to the forecast, which I hope to have in time for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Until then, get outside and enjoy the certainty of another summery week, accompanied by the bedazzling fall color spectacle.
