Precipitation and cooler temperatures to return this weekend
Thursday, March 27, 2025
After a sunny morning, skies have clouded over this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs with temperatures in the upper-fifties in town and mid-forties at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Today will be the warmest day of the upcoming week as a series of Pacific disturbances bring cooler temperatures and precipitation back to our area starting Friday night.
An impressive storm off the Pacific Northwest coast will chaotically eject several waves of energy and moisture through the weekend. Initially, energy will be shunted to our north early on Friday as it encounters the ridge of high pressure over the West, which was responsible for our gorgeous spring weather this past week.
Two additional waves of ejecting energy will eventually break down the ridge, with the first cooling temperatures and starting precipitation around Friday night. While temperatures cool, they will still be warm, with mountain-top temperatures on Saturday reaching above freezing and high temperatures in town in the forties, below our average of fifty degrees. I would expect 1-4” at mid-mountain by the Saturday morning report.
The second wave moves across our area Saturday night, bringing another round of snow in cooler, but certainly not cold, temperatures. It may, however, be cold enough to freeze the upper-mountain snow surface, with another 1-4” possible at mid-mountain.
Meanwhile, as the Pacific Northwest storm disintegrates by the end of the weekend, cold air moving south from Alaska creates a replacement storm by Friday that will similarly approach the Pacific Northwest coast by Monday. Right now, a colder and possibly wetter storm is forecast for Tuesday.
Enjoy the changeable spring weather of the Rockies, and check back for more details on the possible Tuesday storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Some clouds Monday to be followed by warm and dry weather for most of the workweek
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Temperatures are in the upper thirties in Steamboat Springs and upper teens at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort under some passing clouds at noon on this Sunday. After the chance of light high-elevation snow showers early Monday, passing clouds and temperatures in the fifties will yield to mostly sunny skies and mid-fifty-degree temperatures on Tuesday before sixties are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. Unsettled weather then returns as soon as Friday and persists through the weekend.
After the disappointing weekend storm that severely underperformed relative to the model forecasts, a ridge of high pressure is building over the West ahead of a strong storm forecast to develop in the eastern Pacific. While the shorter-range models correctly forecast the storm last Tuesday and Wednesday, they regressed for this past weekend. One model blend I look at is run four times a day, and snowfall amounts from the Saturday forecasts for Sunday morning decreased from 10”, to 4.7”, to 2.5”, to 0.7 inches. Our storms often underperform in the presence of warming temperatures, and perhaps this is the culprit, though the lack of consistency makes the job for this forecaster difficult.
Though temperatures are warming, some light high-elevation snow showers are possible through early Monday as Pacific moisture rounds the top of the ridge in our favorable northwest flow. Winds will be breezy, especially at the higher elevations today and Monday thanks to the proximity of the jet stream, with gusts as high as 50 mph possible under mostly cloudy skies.
The ridge of high pressure is forecast to move east through the workweek, with temperatures in town warming from near fifty degrees on Monday despite the clouds, just above our average of 48 F, to the mid-fifties on Tuesday and mid-sixties on Wednesday under mostly sunny skies.
Some high-level moisture slingshot around the eastern Pacific storm will increase clouds on Thursday, but will not dent our mid-sixty-degree high temperatures in town. As the storm moves toward the West Coast, we may see some light showers on Friday with more energy and moisture ejecting from storm bringing good snow chances back to our area for the weekend.
So relish the warm spring midweek weather, and be sure to check back for more details about the possible weekend snow in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Weak storm tonight to be followed by stronger storm on Saturday
Thursday, March 20, 2025
The sunny skies early this Thursday morning on the first day of spring have turned cloudy by late morning in Steamboat Springs with temperatures in the upper-twenties in town and fifteen degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. A weak storm tonight will be followed by a much stronger storm starting Friday night that lasts into Sunday.
A weakening wave of energy and moisture in the northwest-to-southeast oriented jet stream has crossed the Pacific Northwest coast last night and will move overhead tonight. While the winds will be from our favorable northwest direction and cold air accompanies the storm, limited moisture may only produce an inch or two by the Friday morning mid-mountain report as flurries end by the afternoon.
A much stronger, but warmer, storm has incorporated the remnants of an atmospheric river from the central Pacific and is already bringing precipitation to the Pacific Northwest coast. The center of the storm is forecast to move across Idaho Friday night and Wyoming on Saturday, but energy and moisture moving through the southern part of the storm will bring accumulating snow to our area starting Friday night.
There is limited cold air associated with the storm, and mountain-top temperatures in the twenties will create denser snow than we saw with the storm starting Tuesday at noon that left 10” of high-quality powder at mid-mountain and 15” up top by noon on Wednesday. That storm also featured snowfall rates of one and a half inches per hour at mid-mountain and two inches per hour up top between 11:15 am and 4:40 pm.
Snowfall should start Friday evening, and pick up around midnight with snowfall rates over an inch per hour at times, leading to 3-6” by the Saturday morning mid-mountain report. Another 4-8” may fall during the day with the storm winding down Saturday night after an additional 2-5” by Sunday morning.
While snow showers may linger Sunday morning, they should end for a time as a ridge of high pressure begins to build over the West Coast behind the storm and ahead of a strong storm forecast to develop over the Aleutian Islands by Friday. A weak wave of energy and moisture rounding the top of the building ridge may bring some non-accumulating and high-elevation showers on Monday, but warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies should be with us for the workweek starting Tuesday.
High temperatures in town through the weekend will be cool and only in the high thirties to low forties, between five and ten degrees below our average of 47 F. But we should be near average by Monday despite the clouds before high temperatures warm into the sixties by midweek under mostly sunny skies.
So savor the last wintry storm in this series that started Tuesday, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for more details on what’s looking like a very nice springlike workweek.
Next winter storm to arrive Tuesday
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Skies have briefly cleared this Sunday mid-morning in Steamboat Springs with temperatures near freezing in town and low-teens at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Warming temperatures today and more so on Monday will precede another strong winter storm starting early Tuesday that will linger through Wednesday. After a nice start to Thursday, appropriately marking the first day of spring, wintry weather returns Thursday night.
Not sure what to make of the morning ski report as three and a half inches were reported at mid-mountain and four inches up top, with no snow overnight, even though the mid-mountain powdercam and the upper mountain powdercam clearly showed accumulating snowfall after the hill closed. Regardless, mostly sunny skies have briefly appeared behind the winter storm, helping afternoon temperatures warm to near forty degrees in town today, about five degrees below our average of 45 F.
The dry skies result from a ridge of high pressure moving across the West ahead of another winter storm approaching the West Coast. Temperatures will rise toward fifty degrees on Monday despite mid-level clouds and gusty afternoon breezes from the west. The storm is forecast to cross the West Coast Monday and the Great Basin Monday night, eventually bringing a strong cold front through our area early Tuesday morning.
This storm looks quite similar to the one last Friday, with moderate to heavy snow showers starting around the morning ski report and continuing through the day, with 5-10” expected at mid-mountain by sunset on Tuesday. A reinforcing wave of cold air will continue the snowfall overnight in our favorable moist and unstable northwest flow bringing an additional 3-6” overnight and 1-4” during a cold Wednesday as snow showers taper off during the day.
Temperatures in town will be mired in the thirties on a wintry Tuesday, and may not make it to freezing on Wednesday as mountain-top temperatures fall to the single digits by Wednesday morning. Clearing skies by later Wednesday will lead to another chilly Thursday morning, especially in town as the fresh snow cover and light winds allow low temperatures to fall into the single digits, over ten degrees below our average of twenty degrees.
The sun crosses north of the equator at 3:01 am on Thursday, March 20th, marking the vernal equinox and the first day of spring. Mother Nature will try to oblige with a mostly sunny morning thanks to a quick-moving ridge of high pressure, but increasing clouds during the day ahead of a moderate wintry storm starting Thursday night will limit high temperatures to around forty degrees.
So enjoy the weather whiplash this workweek, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative Thursday afternoon for details on the end-of-week storm and the possibility of more snow for next weekend.
Winter weather to return early Friday morning
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Temperatures have retreated from near fifty degrees this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs thanks to invading clouds ahead of a winter storm to start early Friday morning. Significant snowfall and difficult travel over Rabbit Ears Pass will moderate by Friday afternoon, though cold temperatures and snow showers will persist through Sunday morning. A break in the weather will last through Monday before a similar storm is forecast for Tuesday.
A strong storm that is pummeling the West Coast and brought over two feet of snow to some of the California ski resorts is quickly moving through the Great Basin. Clouds have increased in the southwest winds ahead of the storm, with some showers producing little accumulation possible tonight before the cold front arrives early Friday morning, likely just after the morning ski report.
Don’t be fooled by the slow start to the storm overnight as plummeting temperatures and moderate to heavy snow showers are expected through noon, bringing 6-12” of snow at mid-mountain and lighter showers in the afternoon. High temperatures in town are only expected to reach around thirty degrees, fifteen degrees below our average of 45 F, with mountain-top temperatures starting the morning in the low-teens and high temperatures only reaching the upper teens.
The front will also bring windy conditions, with westerly mountain-top winds increasing through the morning before reaching average speeds of almost 30 mph by the early afternoon, and gusts nearing twice that. Snowfall rates between one and two inches per hour and gusty winds will likely create difficult travel over Rabbit Ears Pass from sunrise through noon on Friday.
Though the heaviest snowfall will be over by early Friday afternoon, some light snow showers should continue through the rest of the day with another 1-4” possible by Saturday morning There may be a break Friday night into Saturday morning, but a trailing wave passing to our south should keep the cold temperatures around and restart snow showers from Saturday afternoon through the night in our favorable moist, cold and unstable northwest flow, with 2-5” possible by the Sunday morning report.
The weather should improve on Sunday with some sun possible by the afternoon, especially in town, as temperatures there warm toward forty degrees on Sunday and fifty degrees on a sunnier Monday. But that break will be short-lived as a similar winter storm approaches our area for Tuesday.
So enjoy the return of winter after this gorgeous springlike week, and hope there is enough snow on Friday to adequately cover what will be a frozen surface in most places. Be sure to check back Sunday afternoon for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative with more details on our next winter storm.
