Hot weather to return Sunday
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Low seventy-degree temperatures, on their way to the low to mid-eighties, and cloudy skies are over Steamboat Springs late this Thursday morning. Meager shower chances are expected this afternoon, likely producing more wind than rain, and will be followed by another cool front on Friday, with even lower shower chances and similar temperatures. Dry weather is forecast for the weekend, with Saturday’s comfortable high temperatures rising to approach ninety degrees on Sunday.
The remnants of a small and weakening eddy are moving through the area, bringing cloudy skies and a cool front that will drop our ninety-degree high temperature yesterday to just below eighty-five degrees today, right around our average of eighty-three degrees. After this morning’s rumble of thunder, there will be another chance this afternoon of storms that would produce more wind than rain due to precipitation evaporating in the dry lower atmosphere.
Meanwhile, a wave moving through the Canadian Plains will drag another cool front through our area later Friday, keeping the comfortable high temperatures around and leading to another chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms that will again produce more wind than rain.
A ridge of high pressure begins to build over the West Coast on Saturday behind the Canadian wave, bringing dry weather and high temperatures approaching ninety degrees on Sunday. This hot and dry weather will persist to start the workweek before we may see another grazing cool front by later Tuesday or Wednesday.
Enjoy the relatively cooler days to start the weekend, and check back Sunday afternoon for my regularly scheduled weather narrative for details on the next incoming cool front, which may kickstart a weak surge of monsoonal moisture that will hopefully be with us through the following weekend.
Increasingly hot and dry weather ahead of cool front to arrive Thursday
Sunday, July 6, 2025
A sunny and cool Sunday morning in Steamboat Springs follows over an inch of needed rain on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. High temperatures will rise under mostly sunny skies from the mid-eighties today toward the ninety-degree mark on Wednesday before a couple of cool fronts arrive on Thursday and Friday.
After a relatively dry June when only 0.58” of precipitation fell, an inch shy of average, a well-advertised cool front this last Thursday night brought just over an inch of rain to town, right after the first ninety-degree day of the season was reached on Wednesday. The cooler temperatures on Independence Day inhibited further showers, but warmer temperatures on Saturday acted on the lingering moisture to produce another couple of tenths of an inch of rain from a strong thunderstorm that moved through just before 2 pm.
Aside from a small chance of an afternoon shower today, rain chances are near nil through midweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West ahead of an eddy of low pressure that formed off the coast of northern California. Mid-eighty-degree high temperatures are forecast for today and Monday, with upper eighties for Tuesday and another ninety-degree day likely on Wednesday.
Similar to last week, a storm rotating through the Gulf of Alaska and eventually the Pacific Northwest will drag the California eddy eastward, crossing the Great Basin late on Wednesday and bringing a cool front through our area on Thursday. However, unlike the last storm, there will be no moisture drawn northward from the Mexican Plateau, crimping the chance of showers when the front moves through.
High temperatures on Thursday will fall back to a degree or two above our average of eighty-three degrees with some westerly breezes. Another degree or two of cooling is advertised for Friday, with northwesterly breezes, as trailing energy behind the Pacific Northwest storm drags another cool front through our area by morning.
Enjoy the very summery start to the workweek and check back for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon, where I’ll have the details on what is looking like a warm and dry weekend ahead.
Likely rain chances to start the Independence Day weekend
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Temperatures are near eighty degrees under partly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. An approaching storm will combine with subtropical moisture to bring likely rain chances starting tonight that will linger through a cooler Independence Day. Mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures return starting Saturday for a beautiful end to the long holiday weekend that will last into the following workweek.
Southerly winds ahead of an area of low pressure moving through the Great Basin have drawn moisture pooling over the Mexican Plateau northward. The upward motion associated with the storm, combined with this moisture, brings likely chances for wetting rains starting this evening.
Thanks to the heating during the day, which cooks the atmosphere, we could see moderate to strong thunderstorms this evening with periods of heavy rainfall, small hail, and gusty winds. The thunderstorm threat diminishes overnight, but does not disappear, as rain showers might transition to a gentler and steadier rain.
A cool front associated with the storm will pass through early Independence Day morning, continuing shower chances through some of the morning. Refreshingly cooler high temperatures approaching eighty degrees may be accompanied by some afternoon sun and a renewed chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
Much drier air invades our area behind the storm starting on a mostly sunny Saturday, with high temperatures right around our average of eighty-two degrees. The mid-eighties are forecast for a mostly sunny Sunday, with lots of sun and even warmer temperatures for the following workweek as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West.
The NOAA Smoke Plume model, which is run four times a day, is showing hazy skies on Saturday as smoke from the large Madrid wildfire in southern California, ignited just yesterday, is transported across the Great Basin by southwest winds. If the smoky skies materialize, they may persist for several days as clockwise winds rotate around the building high pressure system over the West.
So enjoy the rapidly improving Fourth of July weekend, hope for the needed moisture to start the long weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for details on next week’s warmth.
Good rain chances to arrive Thursday
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Temperatures are in the low eighties, on their way to the mid-eighties, with mostly sunny skies this Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. Some moisture associated with a storm to our north may allow for an afternoon or evening thunderstorm that would produce more wind than rain, ahead of more hot and dry weather through midweek. An approaching storm will bring good chances of rain on Thursday, with late-day storm chances possibly persisting on Independence Day and the start of the weekend.
A ridge of high pressure centered over the Desert Southwest is bordered by a storm moving through the Dakotas and a storm forming off the coast of central California. The storm to our north has dragged a modicum of moisture overhead, increasing the chance of an afternoon or evening thunderstorm today that would produce more wind than rain, as any precipitation evaporates before reaching the ground.
The good news is that breezes have shifted from the southwest to the west and northwest, clearing the air of haze from the France Canyon wildfire in southern Utah. As the Dakotas storm and the California storm both move eastward to start the workweek, the Desert Southwest ridge expands northward, keeping the hot and dry weather around through midweek. High temperatures just above eighty-five degrees on Monday and Tuesday, compared to our average of eighty degrees, will be followed by upper eighties on Wednesday as winds turn southwesterly ahead of the California storm.
Wetting rains are currently promised Thursday afternoon and evening as moisture from the Mexican Plateau is first carried northward by southerly winds ahead of the California storm before being lifted by the storm itself as it moves over our area later Thursday.
There is weather forecast model uncertainty regarding whether the storm remains cohesive, as forecast by the European ECMWF, or breaks apart in a piecemeal fashion, as forecast by the American GFS, which would prolong the shower chances into Independence Day and the weekend.
Enjoy the prelude to the long holiday weekend, and I’ll have more details on the increasing moisture for the end of the workweek in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Warm and mostly sunny for a quintessential Colorado summer weekend
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Temperatures are around eighty degrees with mostly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. The sunny skies, possibly hazy at times with some afternoon clouds, will persist for most of the weekend, with temperatures climbing into the mid-to-upper eighties. There is a chance for some moisture to return to our area during the following workweek.
The jet stream, in its summertime mode, is migrating northward toward Canada as weak disturbances ripple through it, keeping the highest winds to our north. A flat ridge of high pressure over most of the continental United States will allow high temperatures to rise to the mid-eighties on Friday, above our eighty-degree average, with a few degrees of warming forecast for Saturday. The dry air and clear nighttime skies will allow low temperatures to cool into the forties, just above our average of 42 F.
There may be some hazy skies at times due to smoke being transported from the France Canyon wildfire in southern Utah, with some smoke predicted by the NOAA Smoke plume model on Friday afternoon. The model is run four times a day out to 48 hours, so feel free to check that when making outdoor plans this weekend.
A ripple moving through the jet stream may drop high temperatures a degree or two on Sunday. A weak storm is then forecast to form off the California coast over the weekend, and we may see some increasing moisture through next week due to the more southerly winds ahead of the approaching storm. So enjoy this upcoming quintessential Colorado summer weekend, and I’ll have more details on the approaching moisture in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
