Summery weather to arrive this week
Sunday, May 26, 2024
The clouds are reluctantly departing this breezy Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs as the temperature approaches sixty degrees. Mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the upper-sixties for Memorial Day will precede even warmer temperatures reaching well into the seventies as we head through the holiday-shortened work week.
After a gorgeous Friday, showers started early Saturday afternoon, with several rounds of storms lasting through the night. Between a third and half inch of rain fell in town and a couple of inches of snow accumulated at mid-mountain at the Steamboat Resort during the second day of summer weekend operations.
The cloudy and cool morning today was thanks to the moist and unstable northwest flow behind the last of the three cool fronts mentioned in my previous weather narrative on Thursday afternoon. But skies are clearing this afternoon as a ridge of high pressure begins to build over the Rocky Mountains ahead of yet another strong storm developing in the Gulf of Alaska.
Appropriately timed, we should see sunny skies, light winds and temperatures approaching seventy degrees on Memorial Day for the unofficial start of summer. Even warmer temperatures in the low-seventies on Tuesday and mid-seventies on Wednesday will certainly feel summery, and there will even be small chances for the usual summertime afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
Meanwhile, that Gulf of Alaska storm is forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast later on Tuesday and eventually drag a weak cool front through our area on Thursday. High temperatures will drop a few degrees along with an increasing chance of afternoon and evening storms.
Some more cooling is advertised for Friday, bringing high temperatures back to near the seventy-degree mark, along with the best chance of afternoon and evening storms of the week. There may be another cool front on Saturday depending upon whether additional energy rotates around the former Gulf of Alaska storm now forecast to be over the Canadian Plains, or not. So be sure to check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for a look at the coming weekend weather.
Memorial Day weekend to start cool and unsettled but end nice
Thursday, May 23, 2024
After reaching the high temperature of the day of 53 F early this Thursday afternoon in Steamboat Springs, temperatures have fallen into the forties as a cool front sweeps through the area. Though there are showers around with snow at the higher elevations, they will be gone on Friday before returning wetter and stronger on Saturday afternoon and night. A cool and mostly dry Sunday is then followed by perfect barbeque weather on a warmer and dry Memorial Day.
Three cool fronts will affect our weather through the long Memorial Day weekend, with the first currently passing through our area. Skies should clear by late today behind the first front which left our high temperature for today fifteen degrees below our average of 68 F.
An elongated area of low pressure currently moving southward along the British Columbia coast is forecast to split into two waves by Friday. A ridge of high pressure ahead of the first approaching wave will briefly move overhead through Friday leading to a sunny morning and cloudy afternoon with high temperatures reaching only the low sixties.
Sun will be scarce on Saturday as the second cool front sweeps through the area during the afternoon. This front will be weaker but wetter, so wetting rains are likely in the afternoon and overnight with high temperatures struggling to reach sixty degrees.
The last front on Sunday afternoon will be quite dry and graze our area to the north, leading to another cool day with high temperatures in the low sixties, but decreasing clouds later in the day despite the chance of a stray shower.
The dry air associated with a building ridge of high pressure over the Intermountain West on Monday should bring beautiful Memorial Day weather to our area with sunny skies and high temperatures in the upper sixties. This will be an appropriate and well-timed prelude to what looks like summerlike temperatures in the mid-seventies through the last days of May.
So enjoy the long weekend, and I’ll be back Sunday afternoon with my next regularly scheduled weather narrative with more details about the weather heading into June.
Cold front to arrive Monday night for a dreary Tuesday
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Temperatures are around sixty degrees under showery skies this Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. The showery weather will continue into this evening ahead of what could be a mostly dry and breezy Monday. Then, a cold front on Monday night will bring high-elevation snows and mostly rain, along with some snowflakes, in town through a raw Tuesday before this round of precipitation ends and temperatures warm on Wednesday and Thursday.
We’ve already seen some locally heavy showers today that started by noon thanks to energy ejecting out of a storm currently centered over the Pacific Northwest. The storm is forecast to move through the Great Basin on Monday and early Tuesday before passing overhead by Tuesday night. The cold front associated with the storm will move through our area Monday night, and we should see a breezy and mostly dry Monday with high temperatures in the upper sixties and winds out of the southwest ahead of the storm.
Additionally, an eddy of low pressure loitering well off the coast of southern California this past week will be dislodged by the very southern end of the approaching storm, and is forecast to move across the Desert Southwest early on Monday and Colorado on Monday night. The combination of the cold front and the eddy should lead to precipitation breaking out Monday night and continuing through the day Tuesday, with high temperatures only managing to reach the low-fifties, around fifteen degrees below our average of 67 F.
There could be 3-6” of snow accumulation at and above mid-mountain, and though it will be mostly rain in town we could see some snowflakes mixed in, especially under the heavier showers. Precipitation should mostly end by Tuesday night, and though we may see some showers on Wednesday, temperatures should rise about ten degrees from Tuesday into the low sixties.
Meanwhile, another storm currently near the eastern tip of the Aleutian Islands is forecast to move south along the British Columbia coast on Monday and Tuesday before affecting the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday. The storm is forecast to weaken Wednesday night as it crosses Idaho before dragging a weak cool front through our area by later Thursday. Depending upon the timing of the front, we could see high temperatures reach the upper sixties along with a shower or two along and behind the cool front.
More upstream energy and moisture are currently forecast to create a weekend of unsettled weather, though that might change over the next several days. So be sure to check back here on Thursday afternoon where I’ll have more details about the weather for next weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative.
Pleasant weekend with late day showers ahead
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-sixties are over the Steamboat Springs area this Thursday mid-afternoon. Even warmer temperatures around the vaunted seventy-degree mark are in store on Friday before a cool front Friday night drops high temperatures for the rest of the weekend back to the upper sixties. And only briefly interrupting the pleasant weekend will be some chances for showers later on Saturday and Sunday.
A storm currently over Vancouver is forecast to move through Montana on Friday and drag a weak cool front through our area Friday night. Other than some breezes from the west, the front will be too late in the day to threaten a run at our first seventy-degree day of the season, which would be around five degrees above our average of 65 F.
High temperatures may fall a degree or two on Saturday behind the front, with a healthy chance of afternoon and overnight showers as some moisture and energy currently off the coast of California moves overhead.
Meanwhile, a colder and stronger storm is forecast to replace the departed Vancouver storm later on Saturday. Though that storm will be to our northwest on Sunday, winds from the southwest ahead of the storm will carry another batch of energy and moisture from off the coast of California over our area for low shower chances Sunday afternoon and evening
This second storm is forecast to bring some cooler and unsettled weather to our area early next week, with current forecasts timing a more robust cool front for later Monday. We may sneak in another pleasant spring day if the front passes through late in the day, and I’ll have a better idea about that timing in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Typical spring weather ahead of Wednesday cool front
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Temperatures are in the low sixties in Steamboat Springs under partly cloudy skies this Sunday mid-afternoon. Typical spring days with mostly sunny mornings and possible afternoon showers will start the work week before we see a more active day on Wednesday thanks to a passing cool front. An afternoon shower will be possible on Thursday before a dry Friday may bring our first seventy-degree day of the season. That beautiful weather looks to persist into the beginning of next weekend.
The pesky storm to our south that first affected our area with wintry weather a week ago is finally on its way out after leaving a departing gift of ten inches of fresh Mother’s Day powder at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area overnight. That storm was coerced to move east thanks to a storm currently moving through the Gulf of Alaska which will cross the Pacific Northwest coast tonight.
We should see mostly sunny mornings on Monday and Tuesday, with a small chance of an afternoon shower on Monday and a high temperature in the mid-sixties, which is right at our average of 65 F. Better chances for showers are forecast for later Tuesday as energy ejected out ahead of the approaching storm from the northwest passes overhead.
Weather forecast models have struggled with the evolution of the storm the last several days, and are settling on a weakly splitting system that brings a cool front through our area on Tuesday night accompanied by showers. High temperatures will fall to near sixty degrees on Wednesday with good chances for showers during the day, especially in the afternoon.
Temperatures rebound back to the mid to upper sixties on Thursday behind the departing storm, and there may be a stray afternoon shower thanks to lingering moisture. But mostly dry and sunny weather returns to start the weekend thanks to a flat ridge of high pressure that may bring our first seventy-degree day to the Yampa Valley as soon as Friday.
Another storm is forecast to approach our area by the end of the weekend or the beginning of the next work week, and as is often the case in the spring, there is weather forecast model disagreement on the timing and strength of the incoming storm. So be sure to return to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for the latest details.
