A couple of cool fronts this week
Thursday, September 20, 2018
The Steamboat Springs area should see a very pleasant and warm weekend around the fall equinox, which occurs at 7:54 pm Saturday evening. A cool front currently timed for Monday will bring the chance of some showers, followed by cooler temperatures that will last through the upcoming week.
Currently, behind the cool front that passed through the Steamboat Springs area last night, this Thursday will see sunny skies and breezy west to northwest winds with seasonable temperatures around the 70 F average. Temperatures will warm to above average for Friday and the weekend with lots of sun through Sunday morning, but as mentioned in the previous forecast, we will see cool mornings at or below our 33 F average for Friday and Saturday that may require tender vegetation to be protected.
Depending on the speed of the next cool front, we may see some mid and high level clouds to end the weekend along with breezy southwest winds. Currently forecast for Monday, our next cool front may have enough moisture associated with it for some showers during the day.
Whatever moisture that is brought by the front is gone by later Tuesday, and seasonable temperatures with plenty of sun are expected through midweek, with increasing winds as the next weather event approaches.
The strongest cool front of the season is forecast for around Thursday, and if there was moisture associated with it, there would be snow on Mt. Werner by Friday morning. Current forecasts, however, keep the front fairly dry, bringing cooling temperatures later Thursday as the front moves though the area and eventually below freezing temperatures to the northern half of the Midwest as the weather system slides to our east.
Beyond Thursday and into the following weekend, our area will be sandwiched between the cold Midwest and warming Pacific Northwest, bringing dry and breezy northwesterly winds along with seasonable temperatures.
Increasing winds around a midweek cool front
Sunday, September 16, 2018
The chances for wetting rains remain low for the Steamboat Springs area this following week, and only a cool front currently timed for around midweek will briefly interrupt the string of afternoon temperatures that have been over 10 degrees above our current 71 F average.
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Colorado will see some increasing mid and upper-level moisture in continued southwest flow ahead of a cool front currently timed for late Wednesday or early Thursday. We’ll see some clouds and perhaps some showers producing more wind than rain on Monday, Tuesday and especially Wednesday before the cool front passes through northern Colorado. And overnight lows will also stay warm and above our 35 F average as the atmospheric moisture acts like an insulating blanket overnight.
Unfortunately, the cool front will be dry, and winds will increase and turn first to the west around frontal passage and then northwest on Thursday. We will see cooler temperatures on Thursday that may even stay a few degrees below our average high, with overnight lows by Friday morning dropping below our average. Frost will be possible, and those gardeners lucky enough to have some late summer fruit will want to protect their plants susceptible to freezing temperatures.
Another round of incoming Pacific energy will redevelop the area of low pressure off the West Coast late in the work week, swinging our winds back to the southwest and causing temperatures to rebound to above average by Friday. This looks to last through the weekend and into the following work week.
Continued warm temperatures for the week ahead
Thursday, September 13, 2018
The current warm temperatures running 5 to 10 degrees above the 73 F average for Steamboat Springs will continue during the next week. Our area is sandwiched between a a large area of low pressure off the West Coast and a sprawling ridge of high pressure over the southeast, which incidentally will keep hurricane Florence sheltered from the jet stream and lead to very slow storm movement and likely catastrophic flooding over and near the Carolinas through the weekend.
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The large West Coast area of low pressure will lift to the northeast in pieces through the weekend, and this will help reduce the highest winds over our area for several days as the jet stream lifts northward, though some breezy afternoon winds will persist. As the upper level flow shifts to the south, some sparse moisture is forecast to move northward across Colorado late Sunday, and we may see a small chance of showers on Monday that will likely produce more wind than rain.
More incoming Pacific energy reloads the area of low pressure off the West Coast, and some energy rounding the base of the system looks to cross the Great Basin and drag a weak cool front across northern Colorado later Wednesday. Unfortunately, the front is forecast to be dry and windy.
Winds should slacken for the end of the work week with continued warm temperatures before another dry and likely windy cool front is forecast to move through northern Colorado early the following weekend.
Warm and sunny with increasing winds this week
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Behind a weak cool front that passed through Steamboat Springs last night, gorgeous late-summer weather returns this Sunday. This weather will persist into next weekend, though winds will be picking up as the work week progresses.
Currently, a large and cold storm is spinning off the British Columbia coast. This storm will be periodically reinforced with cold air dropping southward from the North Pole, forcing the storm southward and eventually elongating it to the northeast as energy is periodically ejected well north of our area.
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The end result is the western third of the U.S. will be caught between the strong storm developing off the West Coast and a building ridge of high pressure over the southeast. Winds will pick up from the southwest as early as Tuesday afternoon, keeping sunny skies and warm temperatures above our 74 F average around that will last through the work week and into next weekend. The clear skies will also allow for efficient nighttime cooling that will drop our overnight lows to around our average 37 F, with the possibility of frost in the low-lying areas of the Yampa Valley.
As mentioned in the previous forecast, hurricane Florence looks to affect at least the mid-Atlantic coast heading into next weekend. This storm may have prolonged effects as it is currently forecast to become trapped under the ridge of high pressure developing over the southeast. It may loiter over the landfall area for three or four days, centered around next weekend, before cold air moving southward from Canada dislodges the hurricane and brings the first freezing temperatures to parts of the northeast.
Weak cool front brings a chance of showers mid-weekend
Thursday, September 6, 2018
The broad storm system that was over the southwestern quarter of the U.S. will grudgingly move east of the Steamboat Springs area this Thursday, with warming and drying expected for the following week, except for a weak cool front that will bring a chance of showers later Saturday into Sunday.
First, however, the tail end of the storm system contains a weak circulation that will move over our area today, giving us another chance of showers this afternoon and evening, similar to yesterday.
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Drier air filters into the area behind the departing storm for Friday and Saturday with daytime temperatures warming above our 75 F average. Ahead of a weak cool front timed for overnight Saturday or early Sunday, we should see increased chances for showers late in the day Saturday and overnight.
Any showers should end by midday Sunday as much drier air invades from the west ahead of a strong and developing storm off the Pacific Northwest coast. Pieces of the storm eject well to our northwest even while additional cold air moving through the Gulf of Alaska keeps the storm spinning near the coast, and the end result for our area is mostly dry air and continued warm temperatures in southwest flow.
We may see slight shower chances later Monday as a cool front races well north of our area, but sunny skies should predominate for the rest of the work week as pieces of the northwest storm sink southward along the West Coast. This will force the jet stream southward and closer to our area, bringing warm and windy southwest flow during the work week, especially around midweek.
While the weather will be rather quiet for us, look to the east for excitement as current Category 3 hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast. The path of the hurricane as it nears the coast is still very much in question, though at this point the entire mid-Atlantic and northeastern seaboard is threatened after mid-week and heading into next weekend.
