Spectacular late summer weather continues through the weekend
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The warm sunny days and cool nights will continue through the weekend before a strong Pacific storm interacting with a former hurricane near Baja brings wet and cool fall-like weather to the Steamboat Springs area early next week.
But first, a dry cool front will sweep through the area tonight, dropping temperatures for tomorrow before they rise to above normal for the weekend under sunny skies. By the end of the weekend, a strong Pacific storm approaches the northern California coast and interacts with the remnants of former hurricane Linda currently near the Baja coast.
The numerical models are struggling with the evolution of these two systems and additional upstream Pacific energy, keeping the details of next week’s storm next murky for our area. Generally though, moisture from the former hurricane will overspread Colorado late Monday or Tuesday and be followed by periods of moderate to heavy rain by later Tuesday or Wednesday. Cool air surges associated with waves traveling through the storm will likely keep the cool and unsettled weather going through the work week and the following weekend.
Pleasant late summer weather this week
Sunday, September 6, 2015
A storm currently to our north that brought some snow to the higher elevations of Idaho yesterday morning and cooler temperatures to the Steamboat Springs area today will stay to our north but keep a chance of passing showers around for today and tomorrow. Trailing waves behind this storm will reinforce the cool weather through Tuesday before more drying and warming is forecast to occur by Wednesday.
There is a possibility of smoke from the Pacific Northwest wildfires being transported over our region as the flow veers from the southwest to the west-northwest by midweek, but otherwise the weather should be classic early-September beautiful for the rest of the work week with warm sunny days and cool nights.
A dry wave in west-northwest flow is forecast to stay mostly north and east of the Steamboat Springs area late Friday or early Saturday, but may knock temperatures back a bit before they rebound for the rest of the weekend.
The next storm of interest will approach the West Coast early by late next weekend and will likely significantly affect our weather for the following work week.
Monsoonal waves for today and tomorrow followed by a cold front early Sunday
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Two waves in the current southwesterly monsoonal flow will cross the Steamboat Springs area midday today and later-afternoon tomorrow increasing the chance of showers both days. Locally heavy rain will be a possibility today and tomorrow.
The later arrival tomorrow of the second wave may allow showers to continue overnight Friday before some drier air is forecast to be over the area Saturday, reducing the chance of showers during the day. However, a strong storm currently over the Pacific Northwest coast will move eastward through the weekend, bringing a mostly dry cold front through the area early Sunday. There may be some light showers ahead of and along the front Saturday night into Sunday morning before skies clear with noticeably cooler but very pleasant temperatures.
Dry trailing waves later Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights will keep the cool but dry weather around through midweek before warming is forecast to occur by Wednesday afternoon. There is a possibility of smoke from the Pacific Northwest wildfires being transported over our region as the flow veers from the southwest to the west-northwest next week as well, but otherwise the weather should be classic early-September beautiful.
The cool temperatures will give way to seasonably warm days with continued cool nights for the rest of the work week. Latest numerical model runs have another wave in west-northwest flow approaching the Steamboat Springs area sometime around next weekend, so the forecast for then is uncertain.
Return of southerly flow clears smoke but re-establishes the monsoon
Thursday, August 27, 2015
The current storm is now just east of our area, and showers should linger through the rest of the day before clearing overnight.
The upper level flow weakens considerably behind this storm and stays weak through Saturday, interrupting the monsoonal moisture feed from the south that lead to the current storm. Incidentally, and not quite how I forecasted last week, the lingering smoke this past weekend was not purged from the area until the flow shifted from the northwest to the south this past Tuesday. We did get some brief clearing last Friday night, but smoke returned as the northwest flow moved smoke from the active wildfires to our northwest back over the area.
But the weak upper level flow is forecast to increase again Sunday from the southwest as a large storm currently off the West Coast moves eastward early in the weekend and is deflected by the persistent western ridge. This storm will drag a very weak cool front through the area later Sunday, and combined with the increasing moisture from southwest flow ahead of the storm, should contribute to a much greater chance of storms Sunday afternoon.
The increased chance of afternoon storms should be present on Monday as well, before the rebounding of the deflected western ridge dries the atmosphere a bit, leading to decreasing chances of afternoon storms each afternoon for most of the work week.
Another similar storm is forecast to be off the West Coast around midweek, and current model solutions again have the storm deflecting the western ridge and dragging a weak cool from across the region around the end of the next work week. As is forecast to happen this Sunday, the chance of afternoon showers should increase again sometime during Labor Day weekend.
Monsoon returns after another cool front Saturday
Thursday, August 20, 2015
The fall-like cool fronts that pushed through our area Tuesday and Wednesday will be followed by another two similar fronts Saturday and Sunday mornings before the western ridge rebuilds. Temperatures will rebound and monsoonal moisture will return early in the next work week.
Meanwhile, our hazy smoke-filled skies will likely continue today and tomorrow before a storm currently off the Pacific Northwest coast drags a cool front over our area early in the day Saturday as it moves eastward. This will be followed by a trailing wave early Sunday morning that will reinforce the cool conditions.
Wildfires were reported around Maybell and Craig earlier in the week, and it seems likely at least some of the smoke in the Yampa Valley could be attributed to those now-contained fires. But our current northwest flow is passing over the active wildfire regions in the Pacific Northwest, and that is likely contributing to the haze as well.
The smoke should be cleared from the area by the first front Saturday morning. After the second front passes through the area on Sunday, the persistent western ridge rebuilds, bringing seasonably warm temperatures by Monday and allowing monsoonal moisture from the south to move over the area by later in the day Tuesday. This pattern will bring the chance of storms each day under warm temperatures through the following week, as has been typical for most of our summer.
Longer term, the battle between summer and fall continues as additional energy forms strong storms near the Gulf of Alaska. These storms will interact with the still-strong western ridge, with the stronger storms able to penetrate the ridge enough to interrupt the summer weather with fall-like weather.
