Another gorgeous weekend ahead
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Temperatures are in the low-fifties with partly cloudy skies in Steamboat Springs late this Thursday afternoon. A departing storm will give way to another gorgeous spring weekend to start May with temperatures approaching seventy degrees. Enjoy the pleasant weather as, similar to last weekend, unsettled weather will return as soon as Sunday night.
Winter moved back into the area last Sunday night, bringing two inches of snow in town, five inches at mid-mountain and six inches up top. While that was more snow than predicted in last Sunday’s weather narrative, the cold front late Wednesday was less productive for our area as it settled over the central mountains, bringing only a half-inch at mid-mountain and two inches up top, but leaving today’s temperatures below our average of sixty degrees.
That storm split, with the piece left behind ending up over southern California, and too far south to affect our weather this weekend. So a building ridge of high pressure ahead of another strong storm extending south from the Gulf of Alaska will bring mostly sunny skies for most of the weekend, with high temperatures rising into the low-sixties on Friday, upper-sixties on Saturday, and to around seventy degrees on Sunday.
The incoming storm is forecast to split as it crosses the West Coast late Saturday, forming an eddy at the southern end that will move to Arizona and Utah on Monday. Clouds will invade our area ahead of the storm by Sunday afternoon, with some rain showers possible by the end of the day, but more likely holding off until Sunday night.
There is a lot of uncertainty for next week regarding not only the track of the incoming eddy and its residence time in the West, but also the amount of cold air that wraps into the back of the storm and the amount of moisture ingested into the front of the storm.
Most of the uncertainty in moisture is due to the leftover eddy now in California that is forecast to move along the Mexican border this weekend. Interestingly, by the beginning of the workweek, counter-clockwise winds around the eddy may draw moisture from the Gulf of Mexico northwestward and into the new storm.
So enjoy what promises to be stellar weather for most of the first weekend in May, and check back for more details on what could be a wet start to the upcoming workweek.
Unsettled weather to return tonight and persist through the workweek
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Sunny morning skies have yielded to clouds this Sunday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs ahead of an advancing storm that will start a workweek of unsettled weather. High temperatures now in the mid-sixties will tumble into the low-fifties on Monday, accompanied by a chance for precipitation, with some morning snowflakes possible in town. Warmer temperatures are forecast for the rest of the workweek despite another possible storm on Wednesday.
Our beautiful spring weekend is ending as a storm in the Great Basin approaches the area. The storm is the southern end of a wave that formed an eddy as it traveled across California earlier in the weekend, and will bring a cold front through our area tonight. Precipitation will be light, with perhaps as much as an inch or two of snowfall on the hill and some snowflakes in town Monday morning. Chances for showers persist Monday afternoon as another cold front associated with the northern end of the wave grazes our area, keeping high temperatures in the low-fifties, below our average of 59 F.
The eddy is forecast to dissipate as pieces of the storm head both southeast and northeast, bringing a mostly sunny Tuesday morning and a small chance for some afternoon showers as temperatures warm back to average.
Meanwhile, another storm from the Aleutian Islands is forecast to cross the Vancouver coast on Tuesday and Idaho early Wednesday, dragging a cold front through our area Wednesday afternoon. The arrival later in the day will spare the town snow, but there are good chances for precipitation through Thursday morning, with snowfall of 2-5” possible at and above 9000′.
Showers may linger during the afternoon, but should clear overnight, leading to a mostly sunny start to a warmer Friday with high temperatures reaching the mid-sixties. There is uncertainty regarding showers later in the day, depending on the proximity of a small eddy over the Great Basin formed from the southern end of the midweek storm.
That eddy and the uncertain evolution of another storm near the Dateline will determine our weather for next weekend, and I’ll have more details about that in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, let’s hope we can accumulate some more late-season snowpack this week (and possibly next week - stay tuned!), as the Yampa-White-Little Snake river basin is only 71% of average after reaching 96% of average on April 7.
Beautiful spring weekend ahead
Thursday, April 24, 2025
After a mostly sunny morning in Steamboat Springs, temperatures this Thursday mid-afternoon are around sixty degrees with a few rumbles of thunder and sprinkles of rain. Friday will be several degrees warmer and drier before mostly sunny skies and temperatures approaching seventy degrees grace the last weekend of April.
Today will be the final day the stationary front just to our north will influence our weather this workweek. Some energy moving across the northern Rockies and over the front encouraged today’s showers, but southwest winds ahead of a splitting storm extending south from the Gulf of Alaska will bring dry air from the Desert Southwest toward our area starting Friday. Though some clouds may be around during the day, warmer air from the south should allow temperatures to rise into the mid-sixties.
Meanwhile, the southern end of the splitting storm will form an eddy off the coast of northern California on Friday. The eddy is forecast to rotate across central California early Saturday before moving across Nevada and approaching Utah by Sunday. Breezes will increase ahead of the storm on Saturday and more so on Sunday as temperatures reach the upper-sixties under mostly sunny skies Saturday and most of Sunday.
Enjoy the beautiful spring weekend as the approaching eddy is forecast to split and elongate to the southwest on Monday, bringing increasing clouds by Sunday afternoon and a cold front with possible precipitation as soon as Sunday night. There is some uncertainty regarding precipitation due to the splitting storm and how much energy is partitioned into the northern and southern streams, with a cooler Monday accompanied by possibly unsettled weather according to the American GFS, but not the European ECMWF. High temperatures will drop about fifteen degrees from Sunday into the low-fifties and below our average of 59 F.
Temperatures look to rebound toward average on Tuesday, with high uncertainty regarding a wave of energy and moisture currently moving across the Aleutian Islands that may bring more unsettled weather by midweek. I’ll have more details about that in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Typical spring weather to return this workweek
Sunday, April 20, 2025
High clouds are filtering the sunshine late this Sunday morning in Steamboat Springs, with temperatures in the low forties in town and low twenties at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Temperatures will warm about five degrees each day from about fifty degrees today to the mid-sixties by Thursday. Clouds will come and go as is typical with spring weather, with chances for some afternoon showers.
After a brief wintry spell brought a last powder day on Friday, with about six inches of snow up top and a low temperature of twelve degrees on Friday morning, and an additional two inches overnight and eight degrees on Saturday morning, the Steamboat Ski Resort is ending the season with 303” of snowfall and a 42” base at mid-mountain, and a 94” base with an estimate of just over 400” up top.
The storm that brought the snowfall is moving across the Oklahoma-Kansas border, but moisture from another storm crossing the Pacific Northwest coast is already moving overhead. Clouds will thicken today, with some peeks of sun and a chance for an afternoon shower as temperatures reach fifty degrees.
The storm and additional trailing energy and moisture are forecast to stay mostly north of our area as they rotate through the northern Rockies through the workweek, but afternoon shower chances will be with us through Thursday as temperatures slowly warm into the mid-fifties on Monday, around sixty degrees on Tuesday, and the mid-sixties on Wednesday and Thursday.
A weak storm moving through the Bering Sea may bring a better chance for showers on Friday, but the lack of cold air won’t impact our temperatures. However, uncertainty is high around a stronger and colder storm that follows for the end of the weekend or early the following week.
Enjoy Closing Day at the Steamboat Ski Resort today, and check back on Thursday afternoon for more details on next weekend’s weather in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative.
Wintry weather to return tonight
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Temperatures are in the upper fifties this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs under a mix of sun and clouds. A cold front on our doorstep will move through this evening, bringing sharply colder temperatures, more representative of early March than mid-April, and snowfall to all elevations through Friday. Temperatures will slowly warm through the weekend as low-elevation snowfall ends Friday night while snow showers persist at the higher elevations.
It turns out that two high temperature records were broken last week; the 76 F recorded downtown on Friday broke the 74 F record from 2012, and the 73 F recorded on Saturday broke the 72 F record set in 1992. But those early June high temperatures will be replaced by early March high temperatures on Friday as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska moves into the Great Basin after mixing with some cold air from western Canada.
Be prepared to wake up to snow Friday in town as the cold front associated with the storm blasts through Thursday mid-evening. Moderate to heavy snowfall rates of an inch an hour or more are possible at the higher elevations along and behind the front, creating difficult driving conditions at times over Rabbit Ears Pass. We could see 4-8” of snow at mid-mountain by the Friday morning ski report, and an inch or two in town.
The storm responsible for the cold front is forecast to elongate along the Nevada-Utah border through the day Friday before splitting from the northern jet stream and quickly moving across Arizona and New Mexico on Saturday as an eddy. There may be a break in the precipitation Friday morning before moderate to heavy snow showers in our favorable moist, cool and unstable northwest flow bring another 2-5” to mid-mountain in the afternoon and evening. High temperatures in town will struggle to reach forty degrees, well below our average of 55 F and typical of early March.
Winds are forecast to turn to be from the east as early as Friday night due to counterclockwise winds around the eddy to our southwest, likely ending precipitation due to air downsloping and drying off the Park Range. By Saturday afternoon, the eddy may be far enough away to allow winds to turn back to the northwest, with snow showers possible on the hill and high temperatures in town rising into the mid-forties.
Meanwhile, another storm moving across the Gulf of Alaska on Friday is forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast on Sunday. Energy and moisture ejecting out ahead of the storm may bring a chance of showers on Sunday, though there is uncertainty regarding how much energy and moisture make it overhead. High temperatures in town will rise another five degrees from Saturday and be around fifty degrees.
That storm is forecast to rotate through the northern Rockies early in the workweek, and our weather will depend upon the southern extent of a stationary front associated with the storm and some trailing energy. Monday currently looks pleasant with a chance for an afternoon shower and high temperatures in the upper-fifties.
Let’s hope for another powder day Friday ahead of Closing Weekend for the Steamboat Ski Resort, and I’ll have more details on the workweek weather in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
