Shower chances to start a mid-80 degree workweek
Sunday, August 23, 2026
After reaching 85 degrees earlier this Sunday afternoon in Steamboat Springs, skies have turned cloudy, with 82-degree-temperatures late in the afternoon. Like early yesterday evening, late-day showers will persist today and Monday before a downturn on Tuesday and Wednesday, with better, but still modest, chances to end the workweek. High temperatures will remain consistently in the mid-80s, around 5 degrees above the 80-degree average.
A ridge of high pressure over the West, responsible for the 90-degree temperatures heading into this past weekend, has been flattened by an eddy of low pressure moving into the southern Canadian Plains. Winds have shifted westerly from last week’s southerly, moderating the hot temperatures.
Unfortunately, the westerly winds have carried some smoke from the week-old Slough Canyon Fire in east-central Utah over our area, as indicated by the NOAA smoke model, leading to a bit of haze, although air quality has remained good.
The Canadian eddy is being forced eastward by another storm developing in the Gulf of Alaska, forecast to loiter over the Vancouver coast starting around Thursday. The flattened western ridge will rebound behind the eddy and ahead of the Vancouver storm, with some drier air from the Desert Southwest rotating around the high pressure and toward our area later Tuesday.
Shower chances will decrease by Tuesday afternoon and last through Wednesday due to the drier air, though late-day showers cannot be ruled out.
Energy rotating around the Vancouver storm will lead to an uptick in shower chances as early as Thursday afternoon, though Friday afternoon is looking better. Nothing in the forecast looks particularly encouraging regarding moisture until the Vancouver storm begins moving eastward around next weekend or early the following week.
So enjoy a cooler, but still warm, workweek, hope for rain no matter how brief, and I’ll have more details on how the Vancouver storm may affect next weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Hot start to the weekend with some shower chances starting Saturday
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Temperatures are in the upper 80s with mostly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. While today and Saturday will be around 90 degrees, Friday will be even hotter in the low 90s, with some returning monsoonal moisture starting Saturday, bringing a chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. High temperatures will fall into the mid-80s on Sunday and the following workweek, with modest thunderstorm chances continuing.
An eddy of low pressure off the coast of Northern California is on the move, pushed along by an upstream storm traveling through the Gulf of Alaska. The eddy will be deflected northeastward by the stout ridge of high pressure over the West that is responsible for our current hot and dry weather. Tomorrow will be another day in the low 90s, adding to the 24 days at or above 90 degrees we’ve had this summer through last Tuesday, short, so far, of the record 29 days in July and August of 2002.
As the eddy crosses the Pacific Northwest this weekend, the ridge is nudged eastward, allowing the southwesterly winds ahead of the eddy and the southerly winds behind the ridge to carry a modicum of monsoonal moisture towards our area beginning Saturday. A wave of energy traveling around the ridge is forecast to cross our area around Saturday evening, bringing a good chance of thunderstorms from the afternoon through the evening. As is usual, brief, locally heavy rain, strong gusty winds, and small hail are possible.
Temperatures will cool on Sunday into the mid-80s, still around 5 degrees above our 80-degree average, as the eddy moves across the Northern Rockies, with decreased, but still present, chances of late-day storms.
The ridge starts to ooze back westward behind the Northern Rockies storm early in the workweek, but will make limited progress ahead of the next Gulf of Alaska storm forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast midweek. Look for continued high temperatures in the mid-80s and limited late-day storm chances heading through the next workweek.
So enjoy another hot summer weekend, hope for beneficial rain from the possible storms starting Saturday, and I’ll have more details on the storm chances next week in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Warming temperatures to be accompanied by shower chances around midweek
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Temperatures are in the low-80s under mostly sunny skies late this Sunday afternoon in Steamboat Springs. We may see a few degrees of warming through midweek, with modest shower chances on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by drying and upper 80s to close out the workweek. Moisture may return around next weekend.
The cloudburst over the Steamboat Ski Resort yesterday afternoon typified the not-unusual brief, locally heavy rain, strong gusty winds and small hail associated with summertime thunderstorms. The temperature fell over 15 degrees, from the low 70s to the high 50s in the half-hour centered at 2:15, with 2 tenths of an inch of rain near the base, 3 tenths downstream of Fish Creek Falls, and a tenth downtown.
That adds to the Wednesday night rainfall, where the town reported 7 tenths of an inch of rain, while I measured 3 tenths near the base of the mountain.
Today and Monday will be dry, with high temperatures right around the falling 82-degree average. A storm moving through the Gulf of Alaska has split, with most of the storm headed southward, well off the coast of California, and the rest forecast to graze our area on Wednesday.
We may see a modicum of moisture drawn northward ahead of the northern part of the split storm on Tuesday, for a small chance of late-day showers, and a better chance on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a ridge of high pressure that was over the Southeast has been oozing westward as a trough of low pressure descends on the Great Lakes. The ridge will build over the West after midweek behind the departing storm, with dry days on Thursday and Friday and high temperatures in the upper 80s.
The southern part of the split storm is forecast to be kicked eastward by a storm forecast to move across the Aleutian Islands by the weekend, crossing the West Coast late in the workweek or early in the weekend. Southerly winds ahead of the storm may funnel another round of monsoonal moisture northward over our area during the weekend, bringing the return of shower chances and cooler temperatures, though the timing is uncertain.
So enjoy another summery week, and I’ll have more details about the shower chances for next weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Storm chances to linger through Saturday ahead of warming and drying
Friday, August 14, 2026
Mostly cloudy skies and mid-70s near the Steamboat Ski Resort and upper 70s near the Bob Adams Airport are over Steamboat Springs this Friday mid-afternoon, with some thunderstorms nearby. Similar temperatures and chances for storms persist on Saturday, with warming and drying beginning on Sunday and lasting into next week.
This weather narrative, usually published on Thursday afternoons, was delayed until this afternoon due to a storm-caused power outage at the data center hosting this site in Phoenix late Wednesday night. Rainfall associated with a robust monsoonal moisture tap brought between 2 and 3 tenths of an inch of rain to our area that night, with some chances for additional rainfall today and Saturday, including overnight tonight.
A ridge of high pressure over the Southeast will begin migrating westward this weekend as Pacific energy crosses the Northern Rockies and mixes with cool air over the Yukon, forming a trough of low pressure that moves toward the Great Lakes by midweek. We should see one more day of unsettled weather on Saturday, including tonight, with high temperatures in the mid-to-upper seventies, around 5 degrees cooler than our 82-degree average, before the ridge oozes far enough west to start severing the monsoonal moisture tap from the south.
Storm chances decrease on a mostly sunny Sunday as the atmosphere dries, with high temperatures rebounding to around average. Similar weather is forecast to start the workweek, with uncertainty regarding Pacific energy moving through the Gulf of Alaska and its proximity to our area around midweek. This may or may not push the ridge back toward the east, possibly reestablishing the monsoonal moisture tap from the south.
So enjoy the cooler temperatures to start the weekend and what should be a very pleasant Sunday, and I’ll have more details about next week in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Weather narrative delayed until Friday afternoon
The weather narrative, usually published on Thursday afternoon, will be delayed until this afternoon due to a storm-caused power outage at the data center hosting this site in Phoenix late Wednesday night.
