Storm to end tonight ahead of another for the end of the weekend
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Temperatures are in the mid-forties under cloudy skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs behind an early afternoon thunderstorm. Good precipitation chances will continue through midnight before we see mostly sunny mornings and warmer temperatures through the weekend. Afternoon thunderstorm chances will linger on Friday and Saturday before the next storm brings good precipitation chances and cooler temperatures from Sunday afternoon through Monday.
After a beautiful start to the workweek, with high temperatures above seventy-five degrees on Monday, high temperatures plummeted into the low-fifties on Wednesday behind a cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska. We went from temperatures representative of mid-June to mid-April in just a couple of days, which is not uncommon for the mercurial spring season.
Winter Park reported nine inches of snow this morning and Arapahoe Basin reported seven inches for that classic mid-May powder day. We saw snow above 8000′ and a couple of tenths of an inch of rain in town, with a low temperature of 21 F at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort this morning. The cool temperatures and showers, with sometimes moderate to heavy rain and small hail, are forecast to continue through midnight in the favorable moist and unstable northwest behind the storm, now moving northeast through the eastern Dakotas.
A ridge of high pressure is building over the West Coast ahead of another strong storm brewing over the Aleutian Islands, which has incorporated some sub-tropical moisture to form a weak atmospheric river. The storm will push the ridge eastward as it moves across the West Coast early Saturday, warming temperatures into the upper-fifties on Friday and mid-sixties on Saturday, right around our average of 66 F.
Mornings should start mostly sunny, with only a small chance of late-day thunderstorms on Friday, but a better chance on Saturday as a wave of energy and moisture ejecting from the landfalling storm moves overhead.
Take advantage of the nice start to Sunday as the storm rotates through the Great Basin, first bringing increasing clouds by noon that will cap our high temperatures in the low-sixties, and then a cold front in the afternoon or evening, accompanied by precipitation.
The storm will be wetter than the departing storm, pinwheeling through Colorado on Monday and bringing additional snow to the higher elevations and rain in town. While showers may linger in our favorable northwest flow behind the storm on Tuesday, temperatures will begin to rise by Wednesday under mostly sunny skies, perhaps reaching back into the mid-seventies by Friday and next weekend.
So enjoy the break between storms that will begin on Friday and last through at least the first half of Sunday, and I’ll have more details on what will be a soggy start to the workweek in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Warm and breezy start to the workweek to be followed by a cold front Tuesday night
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Temperatures are already seventy degrees this Mother’s Day at noon in Steamboat Springs with mostly sunny skies. Despite clouds this afternoon that may produce some gusty winds, temperatures will approach seventy-five degrees. Increasing breezes with continued warm temperatures will start the work week ahead of an approaching storm that will bring a cold front Tuesday night, followed by precipitation chances from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday.
The ridge of high pressure over the Rocky Mountains early in the weekend, responsible for the spectacular Saturday weather, is being pushed to the upper Midwest by a cold and strong storm moving into the Pacific Northwest. The storm is forecast to move through the Great Basin on Tuesday and split, with breezy southwest winds ahead of the storm carrying dry air from the Desert Southwest over our area on Monday and Tuesday. Monday will be the warmest day of the week, with high temperatures cresting seventy-five degrees, over ten degrees above our average of 64 F, while Tuesday will see a few degrees of cooling.
A strong cold front associated with the southern part of the split storm will move through our area Tuesday night, dropping the high temperatures on Wednesday into the low-fifties, over ten degrees below average and twenty-five degrees cooler than Monday. A reinforcing surge of cool air will be accompanied by enough moisture Wednesday afternoon to bring a good chance of precipitation lasting into Thursday, with around a tenth of an inch forecast for town and 1-4” of snow above 8000′. Depending on how much cool air and moisture make it into the storm, there may even be snowflakes in town early Thursday morning.
The cool weather will stick around as we transition into a period of northwest flow, with high temperatures moving into the mid-fifties on Thursday and the low-sixties on Friday. The weekend forecast is uncertain despite the weather forecast models agreeing on the general pattern, as the timing and strength of waves moving through the northwest flow will determine shower chances. I’ll have more details about that in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Afternoon showers to bookend a pleasantly warm weekend
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Mostly sunny skies this morning over Steamboat Springs have yielded to some brief rain showers this Thursday afternoon, with the earlier sixty-degree temperatures falling into the upper fifties. Temperatures will warm toward a pleasant seventy-five degrees this weekend, with afternoon showers most likely on Friday and Mother’s Day.
Though the past storm system was close, its further-than-predicted southern trajectory limited precipitation in our area to only several hundredths of an inch. However, the Front Range and southeastern plains received the forecast beneficial rainfall, and Loveland ended up the Colorado ski area winner with fifteen inches over two days.
A ridge of high pressure ahead of a strong and cold storm over the Gulf of Alaska will build over the West this weekend, bringing warming temperatures reaching toward seventy degrees on Friday and mid-seventies on the weekend, about ten degrees above our average of 63 F.
While we should see mostly sunny mornings through the weekend, moisture left behind by the last storm will bring another round of afternoon and evening thunderstorm chances on Friday, similar to today. Saturday will be the driest day before the Gulf of Alaska storm begins to approach the Pacific Northwest coast, modestly increasing moisture by Sunday afternoon and again allowing for a chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
The storm is forecast to cross the West Coast on Monday, bringing increasing breezes from the southwest to start the work week with continued temperatures in the seventies. So enjoy yet another beautiful weekend, and check back Sunday afternoon for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative for details on what we may expect from the approaching midweek storm.
Again, unsettled weather to start the workweek
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Mostly sunny skies and temperatures already in the mid-sixties, on the way toward seventy degrees, are over Steamboat Springs late this Sunday morning. Invading clouds this afternoon and a stray shower will begin a cooler, but still mild period of unsettled weather that will last through midweek.
A storm that crossed the West Coast yesterday has split, with the southern end forming an eddy over southern California. The eddy is forecast to move toward the Four Corners by Monday night and wobble into the eastern Colorado plains by Wednesday. Moisture from both the Pacific behind the storm and the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm will bring beneficial precipitation to Colorado, with limited cold air confining snow accumulations to above 8,500′.
Though some showers moving from the southeast may accompany the invading clouds this afternoon, the best precipitation should occur from later Monday through Tuesday as a cool front associated with the northern part of the split storm grazes our area Monday night. Precipitation will continue through Tuesday evening as the eddy slowly wobbles across Colorado, though amounts in the valley will be modest and only amount to several tenths of an inch. Better precipitation is expected at the higher elevations, though snowfall amounts here should only total several inches at and above pass level. Much higher totals are possible for the open ski areas to our east and south.
Additional energy and moisture will rotate counterclockwise around the eddy on Wednesday, briefly elongating it back westward and over our area, keeping clouds and afternoon showers around. A modest ridge of high pressure ahead of another advancing and strong storm in the Gulf of Alaska will force the eddy east of Colorado by Thursday, perhaps bringing some sun for the morning, but leaving chances for afternoon and evening showers.
The ridge of high pressure is forecast to build eastward and merge with another ridge of high pressure forecast to form over the Great Lakes, behind the northern part of the split storm that brought the cool front through our area earlier on Monday night. Interestingly, moisture will be carried northward and over our area for Friday and the weekend as winds rotate clockwise around the high pressure, leaving chances for afternoon and evening storms and foreshadowing the arrival of the summer North American Monsoon.
Cold air is lacking with the eddy, with high temperatures falling into the mid-sixties on Monday and near sixty degrees on Tuesday, the coolest day of the week, and just below our average of 62 F. Wednesday will be a degree or two warmer, with mid-sixties on Thursday and near seventy degrees on Friday. Let’s hope for beneficial precipitation to start the week, as our rapidly diminishing snowpack is just under two-thirds of average, and check back for more details on what is looking like a pleasant weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
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.