Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Friday night
Friday, April 29, 2016
The last major storm in the near term, forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast tonight and then take up residence in the Great Basin for the weekend and beginning of next week, will mix with energy from the previous storm spinning east of us by tomorrow.
The NAM and AVN models have converged to a compromise solution over the past 24 hours, keeping light showers going for Saturday with some stronger showers advertised for the afternoon.
As the Great Basin storm moves mostly south of us on Sunday, some drier air moves over allowing the sun to make an appearance for a relatively nice day, though there will still be a chance of afternoon showers.
The storm waffles around the area around Monday before parts of it start moving east of our area around Tuesday. Monday will be cool and showery for most of the day before enough drying takes place overnight to allow the sun to reappear for Tuesday morning. The sun will cook the remaining moisture in the atmosphere during the day and keep the threat of afternoon storms, possibly strong, high for Tuesday.
Wednesday and Thursday and possibly early Friday should bring a nice springtime break in the active weather with warming and drying, though the ECMWF has recently latched on to a cutoff feature that may linger just north of us through midweek and bring clouds that will reduce the warming.
Yet another large storm looks to affect our weather as soon as Friday afternoon and lasting through Mother’s Day weekend.
Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Thursday afternoon
Thursday, April 28, 2016
The next storm in the wave train brought 3/8” hail to Steamboat this afternoon with another round of lighter showers forecast for later this evening through about midnight. The Front Range foothills are still forecast to pick up substantial snow from tonight through Friday, making travel difficult.
Closer to home, Friday looks to be yet another showery day with another round of moderate to strong afternoon storms.
The last storm in the near term, forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast on Friday night and then take up residence in the Great Basin for the weekend and beginning of next week, will mix with energy from the previous storm spinning over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The complicated interaction leads to subtle differences in the model which decreases forecast confidence heading into the weekend.
The dryer NAM keeps only afternoon showers around for the weekend while the wetter AVN has more persistent showers for Saturday.
The Great Basin storm is forecast to move over our area around Monday, though a bit further south than earlier forecast, leading to a drier forecast for Sunday with the sun making an appearance, though there will still be a chance of afternoon storms.
The storm waffles around the area before parts of it start moving east of our area around Tuesday, bringing a cool and showery Monday and keeping the threat of showers high for Tuesday as well, especially in the afternoon.
Wednesday and Thursday and possibly Friday should bring a nice springtime break in the active weather with warming and drying. However, yet another large storm looks to affect our weather sometime around Mother’s Day weekend.
Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Wednesday afternoon
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
After a brief break tonight into Thursday morning, the next storm in the wave train will bring another round of moderate to heavy snow showers to the area by Thursday afternoon and extending through the night. There may be short-lived accumulations on the roadway in the valleys during the heavier showers, but the majority of valley accumulations should be on grassy surfaces. The mountain, on the other hand, will see another 3-6” of snow by early Friday morning.
The last storm in the near term, forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast on Friday night and then take up residence in the Great Basin for the weekend and beginning of next week, will mix with energy from the previous storm spinning over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The complicated interaction leads to subtle differences in the model which decrease forecast confidence heading into the weekend.
Currently, it appears persistent showers will continue through Friday morning with an additional inch or two on the mountain. The dryer NAM keeps only afternoon showers around for the weekend while the wetter AVN has more persistent showers through both days. But they agree the Front Range foothills will pick up substantial snow from Thursday night through Friday, making travel difficult.
The Great Basin storm is forecast to move over our area around Monday, keeping chances of at least afternoon storms high. The storm waffles around the area before parts of it start moving east of our area around Tuesday, keeping the threat of showers high for Tuesday as well, especially in the afternoon.
Wednesday and Thursday should bring a nice springtime break in the active weather with warming and drying. However, yet another large storm looks to affect our weather as soon as Friday and extending into Mother’s Day weekend.
Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Tuesday afternoon
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
The Steamboat Powdercam showed 8” of new snow overnight Monday and today from the storm that is mostly moving east of the area, putting us right around the 400” mark for the season had the Steamboat ski area been open. Two more storms will affect our area for the next week in a complicated manner starting Thursday afternoon and again mid-weekend as they cross the Great Basin.
Snow showers will decrease overnight as a shallow ridge builds between the departing and incoming system, with the NAM model showing more dry air over our area than the AVN on Wednesday. Showers may still be around for Wednesday, though they will be weaker and more sporadic than what we saw today, and we may see some peaks of sun.
After a brief break Wednesday night into Thursday morning, the next storm will bring another round of moderate to heavy snow showers to the area by Thursday afternoon and extending through the night. There may be short-lived accumulations on the roadway in the valleys during the heavier showers, but the majority of valley accumulations should be on grassy surfaces. The mountain, on the other hand, will see another 3-6” of snow by early Friday morning.
Persistent showers will continue through Friday morning with an additional inch or two on the mountain.
The second storm, forecast to cross the Pacific Northwest coast on Friday night and then take up residence in the Great Basin for the weekend and beginning of next week, will mix with energy from the first storm spinning over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. The complicated interaction will likely keep the cool and showery unsettled weather around through the weekend and into the first part of next week, with the details evolving each day.
Steamboat Springs area weather forecast from Monday afternoon
Monday, April 25, 2016
Three more storms will affect our area for the next week in a complicated manner. Pieces of energy from the first storm on Tuesday will break off with some of the energy moving westward and eventually mixing with the both the second storm later Thursday and third storm mid-weekend as they cross the Great Basin.
Rain showers in the valleys and snow showers on the mountain should pick up in intensity around mid-evening tonight and last most of the night.
There may be a break in precipitation Tuesday morning before the showers are forecast to become stronger and longer lasting in the afternoon and evening, with some rain showers mixing with snow showers in the valleys. This storm will likely bring some accumulating snow to the grassy surfaces in the valleys and 5-10” on the mountain by Wednesday afternoon if the current forecast holds.
There may be a break in the inclement weather for Wednesday afternoon into the first part of Thursday before the second storm, forecast to cross the central California coast on Wednesday and then travel across the Great Basin, brings showers to our area as soon as Thursday afternoon and threatens another cool and wet weekend.
