Persistent snowfall to start tonight and last through the weekend
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Winter conditions over the Yampa Valley have been in place since the weather switch was flipped last Friday night. Temperatures in town are only in the mid-twenties, and near ten degrees near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort, with partly sunny skies early this Thursday afternoon. Soak up the sun today, since it is going away for the weekend as a powerful wintry storm approaches the North-Central Colorado mountains. Three waves of snow in favorable northwest flow will bring snowfall totals measured in feet to the area, along with difficult driving conditions through the weekend and high winds on Saturday.
A deep trough of low pressure extending southward from the Aleutian Islands has conspired with a broad ridge of high pressure over the eastern Pacific to direct tropical and subtropical moisture northward. Energy ejected from the Aleutian storm has ingested some of this moisture as it traveled over the ridge, starting snowfall tonight as it moves overhead in our favorable northwest flow and leaving 1-4” at mid-mountain for the Friday morning ski report. Snowfall should continue through the day, becoming moderate at times and leaving another 3-6” by sunset on Friday.
Snow will decrease or even stop for a short time on early Friday evening ahead of the main event. Most of the Aleutian storm will be forced eastward by a strengthening Pacific jet stream, ingesting more subtropical and tropical moisture as it approaches the Vancouver coast on Friday. Expect increasing winds and moderate to heavy snow Friday night, with snowfall rates exceeding an inch per hour at times, making travel over Rabbit Ears Pass difficult or even impossible.
We could see 6-12” of snow overnight, and combined with the snowfall during the day Friday, a 9-18” Saturday morning mid-mountain ski report. Unfortunately, westerly to northwesterly mountain-top winds averaging over 30 mph and gusting to as high as 60 mph, soon after midnight and lasting through the early afternoon, may make lift operations problematic; let’s hope Christie Peak is ready for opening.
Another 3-6” of snow will fall during the blustery Saturday morning, leaving 1-2′ of snowfall from the first two waves on the hill. Significant snowfall will occur in town as well, with 6-12” expected.
Snowfall may not stop on Saturday afternoon behind the second wave, only diminish, as the third, much weaker wave moves overhead Saturday night. We could see another 3-6” of snow by the Sunday morning report, though forecast trends are for a bit less. Fortunately, the winds will diminish but still remain breezy.
Intermittent snowfall may continue on Sunday and Monday as favorable northwest flow remains overhead, though with warming temperatures. This pattern is forecast to persist through the workweek, with weather forecast model uncertainty high regarding a midweek storm. Enjoy the first storm of meteorological winter, which began on December 1st, and I’ll have more details on what we can expect next week in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
