Temperatures to warm during pleasant Memorial Day weekend
Friday, May 22, 2026
After almost a half-inch of rain fell in Steamboat Springs starting Thursday afternoon, and 3” of snow at mid-mountain, a mix of sun and clouds is over town early this Friday afternoon with temperatures around 50 degrees. The cold front yesterday will be followed by a pleasant Memorial Day weekend, with mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures, reaching almost 80 degrees by Memorial Day.
The wintry pattern that brought a series of storms from the Pacific Northwest this past month will revert to a more summery pattern by Memorial Day as winds turn southwesterly, carrying warmer air northward as a storm develops in the Gulf of Alaska. But the storm’s eastward progress will be stalled by a building ridge of high pressure east of the Rockies, a result of the increasingly strong late-spring sun.
Temperatures are forecast to warm about 10 degrees on Saturday, around the 68-degree average, under mostly sunny skies. Even warmer temperatures in the mid-70s are forecast for Sunday, with a possible afternoon and evening shower as southerly winds ahead of the developing Gulf of Alaska storm drag some moisture overhead.
Eighty degrees is forecast for a very nice Memorial Day, with a moderate chance of late-day showers as the Gulf of Alaska moves southward along the Pacific Northwest coast, strengthening a wave of energy ingested from off the southern California coast, and carrying a stronger surge of moisture across the Great Basin and our area.
The best chance of showers will be on Tuesday afternoon as that wave of energy moves northward across Utah, bringing clouds early in the day that will limit our high temperatures to the low 70s.
Enjoy what should be a very nice, long Memorial Day weekend. Note that I will not be able to produce my regularly scheduled on Sunday afternoon, and will try for Monday, but no promises. Regardless, I will be back with the usual programming on Thursday afternoon.
