Arctic front to bring cold and snowy weekend
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Temperatures in Steamboat Springs at noon on this Thursday are near thirty degrees in town and twenty degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort under mostly sunny skies. An arctic system and a subtropical system will soon interact, bringing snowfall starting later on Friday and cold temperatures for the weekend.
An eddy of low pressure has formed off the coast of southern California underneath a ridge of high pressure extending southward from Alaska. The formation of the eddy and its ingestion of tropical and subtropical moisture, representative of an atmospheric river, is clear in the accompanying thirty-two-hour time-lapse of water vapor satellite images between Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Additionally, waves of energy moving over the ridge of high pressure and down its eastern side have mixed with arctic air from a persistent and deep vortex of cold air centered near Hudson Bay.
After a pleasant day today with some high clouds from the west and northwest and high temperatures in the mid-thirties, above our average of thirty degrees, the weather changes later on Friday.
Some energy moving down the ridge will force the eddy eastward, while some mixes with frigid air from central and northern Canada. This arctic air moving southward across the Northern Rockies on Friday will encounter the much warmer and wetter air moving northward around the eddy, creating a slow-moving frontal system that promises some snowfall and frigid air for all of Colorado this weekend.
Colorado will not be the only state affected, as the path of the one-time eddy will create a large band of winter weather lasting through the weekend, including likely devastating amounts of freezing rain from Texas to the Central Atlantic coast and heavy snow to the north.
Snowfall forecasts for our area are still changing, as the cold air trends further westward, with snowfall expected to start late in the day on Friday and continue into Saturday morning. We could see 3-6” of snow at mid-mountain by the Saturday morning ski report and up to a couple of inches in town, with some minor accumulations through noon before some drier air briefly passes over in the afternoon.
High temperatures will be quite cold, only reaching the low twenties in town and mid-single digits near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. A reinforcing wave of cold air and some moisture is now forecast to follow for the second half of the weekend, bringing some snowfall and even colder temperatures, with highs mired in the teens on Sunday in town and likely subzero up top.
Keep an eye on the Steamboat Powdercam and Mid-mountain Powdercam during the second half of the storm, as Steamboat can often do well in the cold back-end of a storm. While moisture will be limited in the very cold air, snow ratios can be absurdly high, though my feeling today is it will be too cold for anything but light snow.
The storm will be past on Monday, but temperatures will be slow to recover, especially if skies clear and Monday morning sees the predicted subzero temperatures, below our average of five degrees. Quiet weather follows for most of the workweek as a ridge of high pressure moves overhead, with unsettled weather possible around next Friday. Enjoy the wintry weekend, and check back for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Pleasant workweek to follow another mostly dry grazing cold front tonight
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Brilliant blue skies and temperatures in the upper teens at all elevations are over Steamboat Springs this Sunday at noon. Similar to Friday and Saturday, another mostly dry but warmer cold front will graze our area tonight, bringing clouds and some snow showers, with little accumulation expected. Afternoon sun and cooler temperatures will follow on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, ahead of a mostly sunny workweek with slightly warmer temperatures. The next chance for precipitation may appear at the end of the workweek, with uncertainty high for the weekend.
A ridge of high pressure persists over the West Coast along with its counterpart, a deep and cold trough of low pressure extending from the North Pole south through the Great Lakes toward the Gulf Coast. Pacific waves of energy have been traveling over the ridge, ingesting frigid and dry Arctic air, and moving down its eastern side.
A couple of these grazed our area on Friday and Saturday, with another one bringing clouds and some light snow showers tonight into Monday morning, with meager accumulations expected. Despite the afternoon sun, high temperatures in town should decrease by around five degrees from the mid-thirties today to around thirty degrees on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, right around our now-slowly-increasing average of twenty-nine degrees.
Pleasant workweek weather will be uneventful, with mostly clear skies and high temperatures rising to the upper thirties, and low temperatures falling to the single digits, around our average of five degrees.
The West Coast ridge of high pressure has kept significant snowfall away from our area for a week now, and that won’t change until the end of the workweek as several Pacific storms work their way under, through, and over the ridge. The evolution and track of these storms, and their interaction with the ridge, lead to an uncertain forecast starting at the end of the workweek.
Weather forecast models have settled on the leading Pacific storm weakening and splitting as it plows into the ridge, with the southern end forming an eddy early in the workweek, well off the coast of California. At least some of the northern branch will travel through the ridge, reaching our area around Friday and bringing a chance of snow, though amounts don’t look impressive at this time.
Uncertainty then follows for the weekend and the following workweek as the eddy moves eastward, as its speed and trajectory keep changing in the model forecasts. Furthermore, it is unclear if the ridge is vanquished or rebounds, further complicating additional interactions between the eastward-moving eddy to the southwest, possible Pacific energy from the west, and any cold air from the north.
Enjoy the pleasant workweek, and I’m sure to have more details on the coming pattern change in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
A couple of dry and grazing cold fronts to start the weekend
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Temperatures are in the twenties at all elevations with bluebird skies this Thursday at noon in Steamboat Springs. A couple of grazing cold fronts will bring seemingly cold, but seasonable temperatures on Friday and Saturday, with a chance for some snow showers that may leave meager accumulations. Temperatures rebound on Sunday, with chances of significant snowfall a week away.
A broad ridge of persistent high pressure over the West Coast and a deep trough of low pressure over the eastern two-thirds of North America are dominating our weather. Waves of Pacific energy have traveled over the ridge of high pressure, ingesting frigid air entrenched over northern Canada. These waves then move down the east side of the ridge, grazing our area with cold but dry air.
For some reason, weather forecast models often underestimate the westward extent of these grazing waves, leading to colder and sometimes snowier outcomes. However, snowier is relative, and what was once a dry forecast for tonight and Friday night now has some possible snow showers, though any accumulations would be meager at best.
The first grazing cold front is scheduled for early Friday morning, lowering high temperatures in town from around forty degrees today to the mid-twenties on a cloudy and breezy Friday, finally below our average of twenty-nine degrees. High temperatures at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort will struggle to reach the low teens.
There may be some snow showers, with meager accumulations possible at the higher elevations. The second grazing wave for early Saturday morning may also produce some snow showers, with temperatures similar to Friday, but with some afternoon sun.
Sunday should be a nice and sunny day with temperatures rebounding into the upper thirties. Another grazing wave is advertised for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, though its westward extent is uncertain.
Most of the following workweek looks nice, as our next chance for snowfall won’t be until Pacific energy travels through rather than over the eastern Pacific ridge of high pressure. Weather forecast models are struggling with the details of exactly how and when that will happen, though they agree that at least a weak system will affect us near the end of the workweek.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, and I’ll have more details on when we can expect our next snowfall in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Warm and dry workweek to precede a grazing cool front on Friday
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Sunshine filtered through high clouds, and temperatures in the upper teens at all elevations are over Steamboat Springs this Sunday at noon, after twenty inches of snow fell at mid-mountain and twenty-eight inches at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort between Wednesday night and Friday at noon. Daytime temperatures through Thursday will warm to around forty degrees in town and the upper twenties at higher elevations before dropping by around ten degrees on Friday as a grazing cool front brings a brief chance of light snowfall.
Before getting to the quiet workweek forecast, I’d like to spend a little time dissecting the Steamboat Magic that occurred in the thirty-four hours between 2 am on Thursday and noon on Friday, when twenty-eight inches of snowfall were recorded at the top of Sunshine Peak at 10,384′. 
Shown are the Steamboat Powdercam and the infrared satellite throughout the duration of the storm at two-hour intervals, as well as the temperature and twelve-meter wind at Storm Peak Lab at the top of the Morningside Lift. The ‘+’ marker on the satellite indicates the location of Steamboat.
Note that it snowed almost continuously except between noon and 6 pm on Thursday when some dry air aloft moved overhead, as indicated by the satellite. I’ve briefly paused the animation at noon on Thursday to highlight this dry area on the satellite.
The storm consisted of two parts: the first, before the arctic front, at around 3 pm on Thursday, and the second, post-frontal. Note the cloud movement on the satellite, indicating upper-level winds from the southwest, which carried moisture over the first cool, and then cold surface air in bands.
Also note the subtle switch to our favorable mountain-top northwest direction at 6 pm on Thursday, coincident with the resumption of snowfall. The cold temperatures, falling to zero by Friday morning, allowed for efficient production of dendrites, the familiar branched snowflakes which create fluffy powder, as moisture from the warm air aloft fell into the cold air below. Note the gusty and erratic winds on Friday morning as downdrafts from showers disturbed the mountain-top winds.
Finally, that last burst of one inch per hour snowfall between 10 am and noon on Friday was the result of convection forming in the cold and unstable northwest flow behind the storm, as seen by the bubbly clouds on the satellite.
We are now left with a stretch of calm weather as a ridge of high pressure builds over the West. We may warm into the mid-thirties today, above our average of twenty-nine degrees, and reach around forty degrees through Thursday. A couple of grazing waves moving down the east side of the ridge will affect our weather this workweek, with the first weak one bringing just clouds on Tuesday night. But the second one is stronger and will move further west, bringing clouds and possible snow showers on Friday, along with dropping high temperatures around ten degrees, closer to average.
So enjoy a pleasant workweek, and I’ll have more details on the Friday wave and whether the cool air lingers to start the weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Arctic front to bring more snow tonight and cold temperatures to start the weekend
Thursday, January 8, 2026
After nine inches of snow fell from the first part of a storm at mid-mountain as of this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs, skies are overcast with a temperature of twenty-eight degrees in town and fourteen degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. An arctic front associated with the second part of the storm moves through our area tonight, bringing colder temperatures for Friday and some snow tonight. After a cold start to Saturday, temperatures start to warm, reaching the mid-thirties on a mostly sunny Sunday.
A broad and cold trough of low pressure extends from Canada to the Mexican border, spanning the Canadian Rockies and Intermountain West, as well as the Great Plains. The first part of the storm was quite productive, with snowfall starting around 3 am and accumulating three inches by the Thursday morning ski report at 5 am, highlighted by an inch of snow between 3:40 am and 4:00 am. An additional six inches fell by 10 am, highlighted by two inches between 6:40 am and 7:20 am.
The second part of the storm will bring an arctic front through the area this evening as the main forcing stays to our west and then south. We could see an additional 1-4” of fluffy snowfall overnight, with snow showers continuing through about noon on Friday before some afternoon sun. High temperatures on Friday will only be in the teens in town, below the twenty-nine-degree average, and single digits up top.
Clouds on Friday night will prevent temperatures from plummeting as they insulate the surface like a blanket, but they may still reach below zero in town, below the four-degree average, as well as on the hill.
Temperatures will grudgingly warm to several degrees below average in town on Saturday, helped by some afternoon sun, as a ridge of high pressure begins to move over the West behind the departing storm. We could see mid-thirties on a mostly sunny Sunday, though the fresh snow cover and low sun angle may mean we warm more slowly than predicted.
The nice weather is forecast to continue into the next workweek, with a grazing storm forecast around midweek and another at the end of the workweek. Enjoy the wintry weather for the weekend, and I’ll have more details on the approaching storms in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
