Weak storm tonight to be followed by stronger storm on Saturday
Thursday, March 20, 2025
The sunny skies early this Thursday morning on the first day of spring have turned cloudy by late morning in Steamboat Springs with temperatures in the upper-twenties in town and fifteen degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. A weak storm tonight will be followed by a much stronger storm starting Friday night that lasts into Sunday.
A weakening wave of energy and moisture in the northwest-to-southeast oriented jet stream has crossed the Pacific Northwest coast last night and will move overhead tonight. While the winds will be from our favorable northwest direction and cold air accompanies the storm, limited moisture may only produce an inch or two by the Friday morning mid-mountain report as flurries end by the afternoon.
A much stronger, but warmer, storm has incorporated the remnants of an atmospheric river from the central Pacific and is already bringing precipitation to the Pacific Northwest coast. The center of the storm is forecast to move across Idaho Friday night and Wyoming on Saturday, but energy and moisture moving through the southern part of the storm will bring accumulating snow to our area starting Friday night.
There is limited cold air associated with the storm, and mountain-top temperatures in the twenties will create denser snow than we saw with the storm starting Tuesday at noon that left 10” of high-quality powder at mid-mountain and 15” up top by noon on Wednesday. That storm also featured snowfall rates of one and a half inches per hour at mid-mountain and two inches per hour up top between 11:15 am and 4:40 pm.
Snowfall should start Friday evening, and pick up around midnight with snowfall rates over an inch per hour at times, leading to 3-6” by the Saturday morning mid-mountain report. Another 4-8” may fall during the day with the storm winding down Saturday night after an additional 2-5” by Sunday morning.
While snow showers may linger Sunday morning, they should end for a time as a ridge of high pressure begins to build over the West Coast behind the storm and ahead of a strong storm forecast to develop over the Aleutian Islands by Friday. A weak wave of energy and moisture rounding the top of the building ridge may bring some non-accumulating and high-elevation showers on Monday, but warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies should be with us for the workweek starting Tuesday.
High temperatures in town through the weekend will be cool and only in the high thirties to low forties, between five and ten degrees below our average of 47 F. But we should be near average by Monday despite the clouds before high temperatures warm into the sixties by midweek under mostly sunny skies.
So savor the last wintry storm in this series that started Tuesday, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for more details on what’s looking like a very nice springlike workweek.
Next winter storm to arrive Tuesday
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Skies have briefly cleared this Sunday mid-morning in Steamboat Springs with temperatures near freezing in town and low-teens at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Warming temperatures today and more so on Monday will precede another strong winter storm starting early Tuesday that will linger through Wednesday. After a nice start to Thursday, appropriately marking the first day of spring, wintry weather returns Thursday night.
Not sure what to make of the morning ski report as three and a half inches were reported at mid-mountain and four inches up top, with no snow overnight, even though the mid-mountain powdercam and the upper mountain powdercam clearly showed accumulating snowfall after the hill closed. Regardless, mostly sunny skies have briefly appeared behind the winter storm, helping afternoon temperatures warm to near forty degrees in town today, about five degrees below our average of 45 F.
The dry skies result from a ridge of high pressure moving across the West ahead of another winter storm approaching the West Coast. Temperatures will rise toward fifty degrees on Monday despite mid-level clouds and gusty afternoon breezes from the west. The storm is forecast to cross the West Coast Monday and the Great Basin Monday night, eventually bringing a strong cold front through our area early Tuesday morning.
This storm looks quite similar to the one last Friday, with moderate to heavy snow showers starting around the morning ski report and continuing through the day, with 5-10” expected at mid-mountain by sunset on Tuesday. A reinforcing wave of cold air will continue the snowfall overnight in our favorable moist and unstable northwest flow bringing an additional 3-6” overnight and 1-4” during a cold Wednesday as snow showers taper off during the day.
Temperatures in town will be mired in the thirties on a wintry Tuesday, and may not make it to freezing on Wednesday as mountain-top temperatures fall to the single digits by Wednesday morning. Clearing skies by later Wednesday will lead to another chilly Thursday morning, especially in town as the fresh snow cover and light winds allow low temperatures to fall into the single digits, over ten degrees below our average of twenty degrees.
The sun crosses north of the equator at 3:01 am on Thursday, March 20th, marking the vernal equinox and the first day of spring. Mother Nature will try to oblige with a mostly sunny morning thanks to a quick-moving ridge of high pressure, but increasing clouds during the day ahead of a moderate wintry storm starting Thursday night will limit high temperatures to around forty degrees.
So enjoy the weather whiplash this workweek, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative Thursday afternoon for details on the end-of-week storm and the possibility of more snow for next weekend.
Winter weather to return early Friday morning
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Temperatures have retreated from near fifty degrees this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs thanks to invading clouds ahead of a winter storm to start early Friday morning. Significant snowfall and difficult travel over Rabbit Ears Pass will moderate by Friday afternoon, though cold temperatures and snow showers will persist through Sunday morning. A break in the weather will last through Monday before a similar storm is forecast for Tuesday.
A strong storm that is pummeling the West Coast and brought over two feet of snow to some of the California ski resorts is quickly moving through the Great Basin. Clouds have increased in the southwest winds ahead of the storm, with some showers producing little accumulation possible tonight before the cold front arrives early Friday morning, likely just after the morning ski report.
Don’t be fooled by the slow start to the storm overnight as plummeting temperatures and moderate to heavy snow showers are expected through noon, bringing 6-12” of snow at mid-mountain and lighter showers in the afternoon. High temperatures in town are only expected to reach around thirty degrees, fifteen degrees below our average of 45 F, with mountain-top temperatures starting the morning in the low-teens and high temperatures only reaching the upper teens.
The front will also bring windy conditions, with westerly mountain-top winds increasing through the morning before reaching average speeds of almost 30 mph by the early afternoon, and gusts nearing twice that. Snowfall rates between one and two inches per hour and gusty winds will likely create difficult travel over Rabbit Ears Pass from sunrise through noon on Friday.
Though the heaviest snowfall will be over by early Friday afternoon, some light snow showers should continue through the rest of the day with another 1-4” possible by Saturday morning There may be a break Friday night into Saturday morning, but a trailing wave passing to our south should keep the cold temperatures around and restart snow showers from Saturday afternoon through the night in our favorable moist, cold and unstable northwest flow, with 2-5” possible by the Sunday morning report.
The weather should improve on Sunday with some sun possible by the afternoon, especially in town, as temperatures there warm toward forty degrees on Sunday and fifty degrees on a sunnier Monday. But that break will be short-lived as a similar winter storm approaches our area for Tuesday.
So enjoy the return of winter after this gorgeous springlike week, and hope there is enough snow on Friday to adequately cover what will be a frozen surface in most places. Be sure to check back Sunday afternoon for my next regularly scheduled weather narrative with more details on our next winter storm.
Warm and mostly sunny to start the workweek
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Bluebird skies and temperatures rising toward freezing are over Steamboat Springs late this Sunday morning. The dry and pleasant weather will extend through most of the workweek as temperatures rise toward fifty degrees with mostly sunny skies on Monday and some clouds on Tuesday and Wednesday. A still-warm but cloudy Thursday will precede a strong winter storm for Friday.
A cool but sunny day on Saturday followed 13” of snow at mid-mountain and 21” up top that fell between last Monday and Friday nights. A ridge of high pressure over the West will bring mostly sunny skies today and Monday with temperatures rising to the mid-forties today and toward fifty degrees on Monday, above our average of 43 F.
The northern part of a splitting storm off the West Coast will move across the Canadian border, bringing some clouds on Tuesday as the southern part briefly forms an eddy that crosses the southern California coast on Tuesday. The eddy weakens and quickly moves across Arizona and New Mexico on Wednesday, bringing some clouds to our area during the day.
Meanwhile, a strong winter storm forming over the Gulf of Alaska on Tuesday is forecast to cross the West Coast on Wednesday. The storm will be cold due to its formation over the northern latitudes and wet thanks to the remnants of an atmospheric river from Indonesia.
Moisture ahead of the storm will bring a cloudy but still-warm Thursday ahead of likely significant snowfall starting later Thursday or Friday, with much colder temperatures over ten degrees below average. Longer-term weather forecast models have this colder and wetter weather persisting through the weekend and much of the following workweek as we head toward the vernal equinox at 3:01 am on Thursday, March 20th.
So soak up the springlike weather to start the workweek, and I’ll have more details on the impending winter storm for the end of the workweek in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Beautiful weekend to follow Friday’s storm
Thursday, March 6, 2025
Temperatures are in the low forties in Steamboat Springs and low twenties near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort this Thursday mid-afternoon. After four inches of snow at mid-mountain and six inches at the summit were reported this morning, the final piece of the storm brings a cold front tonight and another round of snow that will end Friday night in time for a nice weekend.
A winter storm is over Nevada and Utah, and some ejecting energy ahead of the storm last night brought the better-than-expected snowfall this morning. The storm has split, with another lobe of energy moving overhead tonight while the parent storm sinks into Arizona on Friday. Snow showers should redevelop this evening and become moderate at times overnight as cool air is dragged overhead behind the passing lobe of energy. By the Friday morning report, we could see 2-5” of snow at mid-mountain with mountain-top temperatures falling toward ten degrees, and another 2-5” of fluffier powder falling through noon in the moist and unstable winds from the west.
Meanwhile, a strengthening ridge of high pressure ahead of a storm developing over the Gulf of Alaska this weekend will move over the West, bringing mostly sunny skies and temperatures in town warming from around freezing on Friday, about ten degrees below our average of 42 F, to the mid-thirties on Saturday and the mid-forties on Sunday. With some clear skies, light winds and fresh snow cover, low temperatues will fall into the single digits for both weekend days, below our average of 15 F.
The nice weather will persist into the beginning of the workweek as that Gulf of Alaska storm is forecast to form an eddy that crosses Baja around Tuesday. The eddy may or may not stay south of our area by midweek, and could be followed by a storm that may bring accumulating snow to our area by the end of the workweek.
So let’s hope for some lighter and fluffier powder for Friday, enjoy the beautiful weekend, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for more details on that Baja eddy.
