Summery weather arrives Sunday
Friday, June 16, 2023
A cool and partly sunny day with temperatures in the low sixties is over the Steamboat Springs area this Friday mid-afternoon. There will be a small chance of some showers today, but a better chance on Saturday as the final piece of a wave moves through our area. Warm and dry weather then appears on Sunday to start our first truly summery week of the year.
A large area of low pressure is currently over the Gulf of Alaska while a much smaller waves moves through the Rockies. The first part of this wave moved through our area yesterday afternoon, bringing a cool front and around a quarter to a half inch of precipitation to town, including some small hail. The cool and drier air behind the front has reduced the shower chances today, but the second part of the wave forecast for tomorrow morning will likely bring showers through the area early in the morning.
Another cool day is in store for Saturday, similar to today, with high temperatures once again only reaching the mid-sixties, over ten degrees below our average of 77 F. But unlike today, enough moisture in the atmosphere should bring better chances for afternoon storms in the unstable atmosphere behind the front.
Those tired of our recent wet and cool weather will be happy to read that summery weather looks to arrive in force on Sunday. That Gulf of Alaska storm is forecast to elongate along the West Coast by then, and the warm and dry winds ahead of the storm from the Desert Southwest promise a beautiful dry summery day with temperatures approaching the mid-seventies.
Several degrees of warming may push our temperatures toward the upper seventies on Monday, though winds should become breezy from the southwest in the afternoon as the former Gulf of Alaska storm approaches the West Coast. But a ridge of high pressure building over the central U.S. should deflect energy ejecting out of that storm to our northwest through the week, with similarly warm and dry weather and breezy afternoons forecast.
And the summery weather arrives in time to mark the summer soltstice, which is when the sun reaches its northermost extent in the northern hemisphere and we see the longest day of the year, which will occur this year at 8:57 am on Wednesday, June 21. So enjoy the start of the summery weather, and I’ll be back with my regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Showers continue through the work week
Monday, June 12, 2023
A cool and mostly cloudy day is over the Steamboat Springs area this Monday mid-afternoon with temperatures currently only in the mid-fifties, though they were ten degrees warmer around noon. There are good chances for showers through the work week as a couple of low pressure areas impact our area. Some drier air behind the last system is advertised to move into our area on Friday or Saturday for warmer and drier weather.
A complicated weather pattern is still over the U.S. with a broad low pressure area over much of the West and a smaller but stronger eddy of low pressure over the Great Lakes. A wave of energy ejected from cold storm currently centered over the Aleutians is forecast to cross the Vancouver coast later Tuesday, forcing the low pressure over the West to elongate to the southwest and ejecting the northern part of the low pressure through Colorado during the day. So we should see a good chance of showers with high temperatures struggling to reach the mid-sixties, around ten degrees below our average of 75 F.
High temperatures should recover toward seventy degrees by Wednesday, but that Vancouver wave is forecast to rotate through Idaho during the day Wednesday and then Montana on Thursday. Energy and moisture in the southern end of the storm will keep a good chance of showers around for at least Wednesday and Thursday, with the possibility that some of the afternoon and evening storms may be strong. And Thursday may be wetter than Wednesday as some of low pressure left behind to our southwest from the current low pressure area merges with the northern storm and moves through our area.
Earlier runs of the weather forecast models had drier air overhead by Friday, but now forecast the merged low pressure area to linger over our area during the day and overnight. So that means more showers with drying holding off until sometime Saturday.
Thursday should be my last day of travel, and I may have time for a regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon. But if not then, I’ll be writing about the weekend outlook on Friday.
Nice start to the weekend followed by increasing shower chances
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-sixties are over the Steamboat Springs area early this Thursday afternoon. The weekend should start out on the drier side with temperatures warming a bit before shower chances increase to finish the weekend and start the next work week.
A fairly complicated weather pattern is over the U.S., especially for early June, as several areas of low pressure are forecast to interact with a ridge of high pressure currently over the northern Rockies that is anchored between two expansive low pressure areas centered near the Aleutian Islands and the Northeast.
There are two areas of low pressure that will affect us starting the second half of the weekend, with the first slowly moving northward through Nevada and the second moving southward through the Canadian Plains. At first, drier air from the southwest ahead of the Nevada low will keep things on the dry side for Friday with temperatures approaching our average of 74 F.
A similar day is forecast for Saturday, with a slight chance of afternoon and evening storms as that storm from the Canadian Plains moves south along the eastern side of the ridge of high pressure and grazes our area later in the day.
More active weather with a better chance of afternoon and evening storms is forecast for Sunday as energy ejects out of the Aleutian low pressure area and approaches the West Coast, keeping the Nevada low moving north while part of it shears out east toward our area.
Meanwhile, that ejecting piece of energy approaches Baja and forms an eddy that moves inland. It currently looks like that eddy will first move into the Desert Southwest late in the weekend and then across the Great Basin early in the work week. That means more good chances for showers to start the work week.
My travel plans are still in flux, and it is likely my regularly scheduled weather narrative will be published sometime on Monday. Until then, enjoy the drier start to the weekend.
Shower chances persist this work week
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Mostly cloudy skies and cool temperatures in the mid-sixties are over the town of Steamboat Springs on this Sunday mid-afternoon. The chance of afternoon and evening showers looks to persist through Thursday, with the best chance on Wednesday, as temperatures warm toward seventy degrees ahead of another storm system approaching our area. There may be several degrees of cooling on Thursday, but likely drying for the end of the work week.
A ridge of high pressure anchored over the central U.S. and extending toward the Arctic Circle is flanked by low pressure areas over the Great Basin and the Gulf of Maine. The ridge of high pressure is holding firm thanks to the building heat of summer and is slowly deflecting any storm systems moving eastward from the Pacific to our north. The end result is a relatively stagnant pattern that has been drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico over our area in the counterclockwise flow around the low pressure area.
Another incoming low pressure area is forecast to cross Baja tomorrow, and force the current low pressure area in the Great Basin northward as it slowly moves into Arizona through midweek. The southeast winds ahead of the new low pressure area will continue to move moisture from the Gulf of Mexico over our area for a continued chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. But because the center of the low pressure will be to out west, we should see some partly sunny starts to the day and high temperatures closer to our average of 72 F.
By Thursday, the low pressure area is forecast to move northward into Nevada thanks to a storm currently near the Aleutian Islands that will elongate to the south as it moves east into the Gulf of Alaska. Drier air wrapping around the now-in-Nevada low pressure area from the southwest will move toward our area, but weather forecast models disagree on how much of that drier air moves overhead by Thursday, and possibly heading into the weekend.
But with morning sun comes a better chance of stronger afternoon and evening storms as rising temperatures cook the atmosphere. The storms will likely become more scattered, but that won’t make a difference if you happen to be under a passing storm cell later in the day.
I’ll be back a bit earlier on Thursday morning, as I have more travel in my future, with a look at what is currently looking like a drier weekend forecast.
Soggy start to the weekend
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Showers are moving over the Steamboat Springs area late this Thursday afternoon with temperatures only in the mid-fifties. Not much change is forecast for Friday, with slightly warmer but still cool temperatures and continued unsettled weather on tap for the rest of the weekend, and likely beyond.
A broad trough of low pressure is currently over the West with high pressure over the Great Lakes. No less than four circulation centers are currently embedded within the trough, and their eastward progress will be blocked by the building ridge of high pressure over the Great Lakes. They will instead be forced generally northward along the spine of the Rockies and back west toward the Great Basin and interact with each other in a complex and difficult to forecast dance.
In addition to the forcing from these circulation centers, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico has been drawn over our area by southerly flow behind the ridge of high pressure yielding a favorable environment for showers that may persist through the weekend. In fact, the ridge of high pressure is forecast to build toward the Arctic Circle through the weekend, creating a stagnant pattern that means unsettled weather continuing into the next work week.
Tomorrow will likely be the coldest day of the week with high temperatures only in the fifties, fifteen degrees or so below our average of 71 F. We may wake up to rain showers along with snowflakes near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. But there will be some recovery on Saturday with high temperatures in the lower sixties and upper sixties by Sunday.
While Friday will almost certainly be wet, there is less certainty for Saturday and Sunday as some drier air behind the passing disturbances may move near or over our area. That will be dependent upon how far west the ridge of high pressure bulges through the weekend, with a further westward movement keeping the drier, but not dry, air to our west. Showers will take a downturn if that drier air moves overhead.
It will take until early next week for these disturbances to clear the area, but another one is currently forecast to be behind it for continued unsettled weather lasting through midweek at least. I’ll have more details about this approaching system in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
