Pattern change with active weather to start Saturday
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Temperatures are in the mid-70s, well above our 63-degree average, under mostly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternoon in Steamboat Springs. Another summery day on Friday will precede an active weather pattern starting Saturday due to a Gulf of Alaska storm interacting with not one, but two tropical disturbances over the next week. While we will see cooling temperatures with showery periods through the weekend, the heavier precipitation does not arrive until after, with the season’s first snowfall likely at the Steamboat Ski Resort by midweek.
A trough of low pressure that extended south from the Aleutian Islands yesterday has split, with the northern part of the split traveling across the Gulf of Alaska. The storm will intensify on Friday as it ingests cold air from eastern Alaska and western Canada, elongating southward along the West Coast on Saturday before it absorbs former Hurricane Rachel, now well west of the Baja Peninsula.
While the complex storm is forecast to continue elongating southward along the West Coast through Columbus Day, increasing southwest winds ahead of the storm will carry some energy overhead by Saturday, leading to a chance of showers during the day. Showers will intensify overnight as moisture from Rachel is carried over Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
The best moisture will be to our west on Sunday as the remnants of Rachel are carried over Nevada and Utah, but shower chances will remain over our area, with high temperatures cooling from a 70-degree Saturday into the mid-60s.
The storm is forecast to form an eddy by Columbus Day just off the southern California coast and move eastward across the Great Basin on Tuesday. Some dry air is now forecast to be carried over our area ahead of the eddy, perhaps providing a break in the showers Monday and possibly Tuesday.
Additionally, Tropical Storm Simon, now well south of the Baja Peninsula and soon to strengthen into a hurricane, will move slowly northward through the weekend. It may be close enough to be ingested into the complex storm by midweek, though current forecasts have it affecting areas to our south and east by midweek.
Finally, the incoming eddy will be cold: cold enough for accumulating snow at the Steamboat Ski Resort on Wednesday, and possibly some snowflakes in town by Thursday. But lots of moving pieces before the season’s first snowfall can be predicted with certainty, so enjoy what is left of our summery weather, and I’ll have more details on the mercurial incoming storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
