Weak cool front for Saturday
Thursday, August 15, 2019
The beautiful average summer weather the Steamboat Springs area has been experiencing this past week will continue for the upcoming week. Thanks to a storm traveling across the Canadian Plains, the jet stream is forecast to sag over the northern states this weekend,, bringing a weak cool front through northern Colorado on Saturday. Afternoons and evenings will be breezy to windy for several days around the front as the stouter winds aloft are mixed down to the surface, though they should diminish after the weekend as the jet stream retreats back north and allows a ridge of high pressure to rebound over the West.
High temperatures are expected to be near our average 81 F or slightly above, except a bit cooler for Saturday, while low temperatures are expected near our average of 44 F, except for Sunday morning when they may be cooler, perhaps touching the upper thirties.
It appears the front will bring in enough moisture for some clouds on Saturday, with a small chance of an afternoon or evening shower. Otherwise breezy to windy conditions are expected from this Thursday afternoon through the weekend before a ridge of high pressure rebuilds over the West behind the eastward-moving Canadian storm.
And when a ridge is present over the West in July and August, monsoonal moisture from the south can be transported northward along the western periphery of the ridge. This looks to happen as a weak surge of monsoonal moisture is forecast to start as soon as Tuesday afternoon and continue through at least most of the work week. At this time, it is not clear if the surge contains enough moisture for more than some clouds and a slight chance of showers.
More inconsistency appears in how weather forecast models deal with incoming Pacific energy for the end of the work week. The European ECMWF favors a more progressive and less amplified jet stream than the American GFS, which would keep a drier westerly flow over the central and southern Rockies as we head into the following weekend.
