Warmer weather returns after Thursday storm

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

A beautiful springlike day was over the Steamboat Springs area this Wednesday, with observed high temperatures of 43 F at the Bob Adams airport and 34 F atop Walton Peak. Infrastructure maintenance has briefly interrupted my access to the Storm Peak Lab observations, but nearby observations, like Walton Peak, Buffalo Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass are easily accessible through the Want other local weather? menu in the Current Weather box Want Other Local Weather? - Current weather box on the Snowalarm home page on the SnowAlarm home page, as shown in the image to the right.

I’m posting this late in the day Wednesday, a day earlier than usual, since the storm I thought would stay to our south will be close enough to write about as we will see some good snowfall during the day Thursday. Springlike weather returns for Friday and hangs around through at least part of Monday, though it may be briefly interrupted by some cooler air and clouds on Sunday.

An eddy that was left behind by storm that approached the West Coast on Monday has just crossed the California - Baja coast as it it makes it way across the southern Great Basin tonight and Colorado on Thursday. The storm is warm and wet thanks to its vacation off the Baja coast and is forecast to bring precipitation to all of Colorado. While lower elevations around the state will likely see rain or a rain-snow mix, we should see an all-snow event with showers beginning Thursday morning, likely after the morning report. Snowfall rates should quickly pick up in the morning and continue through the day, reaching around 1”/hour or more at times as the storm center passes just to our south.

Short-term weather forecast models have the highest snowfall rates from about 8 am through late afternoon or early evening, and we could see 4-8” of relatively dense snowfall at mid-mountain that becomes a bit less dense later in the day as cooler air within and behind the storm passes through, with a bit more up top.

Though moisture may linger early on Friday, weather forecasts have sun returning during the day and temperatures warming to around five degrees above our average of 38 F. More sun and even warmer temperatures, possibly in the low-fifties, are on tap for Saturday before we see a slight cool-down toward average on Sunday as a storm looks to graze our area to the north. There is still some forecast uncertainty with respect to the southern extent of the storm, with the European ECMWF still insisting on a a closer storm that will bring more cooling and perhaps even some light snow early in the day.

A series of Pacific storms then take aim on the West and bring an extended period of unsettled weather that begins around Tuesday or Wednesday, with some storms possibly being significant. Ahead of that pattern change, a ridge of high pressure in advance of the first storm will bring another beautiful springlike day on Monday with more sunny skies and temperatures once again in the lower fifties.

I plan on posting my next weather narrative during its regularly scheduled time slot on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy the snowfall tomorrow and the following springlike weather ahead of what looks to be a stormy March.

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8 March 2018

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