Quick storm for tonight followed by nice start to the weekend

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Temperatures are around forty degrees in the town of Steamboat Springs and mid-twenties near the top of Mt. Werner on this mostly sunny Thursday noon. Clouds will be increasing today ahead of a quick-moving storm for tonight that will be mostly done by Friday morning. The weather turns nice for Saturday ahead of an unsettled period that could start as soon as Saturday night and is forecast to extend into midweek.

A quick-moving storm currently over the Intermountain West will move through tonight, with clouds increasing later today and showers starting around mid-evening. Any rain showers in the lower elevations should turn to snow as the cold front barrels through before midnight, attended by moderate to heavy snow showers that could produce snowfall rates above an inch per hour at times. While the bulk of the snow should be over by sunrise, we could see 3-6” of snowfall accumulate at mid-mountain by the Friday morning report, with possibly a bit more during the day in the rapidly drying but still favorable northwest flow behind the storm.

A ridge of high pressure ahead of a developing storm in the Gulf of Alaska will bring warmer and sunnier weather back to our area on Saturday, with temperatures in town reaching around five degrees or so above our average of 47 F.

A couple of waves of energy will eject out of the Gulf of Alaska storm on Saturday night and Monday, with the bulk of the storm passing through on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first relatively warm wave is forecast to graze our area, and may produce some snow showers at and above mid-mountain on Saturday night and Sunday, though there is uncertainty on the strength and duration of the showers and whether we will see accumulations.

We might see a quick break later Sunday into the first part of Monday before the second wave, a bit cooler than the first, moves overhead by Monday afternoon and increases the chance of showers again, with precipitation of the liquid form in town.

Showers will likely not end before being closely followed by the bulk of the cold Gulf of Alaska storm, and there are indications we could see significant snow from Monday night through Wednesday. So stay tuned to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon where I’ll discuss the next round of wintry weather for next week.