Spring storms with some snow to bookend the weekend
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Temperatures in the mid-sixties and cloudy skies are over the Steamboat Springs area this Thursday mid-afternoon. Our chance to reach seventy degrees in the near term looks like it will be thwarted by clouds today, a couple of cold fronts set to bookend the weekend and more unsettled weather for the following work week.
Clouds ahead of a storm currently moving through the Pacific Northwest have tempered our high temperatures for today with a cold front forecast to move through our area soon after sunrise Friday. Most of the precipitation will be through early afternoon, with snowflakes in town and any minor accumulations confined to grassy surfaces. High temperatures will plummet from the mid-sixties today, about ten degrees above our average of 58 F to the mid-forties on Friday, ten to fifteen degrees below average, along with breezy winds from the northwest. A trailing wave may bring additional flurries overnight, with a total of 1-4” of snow expected by Saturday morning at mid-mountain.
A transient ridge of high pressure will briefly move overhead on Saturday behind the departing storm and ahead of the next storm which is currently in the Gulf of Alaska. Temperatures should rise into the low fifties under mostly sunny skies for a very pleasant spring day.
Our next storm should be crossing the Pacific Northwest on Saturday and is forecast to travel through the Great Basin on Sunday. Temperatures should warm toward or even above average on Sunday despite the increasing clouds ahead of the storm, though it is unclear at this time if the cold air begins filtering into our area in the afternoon or evening. Additionally, there may be rain showers associated with the cooling temperatures, though steady precipitation looks to hold off until Sunday night and Monday morning.
This storm looks similar to but stronger than the storm to start the weekend, and again we could be seeing snowflakes in town and more snow at the higher elevations which will add to our rapidly declining snowpack. And it looks like we will see another storm by midweek that will continue the unsettled weather.
Check back Sunday afternoon where I’ll have more details on the storm to close out the weekend and the next storm for midweek in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative.
