Afternoon storm chances highest on Friday and Independence Day
Thursday, June 29, 2023
The streak of cloudless skies this past week has ended on this Thursday as afternoon clouds and temperatures in the mid-seventies are over the Steamboat Springs area. These clouds may produce a shower today, but more likely on Friday as a weak cool front grazes our area. Generally dry weather and warming temperatures are then expected Saturday through Monday before another weak cool front brings afternoon and evening storm chances back for Independence Day.
The remnants of the eddy I talked about in last Sunday’s weather narrative is currently moving through Utah as originally forecast. The clouds over our area ahead of the eddy may produce a shower, though any rain would likely evaporate before reaching the ground thanks to the dry lower atmosphere and produce gusty winds.
What is left of the eddy is forecast to move through Colorado on Friday, and winds will shift to be first from the southwest in the morning ahead of the front to the west around noon with the front and finally the northwest by the afternoon behind the front.
Our best chance of showers should be along and behind the front, and even though there will be a better chance of wetting rains as compared to today, a fair bit of wind should still accompany any showers. High temperatures will fall into the low seventies, not quite ten degrees below our average of eighty degrees.
The atmosphere mostly dries for the rest of the weekend with temperatures warming into the upper seventies on Saturday, the low eighties by Sunday and mid-eighties on Monday under plenty of sun. There may be some afternoon clouds around, especially on Sunday, but precipitation should be hard to come by.
But a storm currently just east of the Aleutian Islands is forecast to cross the British Columbia coast on Saturday and travel into the Canadian Prairies by early week. Right now, weather forecast models agree another weak cool front associated with the storm will be dragged through our area around Independence Day, with chances for afternoon and evening storms.
But that is five days away, so be sure to check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon for the latest details on the Fourth of July holiday weather.
Warm, sunny and breezy work week ahead
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Temperatures are near seventy degrees with nary a cloud in the sky in Steamboat Springs this Sunday noon. A beautiful warm and sunny work week is ahead, along with afternoon breezes that will be strongest on Tuesday.
A summertime ridge of high pressure is currently over the U.S. Rockies while a trough of low pressure extends from the West Coast to the southwest. The trough is forecast to move across the Great Basin in pieces through the work week, though its movement will be slow thanks to the persistence and strength of the ridge of high pressure.
Very dry air from the Desert Southwest will be carried over our area this work week by breezy afternoon winds from the southwest channeled between the low and high pressure areas. Those breezes will be strongest and gustiest on Tuesday as a wave of energy ejects out of the low pressure area and passes overhead.
High temperatures will be right around our average of eighty degrees for the work week under mostly sunny skies. Weather forecast models agree that what remains of the trough of low pressure will eventually move over our area around Friday, along with a modest increase in at least mid and upper atmospheric moisture that will bring chances for afternoon and evening storms back into the forecast, along with several degrees of cooling.
So enjoy the gorgeous summer work week ahead, and I’ll be back with a look at what the storm chances will look like for next weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Beautiful summer weekend ahead
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Temperatures are close to eighty degrees under mostly sunny skies this Thursday mid-afternon in the town of Steamboat Springs. Beautiful summer weather is forecast through the weekend even as a storm moves by to our northwest and increases breezes on Friday and knocks temperatures back five degrees or so on Saturday.
An eddy left over from the southern part of that Vancouver storm I discussed last Sunday is on the move from just off the central California coast and is forecast to cross the Great Basin tonight and clip the corner of northwest Colorado tomorrow afternoon. We’ve seem some clouds around noon today thanks to energy ejecting out ahead of the eddy, and should also see increasing winds from the southwest on a mostly sunny Friday as what is left of the eddy nears.
The increasing winds will shift to be from the southwest during Friday to the west by the evening as a dry cool front associated with the eddy crosses the area. Breezes may turn to be from just north of west during a cool Saturday morning as high temperatures for the sunny day drop toward the low to mid-seventies, about five degrees below our average of 78 F.
After a pleasantly cool and comfortable Saturday, temperatures once again turn toward the upper seventies on a sunny Sunday as a ridge of high pressure rebuilds over the central and southern Rockies behind the departing eddy.
Gradually warming temperatures and mostly sunny skies are forecast to start the next work week, with the warmest temperatures of the summer so far expected on Tuesday. So enjoy our gorgeous first weekend of the summer, and I’ll be back with my next regularly scheduled weather narrative Sunday afternoon to discuss what currently looks like a continued stretch of warm and dry weather.
Mostly sunny skies and comfortable temperatures for the work week
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Pleasant temperatures around seventy degrees and partly sunny skies are over the Steamboat Springs area early this Sunday afternoon. After the recent cool and showery weather, the Yampa Valley will be graced by a mostly sunny and dry work week with comfortable high temperatures in the seventies and breezy afternoon winds.
The southern piece of a a large and cold storm currently north of Vancouver is forecast to move south along the West Coast on Monday. And even as the northern part of the storm rotates to the northeast, additional upstream energy from the Gulf of Alaksa is forecast to elongate the storm to the southwest during the work week.
Additionally, a ridge of high pressure is forecast to build over the Midwest this work week, keeping low pressure to our west and high pressure to our east. The resulting persistent weather pattern will create pleasant weather over our area this week, along with dry and breezy winds from the Desert Southwest.
Look for mostly sunny skies with high temperatures rising from the low-seventies today to the mid to upper seventies this week, right around our current average of 77 F to start the work week and 78 F by midweek. So it looks like the weather will cooperate during the first day of astronomical summer marked by the summer solstice, which is when the sun reaches its northernmost extent in the northern hemisphere, and occurs at 8:57 am on the longest day of the year this Wednesday.
Be sure to get outside and enjoy our well deserved first week of beautiful summer weather, and I’ll be back with my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon with a look at what we may expect for next weekend.
Summery weather arrives Sunday
Friday, June 16, 2023
A cool and partly sunny day with temperatures in the low sixties is over the Steamboat Springs area this Friday mid-afternoon. There will be a small chance of some showers today, but a better chance on Saturday as the final piece of a wave moves through our area. Warm and dry weather then appears on Sunday to start our first truly summery week of the year.
A large area of low pressure is currently over the Gulf of Alaska while a much smaller waves moves through the Rockies. The first part of this wave moved through our area yesterday afternoon, bringing a cool front and around a quarter to a half inch of precipitation to town, including some small hail. The cool and drier air behind the front has reduced the shower chances today, but the second part of the wave forecast for tomorrow morning will likely bring showers through the area early in the morning.
Another cool day is in store for Saturday, similar to today, with high temperatures once again only reaching the mid-sixties, over ten degrees below our average of 77 F. But unlike today, enough moisture in the atmosphere should bring better chances for afternoon storms in the unstable atmosphere behind the front.
Those tired of our recent wet and cool weather will be happy to read that summery weather looks to arrive in force on Sunday. That Gulf of Alaska storm is forecast to elongate along the West Coast by then, and the warm and dry winds ahead of the storm from the Desert Southwest promise a beautiful dry summery day with temperatures approaching the mid-seventies.
Several degrees of warming may push our temperatures toward the upper seventies on Monday, though winds should become breezy from the southwest in the afternoon as the former Gulf of Alaska storm approaches the West Coast. But a ridge of high pressure building over the central U.S. should deflect energy ejecting out of that storm to our northwest through the week, with similarly warm and dry weather and breezy afternoons forecast.
And the summery weather arrives in time to mark the summer soltstice, which is when the sun reaches its northermost extent in the northern hemisphere and we see the longest day of the year, which will occur this year at 8:57 am on Wednesday, June 21. So enjoy the start of the summery weather, and I’ll be back with my regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
