Storms on Tuesday and Friday
Sunday, March 1, 2026
A mix of sun and clouds is over Steamboat Springs this Sunday at noon, with temperatures in the mid-forties in town, on their way to 50 degrees, and the upper twenties near the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Even warmer temperatures on Monday will be followed by another warm storm on Tuesday, sun on Wednesday, more clouds on Thursday, and a cooler storm on Friday.
The two low-pressure eddies to our west, identified in my last weather narrative on Thursday, are on the move, with the first now approaching the northern California coast and the second evolving south of the Aleutian Islands. Energy and moisture ejecting out of the first brought a half inch of snow at mid-mountain and two inches up top this morning, with skies partially clearing behind that impulse.
A transient and shallow ridge of high pressure ahead of the first eddy will be pushed over our area on Monday as the storm crosses the Great Basin, reaching our area early Tuesday morning. A mix of sun and clouds will accompany the ridge on Monday, allowing the high temperature in town to approach the record high of 56 degrees, set in 1992.
Precipitation should start after midnight on Monday, with snow levels lowering to around 7,500′ by Tuesday morning. We could see 1-4” of dense snow at mid-mountain by Tuesday morning’s ski report, with another 2-5” during the day as the storm moves across. High temperatures in town will fall to the low forties, closer to, but still warmer than our 40-degree average.
Meanwhile, a part of the Dateline eddy will be forced eastward by cold air moving southwestward from the Bering Sea and moisture and energy moving eastward from off Japan’s coast. Another transient ridge of high pressure, but stronger, will form ahead of the storm, bringing mostly sunny skies on Wednesday with high temperatures in town rising back toward 50 degrees.
Cold air moving southward from Alaska will reinforce what is left of the Dateline eddy as it crosses the West Coast on Wednesday. Weather forecast models have settled on a splitting storm crossing the Great Basin Wednesday night, with the northern part of the split bringing advancing clouds on Thursday and winter weather back to our area at all elevations by Friday, the end of the first workweek of meteorological spring.
Snowfall amounts through Friday could be significant at the higher elevations, with as much as 6-12” on the hill and several inches in town, though those amounts will be dependent upon how much energy is partitioned into the northern and southern parts of the splits.
Interestingly, the southern part of the split is forecast to wander southwestward for several days and vacation over Baja, and may eventually be a player in our weather the following week. But that is ten days away, so in the meantime, enjoy the snow on the hill on Tuesday, and I’ll have more details on the likely stronger and colder Friday storm in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Nice start to the weekend to precede Sunday showers
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Mostly cloudy skies are over Steamboat Springs early this Thursday afternoon, with temperatures around 40 degrees in town, on the way to the mid-forties, and 20 degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. The atmospheric river that brought 6” of dense snow to mid-mountain on Wednesday morning and around an inch of rain in town is receding, bringing some sun to the area this afternoon. Beautiful weather will follow on a warm, mostly sunny Friday and Saturday ahead of another round of warm precipitation for Sunday.
Two large eddies of low pressure flank a ridge of high pressure near the Dateline, while a trough of low pressure extends southward from the Great Lakes. The western-most eddy is forecast to strengthen and move eastward, destroying the Dateline ridge and forcing the downstream eddy eastward toward the northern California coast by Sunday.
A transient and shallow ridge of high pressure will build over the West ahead of this eddy, bringing mostly sunny skies on Friday and most of Saturday, with high temperatures in the upper-forties on Friday and around 50 degrees on Saturday, well above our 39-degree average.
Energy and moisture ejecting from the eddy will cross the Great Basin on Saturday, reaching our area as early as Saturday afternoon and bringing increasing high clouds. Fortunately, this won’t be a windy storm, but unfortunately, it will be another warm storm with snow levels around 8,500′, bringing rain to the Yampa Valley and more dense snow at and above mid-mountain on Sunday.
What remains of the eddy is forecast to cross the Great Basin on Monday, providing a break in the precipitation, which is expected to restart later Monday or Tuesday as the storm approaches and then moves across Colorado.
So enjoy the nice couple of days to start the weekend, and I’ll have more details on the approaching storm, including mid-mountain snowfall guesses, in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Gorgeous weather ahead of warm, wet and windy midweek storm
Sunday, February 22, 2026
A gorgeous day is over Steamboat Springs late this Sunday morning with sunny skies and temperatures around 20 degrees at all elevations, rising to near 40 degrees in town and upper twenties at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort. Even warmer temperatures on Monday will persist through the rest of the week, despite a windy storm on Wednesday that will be accompanied by significant precipitation, with, unfortunately, mostly rain in town.
After receiving 21” of snow at mid-mountain and an unofficial 28” up top from Tuesday night through Friday, a ridge of high pressure is over the West, sandwiched between a large eddy of low pressure over the eastern Pacific and a broad trough of low pressure over eastern North America, bringing a Nor’easter to the Northeast today.
I say unofficial since Steamboat inexplicably reported only 4” up top on the Saturday morning ski report, even though the upper-mountain Powdercam showed an incredible 10” of snow falling between 11 am and 3 pm on Friday, highlighted by a couple of times when 1” of snow fell in only 20 minutes!
While I expected some additional snow on Friday night, the drying atmosphere had other plans, stopping the snowfall early in the evening and bringing a beautiful, crisp winter day to Steamboat Springs on Saturday.
Temperatures will warm under the ridge of high pressure, with the high reaching 40 degrees in town today and the mid-forties on Monday, above our slowly rising average of 37 degrees, with sunny daytime skies. These high temperatures in the 40s will persist through the workweek.
Meanwhile, a wave of energy rounding a ridge of high pressure over the Dateline has split over Alaska, with some energy elongating the eastern Pacific eddy to the southwest, and some continuing southeastward across British Columbia. The eddy extends far enough south to ingest an atmospheric river of moisture from near Hawaii, the so-called Pineapple Express, that will combine with the moisture now spinning around the eddy, which is impacting the Pacific Northwest.
Additional waves of cold air moving across British Columbia will flatten the western ridge of high pressure through midweek, guiding the Pinapple Express over the ridge and toward our area by later Tuesday. Expect increasing clouds and breezes on Tuesday, followed by possible late-day precipitation with snow levels around 8,000′.
Snowfall timing on the hill is uncertain due to the elongated trough over the eastern Pacific splitting, but the windy conditions are not. Expect sustained westerly winds up to 35 mph on Wednesday, with gusts up to 60 mph. Snowfall on the hill could occur anytime between Tuesday night and Thursday morning, and is dependent upon whether the atmospheric river is incorporated into the northern part of the split or stays ahead of it, with 5-10” of wet, dense snow likely falling at mid-mountain during the storm.
The ridge of high pressure is forecast to rebound behind the storm, bringing nice weather back to our area either early Thursday or later in the day. This nice, and sadly warm, weather will extend into the weekend, with unsettled weather advertised to reappear late in the weekend or early in the following workweek.
So enjoy the gorgeous start and end to this week, hope for more moisture and colder temperatures than forecast, and I’ll have additional details on the possible return of moisture around the end of the weekend in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
Snows to continue into Saturday morning
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Snow showers have temporarily ended over Steamboat Springs late this Thursday afternoon, with temperatures in the upper teens in town, after reaching a high of 23 degrees, and only 2 degrees at the top of the Steamboat Ski Resort, after reaching a high of 4 degrees. Including the 4 inches this morning that fell after the ski report, 17” of snow has been reported at mid-mountain since Tuesday morning, with additional accumulations expected from Friday into Saturday morning. Sunny skies return Saturday afternoon and last into the next workweek, with the current cold temperatures moderating by Sunday.
The last wave in this storm cycle, which started on Tuesday, has crossed California and entered southern Nevada and will be moving over Colorado on Friday afternoon. After a brief break in the weather tonight, light snow showers should restart early on Friday ahead of the wave, ramping up through the morning and becoming moderate to even heavy at times in the afternoon as the storm crosses the Divide.
We can expect 3-6” of snow at mid-mountain during the day, with another 2-5” overnight as showers continue in the favorable cold, moist, and unstable northwest flow behind the storm. Most of the storm should be over by midnight, though showers producing another inch or two of fluffy, low-density snowfall could continue into Saturday morning ahead of a mostly sunny afternoon.
The cold temperatures will stick around through Saturday, with high temperatures in town staying in the twenties and below our 36-degree average until a mostly sunny Sunday. Low temperatures in town will also stay below the 9.5-degree average until a mostly sunny Monday.
Meanwhile, a powerful storm is forecast develop and split in the Gulf of Alaska through the weekend, sandwiched by a ridge of high pressure building near the Dateline and another over the West. The western ridge will bring a nice and warm start to the workweek, with unsettled weather possibly returning to our area around midweek as energy and moisture from both parts of the Gulf of Alaska storm and an atmospheric river interact with the ridge.
So enjoy the appropriate mid-winter weather to start the weekend, and the nice weather that follows, and I’ll have more details about the possibly unsettled midweek weather in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Sunday afternoon.
Late weather narrative today
Sorry, but real work has arrived with real powder, so expect the weather narrative early this evening when I return from escaping to ski this afternoon.
