Love these wintry sunrises! – pic taken 1/8/2024
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Tuesday – 9 Jan 2024 – 11:50am
The past…
At Stevens Field the high temperature yesterday afternoon was 30. The low this morning was -8. Check out the graphic and comments below for more details on our cold temps this morning.
Thanks for your temp reports and pictures!
The peak wind at Stevens Field yesterday afternoon was 16mph.
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 37 | 59 / 1956 | 0 | -21 / 1912 |
Precipitation summary… There was no measurable precip in the last 24 hours.
Forecast discussion…
There is nothing on radar in our region this afternoon.
Forecast Highlights…
*** Avalanche danger is still rated “considerable”. ***
*** More snow Wednesday evening to Thursday afternoon. ***
*** Another chance for snow Saturday night and Sunday. ***
Tuesday through Wednesday morning… The ridge will weaken and move to our east this afternoon. A weak trough will miss us to the north tonight. Clouds will increase tonight, and our mountains could get a dusting of new snow. More clouds tonight will help us stay a little warmer than it was this morning.
Winds… Tuesday afternoon wind will peak around 10mph.
Temps… Highs will be in the mid-20s to low 30s and lows will be in the negative single digits to positive single digits.
Wednesday afternoon to Thursday evening… The next system will move through. It’s looking a little better, but storm energy, moisture, upper-level winds, and trajectory could be lined up better.
Timing… Scattered snowshowers will start over the mountains Wednesday afternoon and over the valley in the evening. The best chance for snow is Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Snowshowers will taper off in the valley Thursday afternoon but will linger over the mountains into Thursday evening.
*** Driving conditions will deteriorate Wednesday night and likely be lousy by Thursday morning. ***
Snow amounts:
Valley: 3-7”
Mountains: 6-12”
Winds… Wednesday peaks will be 15-20mph. *** The windy spots could see drifting snow Wednesday afternoon. *** Thursday peaks will be around 15mph.
Temps… Wednesday highs will be in the mid-20s to around 30 and lows will be in the high single digits to high teens. Thursday highs will be in the low to high 20s and lows Thursday night will be 0 to -15.
Thursday night to Friday night… We’ll get a brief break between storms. Expect quite a few clouds and scattered snowshowers, mostly over the mountains. Lucky spots in the valley could get a dusting of new snow and 1-2” is possible in the mountains.
Winds… Peaks will be around 15mph.
Temps… Highs Friday will be in the high teens to mid-20s. Clouds Friday night should prevent us from getting frigid. Lows will be -5 to +5.
Saturday into Monday morning… There is still a considerable range of outcomes with the next storm. Here’s my best guess at this time:
This system will be moving through the region from the northwest. The northern and central mountains will be favored. We’ll just get scraps.
The best storm energy and moisture will be Saturday night and Sunday morning. Unfortunately upper-level flow will be from west or northwest instead of our more favorable southwest flow. Unless this system dives a bit farther south, it has more potential to be a dud than a decent storm for us.
Snow amounts…
Valley: 3-6”
Mountains: 5-10”
Winds… Peaks will be around 15mph Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
Temps… Highs will be in the mid-20s to low 30s. Lows Saturday night will be in the low teens to low 20s and lows Sunday night will be in the low single digits to low teens.
I mentioned a considerable range of outcomes… Forecast two-day storm totals range from a measly 0.3” from the GFS to a more encouraging 9.7” from the Canadian model. For now I’m sticking with the recently reliable NBM.
Light-hearted rant – I get frustrated when Steamboat is favored like this. This is a typical La Nina pattern during a strong El Nino winter!?! Come on Mother Nature – play by the “rules”!
My next post will be tomorrow.
– Shawn
