Rain is expected to stay away from the Yampa Valley to start the week, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Forecasters initially thought this weekend could be a wet one, but cold air starting to accumulate near the north pole has worked to straighten out the jet stream and create a regional high pressure system over Colorado, keeping storms away, according to local meteorologist Mike Weissbluth.

“Tuesday looks to be the warmest day approaching 90 degrees again believe it or not,” Weissbluth said. “Wednesday, (Aug. 10) will also be quite warm, but models have another monsoonal surge for the end of the work week.”

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The National Weather Service forecasts high temperatures of 88 degrees for both Tuesday and Wednesday, which is about five degrees higher than Steamboat Springs’ average for this time of year of 83 degrees. Neither are close to the record for those days, which are 97 and 98, respectively.

Weissbluth said the rest of the week has decent chances for rain, likely starting on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 11.

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“Thursday into Friday and probably even into the weekend looks like that monsoonal moisture that starts to come back,” said Mark Miller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “We’ll probably see a little bit more widespread activity in terms of showers and thunderstorms each afternoon.”

For the weekend, Weissbluth said models are projecting about a half inch total in rain, which is nearly a third of the rainfall Steamboat gets in the entire month of August on average.

Longer-term forecasts show the beginning of next week looks to dry out again after the rain. Still, Weissbluth and Miller both said they didn’t think this weekend would be the last dose of monsoonal moisture.

“In early June there were some indications of (monsoonal moisture) and it’s really maintained its strength for July and August,” Weissbluth said.

Miller said this year’s monsoon likely seems stronger because it is coming after particularly dry summers from 2018 to 2020. Early August is still considered the heart of monsoon season he said, and it wouldn’t surprise him if the moisture continued through the end of the month and maybe into September.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it kind of ebbs and flows where you get these breaks in the monsoon for the first half of the week and then it comes back,” Miller said. “I think as you start to get to the end of the month, you’ll probably start to notice a downturn.”

To reach Dylan Anderson, call 970-871-4247 or email danderson@SteamboatPilot.com.