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Steamboat in line for snow this week

Snow starting Monday afternoon will continue to through Thursday

Forecasters are predicting a snowy week in Steamboat Springs, likely leading to several powder days.

Starting with light flakes and picking up in the afternoon on Monday, Feb. 21, snow will likely continue throughout much of the week with additional chances for light snowfall over the weekend.

“We have a big trough of low pressure that’s going to develop over the western two-thirds of the country, and the arctic air mass is going to come down,” said Mike Weissbluth, a meteorologist who runs the forecasting website Snowalarm.com. “What we’re lacking is good moisture, but there is enough to give us significant low-density snowfall.”



Meteorologist Brianna Bealo with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said it is a messy and complicated system, making it harder to pinpoint snow totals, but she expects it to snow Monday through Thursday.

Because there is a lot of cold air with this storm, Weissbluth said the snow should have well defined dendrites — the classic snowflake shape — which will likely bolster accumulation totals despite the overall lack of strong moisture.



The front of the storm looks like it may stall over the Yampa Valley around 3 p.m. Monday with the heaviest snow coming from then until Tuesday morning.

Weissbluth said he expects snow to impact travel Monday afternoon, especially at higher elevations like Rabbit Ears Pass.

By Tuesday Morning, he expects to see about 6-12 inches at mid-mountain at Steamboat Resort, with some of that on the ground before the lifts close on Monday.

Lighter snowfall is expected to continue through the day Tuesday before another storm moves over the area on Wednesday.

Depending on how this storm tracks — a trajectory farther south would limit snow in Steamboat — Weissbluth said he expected another 6-12 inches by Thursday morning.

From Monday-Thursday, Bealo said she expects between 7-10 inches in town with 14-18 inches at higher elevations.

With the snow will come cold temperatures. Lows overnight Wednesday could approach minus-10 degrees, and highs for Thursday are predicted to be in the low 20s.

“It looks like we may see some mountain showers continue though the end of the week,” Bealo said. “Maybe another couple inches, but nothing crazy like we are going to see out of this first one.”

Jason Konigsberg, part of the Northern Mountains Group for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, noted Sunday that current moderate avalanche conditions are largely because of wind-drifted snow sitting on weaker layers.

“Avalanche conditions will change dramatically on Tuesday as a large storm moves into the state,” Konigsberg warned.


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