Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Ski Area reported reaching 102 inches of snowfall at the summit of Mount Werner in the month of January, resulting in back-to-back months that topped the century mark.

The outcome of the race to 100 inches at mid-mountain is still in play, but the weather forecast for Jan. 27 to 30 calls for increasing sunshine.

The ski area tallied 107 inches of snow at the summit in December 2016, and January had produced 93.25 inches of powder as of Jan. 26.

As the Yampa Valley turns the corner on the final week in January, needing less than 7 inches of snow to reach 100 inches at mid-mountain for the month, there is more sunshine and moderate temperatures in the forecast.

Meteorologist Joel Gratz of OpenSnow.com reported Thursday, Jan. 26 that the next chance for a snowstorm at Steamboat isn’t expected to arrive until Feb. 4 and 5.

“Friday will begin our rebound as the current storm finally departs, the sun makes a full appearance and the temperature warms by 5 degrees,” Gratz reported at his website Thursday. “The warming trend will continue through the weekend with readings warming by 5 to 10 degrees each day.”

By early in the work week that begins Jan. 30, Gratz expects temperatures to reach the 30s under blue skies.

Intellicast forecasts the high temperature on Feb. 1 will reach 35 degrees, followed by a possible high of 37 degrees on Thursday, Feb. 2.

January, on average, is the snowiest month of the winter, according to Ski Corp. statistics, with a little over 76 inches a month. This week’s news release confirms that the winter of 2008-09 was the last time the summit surpassed the 100-inch mark in January with 129 inches piling up.

However, it’s not unheard of for Mount Werner to see 100 inches at mid-mountain in January. It happened back-to-back years with a record 216.5 inches in January 1996, and again in 1997, when 119.75 inches were recorded.

To reach Tom Ross, call 970-871-4205, email tross@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ThomasSRoss1