Steamboat Springs — After several days of low clouds in the Yampa Valley, the sun returned to Steamboat Springs on Tuesday. Snow might return to the area as soon as Friday.

“A wave in the very strong Pacific jet stream will cross the West Coast around Wednesday night and spread clouds over our area later Thursday,” wrote Steamboat meteorologist Mike Weissbluth, who runs snowalarm.com. “This wave will weaken as it crosses the Great Basin, bringing only light snow showers to Mount Werner on Friday and Friday night.”

He said a second stronger storm will approach Saturday.

“At this time, models have the bulk of this second storm staying to our west and southwest, and light snow showers are expected from Saturday through Sunday afternoons,” Weissbluth said.

Joel Gratz, who runs opensnow.com, said the first storm will favor the mountains in southern Colorado.

The wind will then shift direction, and the storm on Saturday night and Sunday morning should favor the central and northern mountains.

Snow predictions from the two storms impacting northern Colorado have amounts ranging from 2 to 10 inches, Gratz said.

Looking further ahead, Gratz was calling for snow again on Tuesday with snow continuing in the northern mountains, possibly through Thursday.

“Looking far ahead, I think the final three to five days of January will be dry, so live it up during the next two storm cycles,” Gratz wrote.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland