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Snow expected to taper off Friday before next storm arrives midweek

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — The National Weather Service in Grand Junction issued a winter weather advisory Thursday for a storm that was expected to drop up to a foot of snow on the mountains surrounding Steamboat Springs.

The snow was expected to start early Friday morning and taper off by the end of the day.

The National Weather Service was calling for accumulations of between four to eight inches with localized amounts possibly approaching a foot.

Steamboat meteorologist Mike Weissbluth, who runs snowalarm.com, said the storm has cold air, but it is lacking moisture. Weissbluth expected 2 to 5 inches of snow by Friday morning and possibly another 1 to 4 inches during the day.

“The wide-range in the predicted amounts is because I am unsure of the density of the snowfall,” he said.

Warmer weather would produce high-density snow that skis with the consistency of cream cheese, while lower temperatures would produce greater accumulations of fluffy snow that would ski like it is barely there, Wissbluth said.

“Nonetheless, a building ridge of high pressure over the West Coast this weekend forces northwest flow over our area behind the storm, and combined with some embedded moisture, will produce clouds for Saturday and light snow showers for Saturday night and Sunday, with some light accumulations possible,” Weissbluth said.

He is calling for clearing skies Monday.

“As is usual for this time of year, any clear nights will allow for cold morning lows in the Yampa Valley as temperature inversions form, with low-elevation temperatures slow to recover during the day,” Weissbluth said.

The next storm is timed for a Wednesday arrival.

“At this point, this storm looks colder and broader than the Friday storm with mountain-top flow more out of the northwest, so we may receive more snow from the storm as compared to tomorrow’s storm,” Weissbluth said. “Furthermore, there is trailing energy and moisture that will restart snow showers by Thursday after they end for a time Wednesday night.”

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


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