Temperatures reached seventy-seven degrees late this Sunday afternoon at the Bob Adams airport in Steamboat Springs. Nice weather is forecast for the workweek with temperatures rising into the low-eighties starting Tuesday and lasting through Thursday with only slight chances for afternoon and evening showers. Dry days with even warmer temperatures, possibly reaching into the upper eighties, are forecast for Friday and the weekend.

A deep vortex of low pressure is moving across Minnesota while energy ejects from an area of low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska. A ridge of high pressure over the Pacific Northwest will be weakened by the ejecting energy and follow the Minnesota low eastward. Our winds will turn from the northwest to the west, allowing temperatures to warm a degree or two on Monday and into the low eighties by Tuesday, above our average of seventy-five degrees.

The westerly flow will introduce a modicum of Pacific moisture, perhaps as early as Tuesday afternoon and evening, but more likely on Wednesday and Thursday, for only slight chances of afternoon and evening storms. Meanwhile, the Gulf of Alaska storm will move eastward toward the Pacific Northwest. Southwest winds ahead of the storm will force a ridge of high pressure to build over the Rocky Mountains by Friday bringing dry air from the Desert Southwest overhead and allowing temperatures to warm into the mid to upper-eighties.

So enjoy the nice weather ahead, and check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for more details on what is looking like a hot and dry weekend.