‘Bomb cyclone’ weather system moves over Steamboat Springs

A multi-day winter storm started Tuesday with remnants of a ‘bomb cyclone’ weather system that originated in the Pacific Ocean passing over the Yampa Valley.

Mike Weissbluth, who posts twice-a-week weather forecasts to SnowAlarm.com said Tuesday afternoon that he expected another 6-12 inches of snow at the Steamboat Ski Resort by Wednesday morning. That total would be on top of the roughly 8 inches that had already fallen on the mountain earlier Tuesday.

“Things are going to be winding down soon after that frontal passage, so it’s going to snow hard tonight, still, and it looks like by early in the morning (Wednesday) we are going to get more breaks,” said Weissbluth.

“Showers are going to probably last through sunset (Wednesday) but they are going to be steadily decreasing and we will probably have some sun in the valley,” he added.

Weissbluth said the track of the bomb cyclone weather system and how long it hung off the Pacific Coast before it moved inland in pieces made the storm difficult to track.

“And the atmospheric river itself, how it gets incorporated into that storm and how it moves on shore, there’s still variables, unfortunately, but it looks like the remains of that bomb cyclone will be over us sometime between midnight and sunrise and that will probably be the end of the heaviest snow — with quite a bit colder air behind it,” said Weissbluth.

The local meteorologist said temperatures in the Steamboat area are expected to drop to around 10 degrees F on Thursday and into the single digits by Friday morning.

Outside of the ski area’s boundaries, avalanche danger is considered “high” and “considerable” above and near tree line elevations in the Yampa Valley area, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

Below the tree line, avalanche conditions were classified as “considerable” through the Thanksgiving holiday week, the government agency reported Tuesday evening.

“We’re particularly worried because we’ll see the most dangerous avalanche conditions we’ve seen so far this season when more people than usual will be getting out to recreate because of the holiday,” said Ethan Greene, the state avalanche information center’s director, in a statement Monday.

“There will be an increased likelihood of natural and human-triggered avalanches that are large enough to seriously injure or kill a person this week,” he added.

At the Steamboat Ski Resort, the added snowfall helped boost conditions, but skiers and riders are still expected to download from mid-mountain this week.

“Steamboat Gondola will help bring skiers and riders up and down the mountain, as downloading from the Sunshine Bowl area will be necessary until Heavenly Daze opens,” a spokesperson for the resort said Tuesday.

“A steady pattern of snowfall over the Steamboat Springs area Tuesday is expected to intensify Wednesday and could leave more than 3 feet in the area before Thursday,” added the spokesperson.

U.S. Interstate 70 was closed in both directions for hours on Tuesday afternoon. Locally, there were no road closures in the Steamboat Springs area as of late Tuesday afternoon, but conditions were expected to become increasingly dangerous through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with travel over Rabbit Ears Pass likely impacted.

For updated information on road closures and travel conditions, go to SteamboatPilot.com or check with CDOT at Maps.COTrip.org .