Sunday will mark the last day of a stretch of breezy winds blowing from the east in Steamboat Springs, with sunny days and warming temperatures expected through midweek.
Mike Weissbluth wrote in his Sunday afternoon forecast on SnowAlarm.com that the local weather “may turn unsettled by the end of the work week ahead of a pattern-change that may bring storms back to our area by the end of next weekend.”
Weissbluth’s forecast noted Tuesday will mark the beginning of “astronomical spring as the sun is directly over the equator at 9:06 p.m.”
“While this date is usually closer to March 21, the extra day in February, thanks to a leap year, has pulled the vernal equinox forward a day earlier,” he added.
According to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information, the difference between the “regular” start of spring, or any season, and the start of an “astronomical spring, summer, fall or winter” results from the astronomical seasons being based on the position of ear in relation to the sun, whereas meteorological seasons are based on the annual temperature cycle.
The SnowAlarm.com report noted the increase in daylight will add nearly three minutes per-day after Tuesday, before more gradual increases in light begin June 20.
Later in the week, Weissbluth said “temperatures will stay around our rising average of 47 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday as clouds begin to invade our area ahead of an active weather pattern advertised to start in earnest by the end of the weekend.”
“So enjoy the quintessential spring weather to start this work week and be sure to check back to my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon for more details on our next accumulating snowfall,” Weissbluth wrote on Sunday.