For 12/29/08: We are continuing to see the western weather pattern develop for this week with a zonal pattern offering the most stable conditions we have seen in a while. A glancing blow from a northern system will introduce some scattered high altitude cloud cover but partly to mostly sunny conditions with mild temperatures will dominate at least into Wednesday.

This stability will be good for a chance to catch up on the snow but will allow the stubborn inversion that has set up in the lower valleys to hold strong with last night as an example. Overnight lows for Crested Butte were -3 degrees while Gunnison dropped to -11 degrees this morning thanks to that trapped colder air. Look for a slower rebound today but temperatures should find the high 20’s valley wide with ridge tops again getting warmer than the valley floors. This will remain a common theme through the beginning of the week with little change expected until we see better mixing as the systems shift into Thursday.

Models are differing on the outcome through the later part of the week with most energy expected to stay to our north with a milder zonal pattern dominating for our side of the divide. Either way big changes will likely hold off until next weekend so take advantage of the sunny window and get outside.

Look for a complete Crested Butte and Gunnison weather report, 24 hour trends and real time weather information now available at WWW.CBTV.TV.