For 6/18/09: Yet another shift in the western weather pattern has shuffled the waves of pacific moisture and a trough dropping south out of the northwest will introduce moisture to the mix. The drier air from the southwest will push back to the south while wet conditions set up to the north. The beginning of this shift will fuel convective thundershowers through today with the brunt sliding through our area on Saturday.

Overnight lows warmed a couple degrees with Crested Butte reporting 36 degrees and Gunnison 37 degrees. We will rebound quickly to highs in the 60’s but look for this to fuel big popcorn cloud formations building over the higher terrain early. Thundershowers will hold into the evening with cloud cover moderating overnight lows but still allowing them to drop to the 30’s by morning.

This northern trough will push a weak pacific wave through the area for Saturday but Friday should offer a day of transition with mostly sunny skies dominating. This approach across the divide will make the moisture hard to predict so take advantage of the sunny windows but also pack plenty of layers and be prepared for all conditions especially if you are headed to the higher terrain. 

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