The weekly weather forecast for the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; researched and written by professional meteorologist and avid mountaineer: Dan "the weather man" Gottas.
Thursday October 9, 2008
The Week in Review
In true autumnal fashion, the skies over the mountains of RMNP consisted of a mixed bag of weather treats this last week. Summer-like convection, with associated localized showers and lightening, peppered the high peaks at the end of last week. Last weekend brought swiftly moving bands of precipitation with a winter style storm system. And saving the best for last, stellar Indian summer conditions graced the area for most of this week.
Last weekends storm system deposited a couple of inches of new snow up high, and provided a couple of daily temperature cycles with longer and colder hard freezes. Winds also increased for several days surrounding the weekend storm. These breezy appetizers are a friendly preview of the windier torrents to come, as the mean westerlies gain their winter-time strength and begin to settle southward over Colorado over the next couple of months.
The Upcoming Weekend
The big weather news for the weekend is a strong storm taking shape in the southwestern US. While the central core (and coldest part) of this system is forecast to track northeastward from Utah through Wyoming, the coldest air of this autumn season to date will slide into Colorado along the system’s eastern flank.
Widespread snow is forecast to develop on late Saturday across the mountains and will continue through the evening hours. Model guidance on precipitation amounts has been variable, with water equivalence values in the 0.4 – 0.75 inch range (~ 4-8 inches of snow). Snow level will start out high near treeline on Saturday, but will dramatically drop below the lowest elevations of RMNP by late Saturday when the cold front moves through.
In addition to the snow, steady and stiff southwest winds will develop over the higher terrain on Friday and Saturday. The weather will improve on Sunday, as drier air moves in and the pressure gradient / winds slacken. Sunday will also be the coldest day, with below freezing temperatures forecast throughout the day in the mountains.
The temperature and wind forecast for the high peaks over the weekend is as follows:
For the remainder of the week, temperatures are forecast to rebound back to seasonal levels, with little weather concern to speak of. With additional water supply from the weekend snows and longer periods of sub-freezing temperatures, the formation of waterfall ice during and shortly after the storm will be favorable.
Detailed 7-Day Forecast
The link above will take you to the National Weather Service forecast for the 12,000 foot level near Longs Peak. These forecasts are derived from computer-generated numerical forecasts, and are updated shortly after 3:30 am, 9:30 am, 3:30 pm, and 9:30 pm local time. In the lower right-hand corner of the page, one can view forecasts for other locations in the Park by clicking on the desired location in the terrain map.
Do-It-Yourself Weather Forecast Links
The link above provides a list of web links to various sites containing a variety of meteorological data and information. Collectively, these resources can be used to monitor and study current weather conditions, as well short-term, medium-range, and climate forecasts.
|
