The weekend 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, April 8th, 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
Another unsettled week of weather brought more wintry conditions to the mountains of RMNP.
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The Week in Review
A very energetic storm track across the western US brought intermittent but frequent periods of high winds and three periods of snowfall to the Park.
Over the course of these snowfall events, ~1.25 inches of liquid equivalence was added to the snowpack near Bear Lake in about a foot of settled new snow.
Strong southwesterly through northwesterly wind gusts created a variable mix of soft, hard, and bullet-proof slab above treeline, making avalanche risk management a challenge.
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Click on weather chart or photos to enlarge.
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The Tyndall Gorge following a springtime storm- what you hope to see while skinning in for a day of backcountry ski or boarding.
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The Upcoming Week<뒼͒>
Three more weather systems will affect the western US over the next week, as an active early spring storm track continues.
The first system will affect the northern tier of states and is currently forecast to drag its heels across the Park on Sat 4/10. This may bump up the westerly winds in the morning and support some convective snow shower activity during the afternoon.
All weather eyes turn to the southwestern US by Sunday 4/11, as a strong storm system moves onshore.
Ahead of this system, southwesterly winds will increase and temperatures will rise above freezing across the Park near treeline on Sunday.
As this system tracks northeastward across the NM and southeast CO on Monday 4/12, the threat of precipitation will increase over the Park.
Little accumulation is currently forecast, but confidence is low in the current precipitation forecast due to a high degree of variability in the model forecast solutions.
The next weather system moves onshore in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday. South through southwest winds will usher in more warm conditions on Wednesday over the Park.
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The forecast for new snow in RMNP, Colorado this upcoming week is again, pretty good.
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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
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