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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.
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Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
An active storm cycle over the past week brought deep snow accumulations to the mountains of RMNP.
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Week in Review
A modest westward shift in the position of the behemoth west-coast ridge allowed the polar jet stream to take direct aim on northern CO over the past week. This set the stage for moist, energetic northwesterly flow to impact the northern mountains of CO.
By the end of the storm cycle on Feb. 8, a total 1.5 inches of new snow water equivalent was measured at the Bear Lake SNOTEL, with well over two feet of snow observed over the higher terrain in the vicinity of Dream and Emerald Lake.
Alpine winds vacillated between the doldrums and periodically stiff northwesterly gales (> 50 mph) persisting for several hours. With reactive slabs forming on top of older, non-adhesive snow surfaces in wind-affected areas, careful and crafty terrain selection has been key for safe travel.
Another surge of cold arctic air was ushered in by the latest and highest amplitude weather disturbance on 2/8, which made for a slower sliding surface off the beaten skin track.
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A graphed summary of the last week's weather weather patterns over RMNP.
Click to expand the chart.
Longs Peak with a fresh covering of snow before the return of the winds on Wednesday, Feb. 9th.
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The Weather Forecast Feb. 10-17, 2011.
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The Upcoming Week
A significant shift in the large-scale weather pattern across the Pacific will occur over the upcoming week. During this time, the Park is in for a reprieve from the recent wintry barrage, which will provide a golden opportunity to sample the abundant goods that were recently deposited.
While temperatures will be on the consistent upswing over the next 5 days, northwesterly winds will also be increasing across the higher terrain through the weekend.
The least windy period is currently forecast for Monday and Tuesday (2/14-15), when a ridge axis moves across CO ahead an approaching west-coast storm.
By 2/16, temperatures will begin to trend downward and southwesterly wind speeds will increase. The next chance for accumulating snow may occur by 2/17, as the first in a series of west-coast storms ejects across the Rockies.
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Henry Wood hitting the Dragontail Couloir on Feb. 6th, 2011 with a meter of new, uncohesive snow. It doesn't get much better than this!
Join ClimbingLife Guides for the best skiing that RMNP has to offer.
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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.
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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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