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.
| Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
Eerily tranquil weather conditions developed over the mountains of RMNP over the past five days.
|
|
The Week in Review
The strong and stubborn high-pressure ridge of late Dec ’09 and early Jan '10 which has kept most of the western US under storm-free skies, shifted eastward over the past week.
As the ridge axis moved over the state of CO on Jan 9-12, skies cleared, winds ceased, and temperatures soared. Near treeline, an upward temperature swing of nearly 40 degrees F occurred from the low temperatures on January 7th.
Equally as notable, was the nearly 2-day period of sub 15 mph wind gusts - a condition nearly unheard of in the middle of January over the high terrain of RMNP.
The Park weather gods will likely be expecting payback for this gentle reprieve, due in full sometime this coming spring or summer on a peak near you.
|
The high pressure ridge over CO which has brought clear and warm winter skies to the region.
|
|
Amazing winter weather at 11,500' over the Continental Divide, just south of Longs Peak. Temperatures in the mid-30's during the day with single digit wind speeds would have made Monday and Tuesday this week the ideal time for a 'winter ascent' of Longs Peak or any of the other high peaks of RMNP.
|
|
The Upcoming Week
Major changes are taking place in the atmosphere over the lower latitudes of the Pacific Ocean basin. The East-Asian jet stream is forecast to gain strength and extend across the entire basin toward the US west coast.
An extended period of wet and stormy weather will ensue along the west coast, particularly in CA, over the weekend and will extend into next week. While no precipitation is forecast for RMNP over the next five days, moist west-coast leftovers should make their way into the CO mountains by the latter part of Mon Jan, 18.
More spatially amplified weather disturbances are currently forecast to affect CO by mid to late next week, which would be accompanied by greater chances for significant precipitation over RMNP.
The caveat to all of this is that these strong southern storm tracks do have a historical tendency to develop too far south, which often displaces the best precipitation patterns south of the region.
|
5-day Precipitation Forecast for the Western United States.
Click on image to enlarge
A RMNP coyote heading west in search of snow.
|
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
|
|
