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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.
dec15weather
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Friday, January 7th, 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
A storm system over the New Years weekend brought the coldest temperatures of the season to date in the mountains of RMNP.
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Week in Review
A significant change in the storm track across the Pacific has occurred since the end of December, as a nearly stationary high-pressure ridge over the central basin shifted eastward toward the US west coast.
Before this shift, an anomalously strong region of low-pressure over the eastern Pacific transported copious amounts of subtropical moisture over the western states and produced a 2-3 foot snowfall across RMNP on December 18 - 21.
Recent ridging along the west coast has allowed storm energy to once again stream into CO from the northwest and transport cold continental air southward from Canada.
Last weekend’s storm brought temperatures down to -10 to -18 F near treeline with sustained winds in the 40 to 50 mph range, making for raw winter wind chills in the -40 to -50 F range.
As typical with a northwesterly storm track, the winds have not disappointed. Gusts frequently pegged 60-70 mph for most of the week, and with the addition of 2-3 inches of new snow last Friday, produced sensitive new slab on lee and cross-loaded aspects.
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A graphed summary of the last 5 week's weather systems.
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The Weather Forecast- Jan. 7-13, 2011.
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The Upcoming Week
As RMNP remains between storm systems over the next couple of days, the weather will be relatively pleasant through Saturday across the high country.
The next storm system will drop in from the northwest and bring another round of cold and snow with it starting Sunday afternoon (1/9) and lingering through Monday. The coldest temperatures of the week are expected during this time, with single digits expected near treeline.
New liquid equivalence is forecast in the 0.3 to 0.5 inch range, with 6-10 inches of low density snow possible by the storms end. Another surge of arctic air will accompany the storm and ride up the eastern slope to enhance precipitation below 10 kft.
Winds are expected to remain light to moderate when the new snow falls, with directions from the southwest above 10 kft and from the east below 10 kft. However, come Tuesday through Thursday, winds are forecast to dramatically increase from the west. The avalanche risk will increase during this time, as the formation of new slab from the recent storm snow is likely.
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The Cathedral Wall towers above the Loch on a 2011 sun blessed day in RMNP, CO.
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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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