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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.
july1 weather
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Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
In accordance with the climate clock, the summer-time thunderstorm season has arrived in the mountains of CO and RMNP.
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The Week in Review
Lightening associated with these storms poses the greatest weather threat to climbers during the summer season.
Early alpine starts typically alleviate or reduce this risk, but anomalously moist and unstable conditions can produce electrical storms in the morning that trump the “off by noon” rule-of-thumb.
The moisture that supplies the summertime thunderstorms in RMNP comes from two geographical regions, namely the eastern plains and the southwestern US.
The latter source is associated with the North American Monsoon (NAM) pattern, where moisture from strong convective activity over the high terrain of Mexico is transported northward into the US.
Bomber weather windows which are desired for longer and more committing climbs, a.k.a. Diamond days, are typically associated with an eastward and/or southward shift in the large scale circulation pattern that allows drier subtropical Pacific airstreams to infiltrate the northern mountains of CO.
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Colorado summer thunderstorm patterns.
Thunderstorms building over the summit of Longs Peak.
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The Upcoming Week
For the remainder of this week and through the upcoming weekend, RMNP will remain under the influence of a NAM moisture plume. Clouds, showers and thunderstorms are expected during this time.
While most of the enhanced activity is forecast with the daytime heating during the afternoon hours, an approaching weather disturbance from the west may keep showers and thunderstorms going overnight Friday into Saturday morning.
Once the disturbance passes on late Sunday, drier subsiding subtropical air is forecast to move over the area. Following this, a thunderstorm-free window is forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
Another monsoon plume of moisture, and an increased thunderstorm risk, is forecast to move back over the area in the Wednesday/Thursday timeframe.
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The North Buttress of Hallett Peak is quickly drying out in the current weather pattern. |
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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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