|
.jpg)
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.
march16weather<strong></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;" ><strong></strong></span>
|
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
A mixed bag of winter- and spring-like weather brought wind, mild temperatures, and a burst of snow to RMNP over the past week.
|
|
Week in Review
A northward shift in the storm track across the western US brought mostly mild and windy conditions to northern CO.
The end of last week (3/9-11) was plagued by westerly winds gusts over 50 mph. A relatively weak storm system that passed over the Park on 3/13 brought a surprise burst of snowfall, owing to a spring-like convective response.
The 4-6 inches of new snow that accumulated remained largely uncorrupted by the wind for a couple of days, before strong and warm westerly wind gusts returned on 3/16. |
 A graphed summary of the last week's weather weather patterns over RMNP.
|
|
The weather forecast for March 17-24, 2011 over the skies of RMNP, Colorado.
|
|
The Upcoming Week
A stormy pattern will once again set up across CA over the next week. CO will remain on the eastern periphery of this unsettled pattern, with ejecting waves of energy sweeping across the state from the southwest to the northeast.
The leading wave will be accompanied by a strong jet stream, which is forecast to slowly translate across the northern CO mountains on 3/17-18. The slow jet movement combined with strong rising motion and a marginally stable atmosphere will produce heavy snowfall rates and total accumulations of 1+ feet (1.0-1.25” of SWE) in some locations.
The currently strong westerly wind gusts will continue through early 3/17, but are forecast to significantly slacken when most of the new snow falls later in the day and into Friday.
Moderate southwesterly winds are forecast following the storm over the weekend, but significant mountain-wave induced accelerations east of the Divide are not expected owing to the southwesterly direction.
The next system will eject out of the southwest US and across CO overnight on Monday into Tuesday (3/21-22). Another round of light snow is currently forecast with this system (0.25” of SWE).
|
Henry Wood laying down a track in the upper half of the Keplinger's Couloir on Longs Peak on 3/15/2011.
...
Join ClimbingLife Guides for some of the best backcountry skiing in Colorado in scenic Rocky Mountain National Park.
|
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.
|
|
