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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.
march31 Weather<strong></strong>
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Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park Weather Forecast
A series of winter weather disturbances tracked directly across northern CO over the past week, as the jet stream took direct aim on the northern Rockies.
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Week in Review
The heaviest snow fell along the Divide just south of the Park, where up to 2-3 inches of new snow water equivalent (SWE) was observed. North of this sweet spot, sub-alpine locations around the Park only received about 0.75 inches of new SWE.
Plenty of wind accompanied the snowy pattern, with gusts topping 50 mph periodically throughout the week after the passage of each weather disturbance.
The formation of new slabs and the subsequent increase in avalanche risk ensued on the days following 3/27 when most of the snow fell. The strongest winds of the week, which peaked near 90 mph at 12 kft, occurred on 3/30.
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 A graphed summary of the last week's weather weather patterns over RMNP.
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The weather forecast for March 31-April 7th, 2011 over the skies of RMNP, Colorado.
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The Upcoming Week
The Park will remain under strong northwesterly flow through Friday. During this time, strong east-side mountain wave induced gusts are a sure bet. Some orographically induced light snow will also occur, but little in the way of additional accumulation is forecast.
The flow will rotate around to the southwest on late Saturday (4/2) in advance of a higher amplitude weather system moving onshore along the west coast. This system will bring snow back to the Park by late Sunday and into Monday (4/3-4).
The current forecast tendency is tracking this system farther south with each successive model run, which does not bode well for heavier snowfall chances across the Park. Regardless, temperatures will be at the coldest level for the week on Monday.
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Alison Kinsler and Rick Gaukel in the Trough Couloir on the west face of Longs Peak on March 24th, 2011.
Join ClimbingLife Guides for the best backcountry skiing
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for more information or to sign-up for this spectacular ski trip.
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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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