Leadville right now live
humidity 46%
Daily brief · Saturday, August 29
Saturday softened overnight. Thursday evening's products had today at 40 percent; the Lake County zone forecast issued 7:02 PM Friday now reads 30 percent for the afternoon, cloudy, highs 64 to 75, west winds 10 to 15. The NWS gridded product, updated 7:01 PM, holds the morning at 1 to 4 percent through 11 AM, climbs to 25 at noon, sits near 30 from 3 to 6 PM and eases through the evening, with about a twentieth of an inch of modeled water for the whole day, most of it between noon and 6. Open-Meteo runs the peak later, 37 percent at 5 PM. The above-11,000 zone carries the same 30 percent with highs 55 to 65. At the summits: Hope Pass 40 to 58 F, Mosquito 36 to 53, Mt. Elbert 32 to 48 with the pre-dawn hours at freezing, and modeled storm probability topping out between 26 and 40 percent around 5 PM. The wind arrives after the storm chance rather than with it: gusts hold in the teens and low 20s through midday, then build to 37 to 40 mph between 7 and 9 PM. A summit bid that tops out by early afternoon gets the best of the day; the late hours carry both the storm peak and the wind. Sunday deepens to 50 percent with morning showers possible and afternoon thunderstorms likely, and Monday is the wet day of the stretch at 80 percent, carrying the biggest modeled water of the published forecast. The hazardous weather outlook issued 10:23 AM Friday keeps the heaviest weekend rain along the Continental Divide, then spreads storms across the whole region Monday as a weak cool boundary crosses, with drying from Tuesday onward. So the weekend's dry window is Saturday morning, full stop. Sunrise 6:31, sunset 7:40, low overnight 41 to 48, UV 6.3. Air is clean: AQI 30 to 48 with PM2.5 under 4. Water, Friday evening readings: the Arkansas at Granite was 62.8 F at 6:45 PM after a 64.9 afternoon peak, a third consecutive day spent entirely under the 65 F trout-stress line, with the peak clearing it by a tenth of a degree. The Arkansas near Leadville is 11.8 cfs at 7:15 PM, up from 10.1 Thursday. Halfmoon Creek is 58.3 F and 6.4 cfs. Afternoons are fishable on temperature; the sky is the variable after noon. Roads: one zone works Saturday, the resurfacing at MP 170 to 174 north of town, 7 AM to 7 PM with alternating single-lane traffic; drive before 7 or after 7 and you skip it. The round-the-clock Minturn to Red Cliff zone at MP 152.5 to 154 runs its last posted day and ends 11:59 PM Saturday night, and the Johnson Village bridge job is paused until Monday morning. Sunday has no published construction on the approach at all, the clearest that road has been in two weeks.
Written 2026-08-28, 8:00 PM MT.
Air quality
Wind
UV max
Oxygen
Daylight
Next race
7-day forecast
A daily precipitation percentage is the day's own maximum from 5 AM to midnight, not a schedule; an overnight storm crossing the date line counts toward the evening it belongs to, not the morning after. Where a day is wet enough for timing to matter, the orange line under its percentage gives the longest continuous stretch of that day whose own hourly probability reaches most of the daily figure. It is read from hourly model data and, at several days of lead time, that data arrives in multi-hour blocks, so treat the edges as guidance rather than as a start time.
Data in this page rendered live at 08/28/2026 22:12 MT (NOAA/NWS models via Open-Meteo, USGS gauges); your browser also refreshes these numbers on load.
Up high
Model forecasts corrected to each elevation, conditions above treeline are usually far harsher than town. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer; most parties plan to be off high summits and passes by early afternoon. The storm-risk line under each peak is a modeled estimate, not an observation: it reads Open-Meteo hourly precipitation probability and CAPE at that peak's own elevation across the 11 AM to 8 PM window, and reports the window peak plus the first hour that reaches 30 percent. It is a planning input for turnaround times, not a forecast of whether a specific storm will hit you. Check the official NWS forecast and read the sky before you go.
Water · flows & temps7-day detail
| Gauge | Flow | Water temp |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas R. nr Leadville | 11.8 cfs | - |
| Halfmoon Creek | 6.41 cfs | 56.7°F |
| Arkansas R. at Granite | - | 60.6°F |
Trails & roads · notices verified 2026-08-28
Highway status · checked 2026-08-28, 7:45 PM MT
Leadville to I-70 at Copper Mtn, MP 0 to 22.6. The COtrip feed's current surface condition was set dry Thursday evening at 6:58 PM and has not changed since; CDOT's forecast line on the segment was refreshed at 7:29 PM Friday. No closures or restrictions posted on this segment, and no NWS alert covers the pass. · The Lake County zone forecast issued 7:02 PM Friday gives Saturday a 30 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms and Sunday 50 percent, with the modeled water arriving after noon both days. Expect a dry surface Saturday morning and watch the afternoons; Monday reads 80 percent and is the wettest day in the published forecast.
Minturn at I-70 south to Buena Vista, MP 143.4 to 210.8, the whole Leadville approach in one COtrip segment. The current surface condition was set dry Thursday evening at 6:58 PM and has not changed since; the forecast line was refreshed at 7:29 PM Friday. The incidents feed carries one informational record on this corridor tonight, a roadway-reopened note at Minturn MP 145.1, and zero active blockages. · Same weekend shape as CO 91: dry Saturday morning, 30 percent Saturday afternoon, 50 percent Sunday, 80 percent Monday. The construction schedule below is the delay risk on Saturday, not the surface.
The resurfacing zone north of town between County Road 21 and CO 91, MP 170 to 174, carries a Saturday window from 7 AM to 7 PM with alternating single-lane traffic. It is the only zone on the corridor with a published Saturday schedule. Drive before 7 AM or after 7 PM and you skip it. Pulled from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 28, 7:45 PM MT.
The round-the-clock road construction between Forest Service Road 762 near Minturn and Water Street near Red Cliff is posted through Saturday Aug 29 at 11:59 PM, alternating traffic with delays up to 20 minutes at any hour. No block is published beyond Saturday night. An absence in the feed means CDOT has not published next week, not that the work is confirmed done; this zone has been extended week by week twice already.
No zone between Minturn and Buena Vista carries a published window for Sunday, and the Johnson Village bridge job is paused for the weekend. As published tonight, Sunday is the clearest day on the approach in two weeks. A day absent from the feed means CDOT has not published it, not that the road is guaranteed clear.
The Johnson Village bridge job at the Arkansas River, MP 213.4, resumes Monday Aug 31 at 7 AM and runs continuously through midday Friday Sep 4, one alternating lane with full stops and 15 to 20 minute delays. The Twin Lakes to Buena Vista paving zone is now posted as MP 196 to 202, a shorter stretch than the MP 192.7 to 202 published during race week, with 7 AM to 7 PM windows Monday through Thursday. The MP 170 to 174 resurfacing zone has no published windows beyond Saturday, and the Minturn zone at MP 148 to 148.5 has dropped out of the feed entirely. Pulled Aug 28, 7:45 PM MT.
Highway data from CDOT / COtrip, state highways only. County and forest roads are covered in the notices below.
USFS order 02-12-01-26-36 was signed Aug 19 and runs from Aug 21 at 12:01 AM through Sep 30 at 11:59 PM unless rescinded. It supersedes order 02-12-01-26-33, and the affected recreation site list is not the same. Still closed: Mount Massive Wilderness, Mount Massive Trail 1487, Highline and Native Lake Trail 1489, Willow Creek Trailhead, Elbert Creek Campground, Halfmoon East and Halfmoon West Campgrounds, and Colorado Trail 1776 Segment 11 at the Mount Massive Trailhead. Newly listed compared with the previous order: Mount Massive Trail 1487 and the Colorado Trail segment. No longer listed: North Mount Elbert Trail 1484, Windsor Lake Trail 1490 and North Halfmoon Creek Trail 1485. The described area now runs south of Turquoise Lake, south of County Road 4 and NFSR 105 to Busk Creek, east of the tree line at the Busk Creek switchback, south and east along the eastern slope of Mount Massive to the wilderness boundary near the North Halfmoon Trailhead, east to the main Mount Massive Trailhead, and from there along the NORTH side of Halfmoon Creek to the east boundary of the forest. Whether the standard Mt. Elbert north route falls inside or outside the closure is set by the map exhibit attached to the order, not by the rec-site list, and Elbert Creek Campground is still closed. Call the Leadville Ranger District at 719-486-0749 before you plan on it. Order number, signature date, effective dates, described area and rec-site list were read directly from the order text on Aug 20. Re-read on the full district alert list at 7:50 PM Aug 28, unchanged. This is now the operative closure. Both 2026 Leadville 100 races have now been run on courses rerouted around the earlier version of this closure, with Hagerman Pass Road, Sugarloaf Mountain and Powerline off both. The closure itself outlasts the race season: it runs to Sep 30 unless rescinded, so it governs autumn hiking on Mount Massive and the Halfmoon drainage, not just race week.
Official source: USFS Pike-San Isabel NF
Order 02-12-00-26-37, signed Aug 20, replaced the Stage 2 order 02-12-00-26-29 that had covered the Leadville Ranger District since Aug 2. Stage 1 took effect at 12:01 AM on Aug 21 and runs through Nov 14 at 11:59 PM unless rescinded, across the Leadville, Salida, San Carlos, Pikes Peak, South Park and South Platte districts. What actually changes: campfires are permitted again, but only in a permanent metal or concrete fire pit or grate that the Forest Service has installed and maintains at a developed recreation site, meaning campgrounds and picnic areas. Dispersed camping still means no fire of any kind, including charcoal and briquettes. A device fuelled solely by liquid or gas that can be turned on and off is allowed in an area cleared of flammable material within three feet, and a fully enclosed metal stove with a chimney at least five feet long and a quarter inch spark arrestor is allowed with ten feet cleared. Smoking is prohibited except in an enclosed vehicle or building, at a developed recreation site, or while stopped in a barren three foot circle. Explosives are prohibited and welding needs a ten foot cleared area and an extinguisher. The practical version for anyone camping here through the autumn: a fire is legal at a developed campground fire ring and nowhere else on forest land. Read directly from the order text on Aug 20. Re-read on the full district alert list at 7:50 PM Aug 28, unchanged.
Official source: USFS Pike-San Isabel NF
The Forest Service alert list carries a Leadville Ranger District closure of Turquoise Lake Road, County Road 4, due to asphalt damage. The road is barricaded from the Abe Lee parking turnoff to Hagerman Pass. Access to Turquoise Lake is still available via County Road 9C and County Road 9 to the Hagerman Pass intersection, and the Abe Lee fishing site remains open and reachable from CR 4. The alert start date is April 7, 2026 and no end date is posted. It did not affect the three official crew locations for the 2026 Run, which were Outward Bound, Pipeline Alternate and Twin Lakes Village. With the race season over it matters most to anglers and to anyone driving the lake loop, because the through route to Hagerman Pass from the Abe Lee end is gone. It has now been closed for four and a half months with no end date posted. Re-read on the full district alert list at 7:50 PM Aug 28, unchanged.
Official source: USFS Leadville Ranger District
USFS order 02-12-01-26-19 closes the Interlaken Hotel and Annex area on the Leadville Ranger District from June 22, 2026 at 12:01 AM through June 21, 2028 at 11:59 PM unless rescinded. Entering the described area is prohibited, for public safety in an area with known hazards from tree fall and damaged buildings. The described area is defined only by the map exhibit attached to the order, so where its boundary falls relative to the Colorado Trail is not stated in the order text. If your Twin Lakes plans involve walking out toward Interlaken, call the Leadville Ranger District at 719-486-0749. The order runs to June 2028, so this is a two year condition rather than a seasonal one. Note also that an older district alert from June 12 still says the Dexter House is safe to tour while other buildings should be avoided; the June 22 closure order is the later and stricter document. Re-read on the full district alert list at 7:50 PM Aug 28, unchanged.
Official source: USFS Leadville Ranger District
The road over Mosquito Pass (13,185 ft) is a rough, high-clearance 4x4 route, typically passable only mid-summer through early fall depending on snow. There is no official live status feed for this county road, so reports from recent travelers and the ranger district are the best sources. No closure or restriction is posted for it on the district alert list as of the full re-read at 7:50 PM Aug 28.
Official source: USFS Leadville Ranger District
Checked each morning against official sources, USFS alerts, InciWeb fire closures, and CDOT. Always verify with the land manager before you go: Pike-San Isabel NF (Leadville Ranger District) · COtrip road conditions (US 24 / CO 91) · CAIC avalanche forecasts (winter).
Get the brief by email
The daily conditions brief, in your inbox every morning. Tell us what you're here for and the brief will lean that way as we grow. Unsubscribe anytime.
Live data refreshes as you read. Daily brief written each morning. All data provisional, verify with official sources.
Pause on the temperature or the water table and they open up. This page also quietly adapts to what you read most, stored on your device only, never transmitted. Reset
Planning a trip up here?
Start with the altitude guide, at 10,152 feet how you handle your first 48 hours matters more than anything you pack. Then: where to stay, getting here, the Leadville 100 crew guide, acclimatization strategies for racers, 16 years of race-weekend weather, how to get into the Leadville 100, and Mosquito Pass. All guides live under Guides.