Leadville right now live
humidity 53%
Daily brief · Friday, August 28
Friday is the quiet one. The Lake County zone forecast issued 6:52 PM Thursday has partly sunny skies with a 10 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms, highs 68 to 76, west winds 10 to 15. The NWS gridded product, updated 6:51 PM, runs dry through 10 AM, peaks at 18 percent around noon, and is back to single digits by 5 PM with zero measurable water modeled in any block of the day; Open-Meteo caps the day at 11. For the first time in a week every source sits within a few points of the others. Thursday, for the record: billed as the week's biggest storm day, it produced no precipitation in any Leadville airport observation through the evening, just a mid-afternoon overcast and one 23 mph gust at lunchtime. Up high Friday: Hope Pass 42 to 57 F, Mosquito 39 to 55, Mt. Elbert 34 to 49 with the pre-dawn hours near freezing, gusts 23 to 29 mph peaking mid afternoon, and summit storm probability topping at 12 percent, the weakest convective day of the week. The above-11,000 zone forecast agrees: 20 percent, highs 59 to 68. That makes Friday the last clean mountain day for a while. The weekend turn is in every product: Saturday goes 40 percent in the afternoon with gusts to 35 up high and the week's first real modeled moisture, about a twentieth of an inch between noon and midnight. Sunday reads 60 percent below 11,000 and 50 above, showers likely, and Monday holds 60. The hazardous weather outlook has moisture returning Saturday and continuing into early next week, scattered to numerous storms over the high terrain each day, heaviest along the Continental Divide, which is where Hope Pass and the Sawatch crest sit. If you have a summit, a long ride, or dry trail work to get in, Friday through Saturday morning is the whole window. Relevant to any weekend spent up high: the August weather page now carries a Hope Pass version of the race-window climatology, the same 16 years of ERA5 computed at the grid cell containing the pass. Up there the record holds about a fifth more water than town, it starts earlier in the day, and the two wettest windows are also the two coldest, 29 F with half an inch falling in 2022. Wet and freezing arrive together at 12,500 ft. Sunrise 6:30, sunset 7:42, low tonight 42 to 47, UV 7.4. Air is clean: AQI 36 to 47 with PM2.5 under 5. Water, evening readings: the Arkansas at Granite was 63.0 F at 6:45 PM after a 64.8 afternoon peak, a second consecutive day spent entirely under the 65 F trout-stress line, though the peak now clears it by only a fraction of a degree. The Arkansas near Leadville is back to 10.1 cfs after Wednesday's 9.88. Halfmoon Creek is 57.4 F and 6.67 cfs. Afternoons remain fishable on temperature; watch the peak hour if the weekend clouds fail to show. Roads: Friday runs all three weekday zones 7 AM to 7 PM, resurfacing at MP 170 to 174 north of town, Minturn at MP 148, and the Twin Lakes to Buena Vista paving, plus the round-the-clock Minturn to Red Cliff zone at MP 152.5 to 154, posted through Saturday night. The Arkansas River bridge job near Johnson Village ends at 5 PM Friday and does not resume until Monday morning, so the southern approach is clear of it Saturday and Sunday. The MP 170 to 174 zone works Saturday 7 to 7 as well. Drive before 7 AM or after 7 PM and you skip everything with a schedule.
Written 2026-08-27, 8:55 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 08/27/2026 22:01 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 | 10.1 cfs | - |
| Halfmoon Creek | 6.67 cfs | 56.1°F |
| Arkansas R. at Granite | - | 60.6°F |
Trails & roads · notices verified 2026-08-27
Highway status · checked 2026-08-27, 8:10 PM MT
Leadville to I-70 at Copper Mtn, MP 0 to 22.6. Surface condition from the live COtrip feed, operator-confirmed at 6:57 PM Thursday. No closures or restrictions posted on this segment, and no NWS alert covers the pass. · CDOT's own NDFD line on this segment was refreshed at 7:38 PM Thursday. The Lake County zone forecast issued 6:52 PM gives Friday a 10 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms, the quietest day in the week's forecast, so expect a dry surface through the day. The turn comes Saturday afternoon at 40 percent.
Minturn at I-70 south to Buena Vista, MP 143.4 to 210.8, the whole Leadville approach in one COtrip segment. Surface condition operator-confirmed at 6:57 PM Thursday. The incidents feed carries zero active blockages on this corridor tonight; construction zones below are the real delay risk, not the surface. · CDOT's NDFD line refreshed 7:38 PM Thursday. Same story as CO 91: dry through Friday on a 10 percent day, with the weekend's wet afternoons arriving Saturday. The construction schedule below matters far more to Friday travel time than the weather does.
Resurfacing north of town between County Road 21 and CO 91, MP 170 to 174; road work at Minturn, MP 148 to 148.5; and paving from Twin Lakes to Buena Vista, MP 192.7 to 202. All three run 7 AM to 7 PM Friday with alternating single-lane traffic and an 11 ft width limit in the resurfacing zone. Drive before 7 AM or after 7 PM and you skip all three. Pulled from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 27, 8:10 PM MT.
Road construction between Forest Service Road 762 near Minturn and Water Street near Red Cliff, posted continuously through Aug 29 at 11:59 PM. Alternating traffic, width limit, delays up to 20 minutes, and it does not stop overnight. Anyone driving down from I-70 hits it at any hour through Saturday night. No continuation block is posted beyond Saturday; that absence means CDOT has not published next week yet, not that the work is confirmed done. Re-pulled Aug 27, 8:10 PM MT.
Bridge maintenance at the Arkansas River bridge, MP 213.4 near Johnson Village, one alternating lane with full stops and 15 to 20 minute delays. The current block ends 5 PM Friday Aug 28 and the next continuous block runs Monday Aug 31 at 7 AM through Friday Sep 4 at 5 PM, so the southern approach is published clear at the bridge from Friday evening through Sunday. The feed files this job under a program named for another county; its own coordinates and jurisdiction are Chaffee County at Johnson Village, verified Aug 24.
Saturday: the MP 170 to 174 resurfacing zone carries a 7 AM to 7 PM window, on top of the Red Cliff zone's final continuous day. Sunday: no zone on this corridor carries a published window at all. A day absent from the feed means CDOT has not published it, not that the road is clear.
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 8:05 PM Aug 27, 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 8:05 PM Aug 27, 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 8:05 PM Aug 27, 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 8:05 PM Aug 27, 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 8:05 PM Aug 27.
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.