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Daily brief · Monday, August 31
Monday is the wet day, and the timing is the useful part. The Lake County zone forecast issued 5:37 PM Sunday has it cloudy with a chance of rain showers in the morning, then periods of rain showers and a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, highs 59 to 70, south winds up to 10, and an 80 percent chance of precipitation that holds at 80 through Monday evening before easing after midnight. The NWS hourly table, updated 5:36 PM, puts the shape on it: single digits through 9 AM, 22 percent at 10, 47 by noon, then a plateau of 77 to 82 percent from 3 PM through 6 PM, easing to the twenties by 9 PM with a secondary pulse around midnight before the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday dry out. The morning is the window; whatever needs doing outside should be done by mid-morning. Above 11,000 feet the same 5:37 PM issuance reads cloudy with rain showers likely and a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, highs only 53 to 61, southwest winds around 10, 60 percent through the day and 80 at night, lows 37 to 44, so the high country gets a cold soaking afternoon and stays wet after dark. The hazardous weather outlook issued 11:42 AM Sunday adds the sharper edge: a few strong storms are possible Monday with gusts to around 50 mph, small hail and heavy rainfall in the stronger cells, and an elevated risk of flash flooding on both the Willow and Aspen Acres burn scars Monday afternoon and evening. The Willow scar sits inside the closure area west of town, so treat the Halfmoon drainage and anything below it with respect once the rain starts. The same outlook dries the middle of the week out: more isolated storms Tuesday, 30 percent in the zone forecast, then partly cloudy Wednesday and Thursday with highs 62 to 75 before storm chances build again Friday into next weekend. Sunrise 6:33, sunset 7:38, tonight's lows 38 to 46. Water, with hours attached: the Arkansas at Granite read 61.3 F at 6:45 PM Sunday and has not touched the 65 F trout-stress line since Tuesday; Sunday morning it was 55.9 F at 8:45 AM with the Arkansas near Leadville at 10.3 cfs and Halfmoon Creek 50.2 F and 6.9 cfs. The morning fishes; the afternoon belongs to the rain. Roads: at 7 AM Monday the Johnson Village bridge job at MP 213.4 resumes around the clock through midday Friday, one alternating lane with full stops and 15 to 20 minute delays, and the paving zone south of Twin Lakes at MP 196 to 202 starts its 7 AM to 7 PM weekday windows. Both corridor segments were operator-confirmed dry Sunday morning at 9:04 AM; expect wet pavement on both passes from midday Monday.
Written 2026-08-30, 8:00 PM MT.
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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 08/30/2026 22:32 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 | 10.6 cfs | - |
| Halfmoon Creek | 6.94 cfs | 55.6°F |
| Arkansas R. at Granite | - | 58.8°F |
Trails & roads · notices verified 2026-08-30
Highway status · checked 2026-08-30, 9:50 AM MT
Leadville to I-70 at Copper Mtn, MP 0 to 22.6. Surface condition operator-confirmed Sunday at 9:04 AM. No closures or restrictions posted on this segment, and no NWS alert covers the pass. · The Lake County zone forecast issued 5:37 PM Sunday gives Monday an 80 percent chance of rain showers from late morning onward, heaviest mid to late afternoon, staying wet into Monday night. Expect wet pavement on the pass from midday Monday through the evening. Tuesday eases to 30 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 Sunday at 9:04 AM. Zero active blockages on the corridor in the incidents feed at the Sunday morning pull. · Same shape as CO 91: dry start Monday, then an 80 percent afternoon with periods of rain and possible thunderstorms, wet into the night. Construction returns to this corridor Monday morning; see below.
The Johnson Village bridge job at the Arkansas River, MP 213.4, restarts Monday at 7 AM and runs continuously through midday Friday Sep 4, one alternating lane with full stops and 15 to 20 minute delays at any hour. The Twin Lakes to Buena Vista paving zone, posted at MP 196 to 202, runs 7 AM to 7 PM windows Monday through Thursday. Anyone driving the southern approach this week hits the bridge around the clock and the paving in working hours, with Monday's rain on top of both. Pulled from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 30, 9:50 AM MT.
The round-the-clock Minturn to Red Cliff zone at MP 152.5 to 154 ended its posted block Saturday night and has dropped out of the feed, and the MP 170 to 174 resurfacing zone north of town has no windows published beyond its Saturday one. An absence in the feed means CDOT has not published more, not that a project is confirmed finished; both zones have reappeared before. Pulled from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 30, 9:50 AM 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 twice on Aug 30, at 9:45 AM and 7:55 PM, 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 twice on Aug 30, at 9:45 AM and 7:55 PM, 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 twice on Aug 30, at 9:45 AM and 7:55 PM, 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 twice on Aug 30, at 9:45 AM and 7:55 PM, 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 7:55 PM Aug 30.
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).
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