Leadville right now live
humidity 25%
Daily brief · 2026-08-18
Tuesday is the last quiet day before the pattern turns, so spend it well: mostly sunny through the morning, clouding over in the afternoon, highs 69 to 77 in town off a 51 F start, west winds 10 to 15 mph and a rain chance the models hold at 6 percent or under. For once the two NWS products agree, which is worth saying after a week of them arguing; Monday's hazardous weather outlook puts its storm day on Wednesday, and the Lake County zone forecast issued at 7:47 PM carries no daytime storm chance for Tuesday at all. Sunrise 6:21, sunset 7:56, UV peaking near 8.4. Up high stays workable but turns breezy late: Hope Pass 48 to 60 F through the day, Mosquito Pass 45 to 56, Mt. Elbert 41 to 50, gusts sitting in the low teens until mid afternoon and then building to 34 mph on Mosquito around 7 PM and 31 on Elbert by 9, so the wind is a problem for the descent, not the climb. Air quality runs 37 to 53 with PM2.5 at 3.4 micrograms per cubic meter, which is clean air rather than haze. Anglers, Monday evening's USGS provisional readings put the Arkansas at Granite at 69.3 F, more than four degrees over the 65 F trout-stress line and up from 65.8 F on Saturday evening, with Halfmoon Creek at 63.0 F and 6.94 cfs and the Arkansas near Leadville down to 11.1 cfs; those are evening peaks, so fish the cold end of the morning and leave the warm water alone. Four days to the Run, and two road facts worth having tonight. CDOT's live feed has resurfacing on US 24 north of town, MP 170 to 174, running 7 AM to 7 PM Tuesday with alternating traffic, an 11 ft width limit and delays up to 20 minutes; more usefully, the Minturn to Red Cliff work at MP 152.5 to 154 is posted around the clock through 11:59 PM Saturday, so unlike the weekday-only zones it will still be there at 3 AM on race morning for anyone driving down from I-70. Separately, a closure we had not been carrying and should have been: the Forest Service alert list shows Turquoise Lake Road, County Road 4, barricaded from the Abe Lee turnoff to Hagerman Pass since April 7 for asphalt damage, with no end date posted and lake access still open via County Roads 9C and 9. Saturday itself still models wet, 80 percent with showers and thunderstorms likely in the zone forecast against 75 percent from Open-Meteo, but Wednesday's severe risk arrives first.
Air quality
Wind
UV max
Oxygen
Daylight
Next race
7-day forecast
Data in this page rendered live at 08/18/2026 04:11 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 | 10.8 cfs | - |
| Halfmoon Creek | 6.67 cfs | 52.9°F |
| Arkansas R. at Granite | - | 59.0°F |
Trails & roads · notices verified 2026-08-17
Highway status · checked 2026-08-17, 7:50 PM MT
Leadville to I-70 at Copper Mtn, MP 0 to 22.6. Surface condition from the live COtrip feed, operator-confirmed at 2:45 PM Monday. No closures or restrictions posted, and no NWS alert covers the pass. · CDOT's own NDFD line at 7:46 PM Monday reads partly cloudy with gusts to 12 mph. The Lake County zone forecast has no daytime storm chance Tuesday.
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 2:45 PM Monday. Construction zones are listed below and are the real delay risk, not the surface. · CDOT's own NDFD line at 7:46 PM Monday reads partly cloudy with gusts to 11 mph.
Road construction between Forest Service Road 762 near Minturn and Water Street near Red Cliff, posted continuously from Aug 16 at 12:00 AM through Aug 22 at 11:59 PM. Alternating traffic, 11 ft width limit, reduced speed and delays up to 20 minutes. This one matters more than the weekday zones: it is the only Leadville-corridor work posted around the clock, so it is in place at 3 AM on Run race morning for anyone driving down from I-70. Pulled live from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 17, 7:50 PM.
Between County Road 21 and CO 91, about two miles west of Leadville North. Alternating traffic, 11 ft width limit, reduced speed, delays up to 20 minutes, posted 7 AM to 7 PM on Tuesday Aug 18 and recurring on weekdays. This is the active daily zone inside the larger North Leadville resurfacing project (MP 148 to 175, May through November 2026). No weekday work Saturday or Sunday, so race day Aug 22 is clear of this one. Pulled live from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 17, 7:50 PM.
Between CO 82 east of Twin Lakes and County Road 385 west of Buena Vista. Intermittent one-lane alternating traffic, shoulder closures, 40 mph limit, 12 ft width limit, delays up to 15 minutes, 7 AM to 7 PM Thursday only. That is the Thursday before the Run on the main approach from Buena Vista. Pulled live from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 17, 7:50 PM.
Between Cross Creek Road and Forest Service Road 762. Alternating traffic, 11 ft width limit, reduced speed, delays up to 20 minutes, 7 AM to 7 PM Thursday only. Pulled live from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 17, 7:50 PM.
Bridge maintenance reducing the US 24 bridge over the Arkansas to one lane of alternating traffic, continuously from Aug 16 through Aug 23. Motorists encounter full stops and 15 to 20 minute delays. South of our corridor, but it is on the drive up for anyone coming from Salida or Poncha Pass. Pulled live from the COtrip planned-events feed Aug 17, 7:50 PM.
Highway data from CDOT / COtrip, state highways only. County and forest roads are covered in the notices below.
USFS order 02-12-01-26-33, signed Aug 10, runs from July 30 at 2 PM through Sep 30 at 11:59 PM unless rescinded. The closed area sits west of town, from the south shore of Turquoise Lake and the south side of NFSR 104D south to half a mile below Halfmoon Road, west to the district boundary. Still closed: Mount Massive Wilderness, North Mount Elbert Trail 1484, Windsor Lake Trail 1490, Highline/Native Lake Trail 1489, North Halfmoon Creek Trail 1485, Willow Creek Trailhead, and the Elbert Creek and Halfmoon East and West campgrounds. Evacuation orders were lifted July 30. Both 2026 Leadville 100 courses were rerouted around this closure: Hagerman Pass Road, Sugarloaf Mountain and Powerline are off both the MTB and Run courses this year. Order number, Aug 10 start, Sep 30 end date, described area and rec-site list re-verified against the Forest Service alert page Aug 17.
Official source: USFS Pike-San Isabel NF
Stage 2 fire restrictions (order 02-12-00-26-29) cover the Leadville Ranger District through Nov 14 unless rescinded. No campfires, charcoal or wood stoves anywhere on forest land, gas or liquid fuel stoves only, in a cleared area. No smoking outside an enclosed vehicle or building. Crews and campers on National Forest land during Run week, this applies to you, and the race carries the same rule at its crew locations: stoves must have an on/off valve. Order re-verified against the Forest Service alert page Aug 17: Aug 2 through Nov 14, and the Leadville district is one of six districts covered. Fire danger was posted High for the Leadville district as of Aug 15.
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. This does not affect the three official crew locations for the 2026 Run, which are Outward Bound, Pipeline Alternate and Twin Lakes Village, but it does change how spectators and anglers reach the west side of the lake during Run week. Verified against the district alert page Aug 17. We had not been carrying this notice before tonight; it has been active since April.
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 Aug 17.
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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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.