Weather

The weather on Long's is very unpredictable. On an average summer day you probably expect rain/snow/lightning by around 1-2 pm. However, I've seen mornings start out perfectly clear, turn to clouds by 9 am, and rain by 10 am. Long's generates its own weather, and it often rains there while the rest of the park stays dry. However, when we did the Casual Route, we stayed dry while a thunderstorm rolled through Estes Park a few miles north - go figure!

July and August are probably the worst months for thunderstorms, June and September a bit more settled. Weather forecasts are usually not too much help, because 90% of the time they say something like "30% chance of thunderstorms, higher in mountains." Best bet, if you have the flexibility: wait for a day with clear dry weather, one of the rare Colorado summer days that don't have a cloud in the sky all day, with a big high pressure cell centered over the state, rather than the usual "sunny in the morning with afternoon thunderstorms" that is the typical weather pattern. This will greatly increase your chances of getting up the route without getting stormed off. IMHO, the one good index for picking one of those days is the humidity the night before; if it's in the range of 10-20%, that's a pretty good sign. If it's in the 40%+ range, it doesn't matter how nice it looks in the morning, it's going to turn bad later in the day.

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