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Weather Discussion
A closed low-pressure system currently camped out over far southern Arizona is spinning some cloud into southern Colorado. Radar indicates a few isolated showers, but nothing serious. Precipitation associated with the low is still moving northward out of New Mexico and Arizona and should arrive over the San Juan Mountains about mid-day Friday. Snowfall potential has decreased the last few model runs. Wind speeds are remarkably light and are not coming from a favorable direction to aid mountain induced snowfall (orographics). Temperature trends have been bumping warmer a little from run to run as well.
A potent dome of high-pressure covers much of the rest of the United States. The main winter storm track is riding up into Canada and over this high-pressure dome and it then drops southeast into New England. The closed low over the desert southwest has some trouble kicking east of a line running north from the Texas panhandle to the Colorado/Kansas line. At this time it looks to wobble around the Colorado area into early next week. It’s a rather odd pattern so it’s probably a good idea to let the models resolve what this storm wants to do past the weekend time frame before speculating any further.
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Steamboat & Flat Tops at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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41 to 46
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32 to 37
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42 to 47
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Wind Speed (mph)
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0 to 10
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3 to 13
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2 to 12
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Wind Direction
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WSW
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ESE
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E
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Mostly Cloudy
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Snow (in)
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0
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0
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0
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Front Range at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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40 to 45
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31 to 36
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36 to 41
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Wind Speed (mph)
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2 to 12
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1 to 11
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2 to 12
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Wind Direction
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SSE
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ESE
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E
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Mostly Cloudy
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Snow (in)
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0
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0 to 2
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0 to 2
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Vail & Summit County at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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40 to 45
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30 to 35
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37 to 42
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Wind Speed (mph)
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2 to 12
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2 to 12
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2 to 12
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Wind Direction
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SSE
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SE
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SE
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Mostly Cloudy
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Snow (in)
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0
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0 to 1 E
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0 to 1
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Sawatch Range at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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41 to 46
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29 to 34
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37 to 42
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Wind Speed (mph)
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1 to 11
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3 to 13
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1 to 11
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Wind Direction
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E
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E
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E
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Mostly Cloudy
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Snow (in)
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0 to 1
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0 to 2 E
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0 to 1 E
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Aspen at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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39 to 44
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28 to 33
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36 to 41
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Wind Speed (mph)
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2 to 12
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2 to 12
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2 to 12
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Wind Direction
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SE
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ESE
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SE
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Overcast
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Snow (in)
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0
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0
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0 to 1 E
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Gunnison at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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40 to 45
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28 to 33
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37 to 42
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Wind Speed (mph)
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3 to 13
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3 to 13
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3 to 13
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Wind Direction
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SE
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SE
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SE
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Overcast
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Overcast
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Snow (in)
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0
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0
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0 to 1
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Grand Mesa at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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43 to 48
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33 to 38
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40 to 45
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Wind Speed (mph)
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1 to 11
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1 to 11
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0 to 10
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Wind Direction
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SE
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SE
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SE
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Sky Cover
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Increasing
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Mostly Cloudy
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Mostly Cloudy
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Snow (in)
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0
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0
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0
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Northern San Juan at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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38 to 43
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27 to 32
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32 to 37
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Wind Speed (mph)
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5 to 15
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5 to 15
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5 to 15
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Wind Direction
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SE
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SE
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SSE
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Sky Cover
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Mostly Cloudy
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Overcast
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Overcast
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Snow (in)
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0 to 2
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Tr to 3
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1 to 3
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Southern San Juan at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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40 to 45
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29 to 34
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35 to 40
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Wind Speed (mph)
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1 to 11
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2 to 12
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3 to 13
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Wind Direction
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NNE
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NE
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S
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Sky Cover
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Overcast
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Overcast
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Overcast
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Snow (in)
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Tr to 2
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Tr to 2
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Tr to 2
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Sangre de Cristo at 11,000ft
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Friday
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Friday Night
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Saturday
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Temperature (°F)
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37 to 42
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28 to 33
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35 to 40
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Wind Speed (mph)
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2 to 12
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1 to 11
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3 to 13
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Wind Direction
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SSE
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S
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S
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Sky Cover
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Overcast
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Mostly Cloudy
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Overcast
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Snow (in)
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0
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0 to 1
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Tr to 2
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Recreation Law 