If you can’t handle the truth about this weekend’s weather, it may be a good idea to just skip on to the next story.
The dirty lowdown: The National Weather Service is all but guaranteeing precipitation during Saturday’s 43rd running of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.
“We’re expecting it will be a cool and wet ride,” said Joe Ramey, meteorologist with the service’s Grand Junction office.
An unseasonably strong low-pressure system is pumping moisture right into the San Juan Mountains, Ramey said Thursday. He said models show 1 to 2 inches of precipitation falling as rain or snow in the mountains from Thursday through Sunday. One model paints over 2 inches of rain.
It could affect more than the bike races, which begin with Saturday’s road ride from Durango to Silverton and continue with Sunday’s criterium and mountain bike race and Monday’s time trial.
Ramey said he’d been in touch with Butch Knowlton, La Plata County’s director of emergency preparedness.
“A pretty good surge into local rivers is possible,” Ramey said.
johnp@durangoherald.com
