Participants in Saturday’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic can expect breezy conditions with temperatures hovering around the 60s as they ride from Durango to Silverton. The conditions are driven by dry air moving in from the southwest, said Matthew Aleksa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.
The online forecast shows 51 degrees and a 3 mph south-southeast wind at the 8 a.m. start time of the race.
Morning winds will be primarily down-sloping as they come off the slopes of the north, Aleksa said. But as the day and the race progress, winds will shift to be up-sloping from the south-southwest, he said.
“As far as headwind and tail wind, it may be a bit of both depending on the time,” he wrote in an email to The Durango Herald.
Racers and spectators can expect temperatures to climb into the low 60s with a high of 68 degrees at 3 p.m. (in Durango).
Aleksa noted that the route on U.S. Highway 550 may be subject to isolated storms along some of the higher peaks, but the likelihood for storms is low.
“Overall, it looks mostly sunny and dry,” he said.
The weather for the reminder of Memorial Day weekend will mirror that of Saturday. Temperatures will hover between the 50s and 60s, and chances of precipitation are low.
lveress@durangoherald.com
