Weather Mistress…why do you taunt me so?

Tracking and predicting weather patterns as they make their way through Colorado cannot be an easy task. Things change at any moment and I know these 5-day forecasts are more of a guess than actually bonafide. Most of the time the talking heads get it close or within reason. Lately though it seems like the weather sources I use are purposely setting me up for weekends of peril!

It sounds far fetched but why would satellite photos and other evidence be presented for a perfectly docile five day pattern only to rip it away with reports of pending blizzards right before I leave? Sure I could understand a mistake or “freak weather disturbance” once in a while but we are talking the last three trips I have tried to peg down.

Monday looks crystal clear, pure bliss actually when I get the ball rolling. Warm trends like this in January and February don’t come often so it is best to take advantage of them. Before I can finish my first cup of coffee my e-mail lights up with one recognized sender and three notifications about Google changing their policies. (Whatever I did to Google to make them change their policies, I greatly apologize. Rest assured I have been notified.) A grandiose plan is put in to play as my mouth froths with anticipation over a triumphant second cup of coffee. Little did I realize that this was merely a trap…again.

Above: This is a slightly exaggerated report of what the forecast looked like

Mid-week rolls around and I make sure I have a fresh spool ready to go. But on the Wednesday double check the weather is looking a bit “iffy”. The good day sunshine weather signs had turned all gloomy Gus on me with a difference of thirty degrees on the temp side of things. Conditions were not impossible but they surely were making a slow downward spiral. Not quite bad enough for me to cancel plans but more or less prepared me for the worst…or so I thought.

Friday comes and all hell is breaking loose. It was snowing on the way into work and chain laws were required for heavy vehicles going through the major passes. This is when I have to do a serious gut check before walking out the door. Sometimes the trip gets called off and sometimes you just got for it. Currently I am 51% on that being the right decision for my planned trips. This is due to the fact the last trip turned out pretty well actually. That is the good news.

The bad news is that I am faced with the same scenario this weekend except conditions are even worse. A different venue but travel is still a great concern. The trip would take an hour in good conditions and very problematic in snowy conditions. Looking at the blizzard warnings and dramatic snow levels predicted to drop right smack dab on top of my fishing spot, it may be impossible to get there at all.

I may or may not go ahead with this trip but that is not my main concern. I am more worried about the nefarious plot of weather patterns and forecasters consistently setting me up on Monday with a blissful five-day only to see things so drastically different by Friday. They haven’t gotten every weekend wrong this year. Just the weekends I have a big fish trip planned. It is what it is (that phrase pretty much translates into “ahhhhh #$%^!”).

If I’m not fishing I am thinking about fishing.