Summit forecast for 5,260 ft · Franconia · Updated 3x daily
As of July 21, 2026
Mount Lafayette (5,260 ft) is currently 49°F (feels like 41°F) with overcast and SSE winds at 13 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Today's freezing level is 12,828–14,075 ft. Expect the summit to run about 9°F colder than the trailhead. Trail conditions are rated Dangerous.
Valley forecasts don't apply up high — temperatures drop about 2.8°F per 1,000 ft on Mount Lafayette.
| Elevation | Temp Range | Max Wind | Wind Chill (Low) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit 5,260 ft | 53° – 59°F | 47 mph | 53°F |
| Treeline 4,000 ft | 56° – 61°F | 42 mph | 56°F |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 61° – 68°F | 24 mph | 61°F |
Freezing level today: 12,828–14,075 ft
~2.8°F drop per 1,000ft
Tap a day header to expand to 3hr or hourly detail
Today Jul 21 | Tomorrow Jul 22 | Thursday Jul 23 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | cloudy | rain | rain | fog | ptly cloudy | cloudy | ptly cloudy | sunny | sunny |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 56° 53° | 58° 54° | 59° 55° | 55° 53° | 55° 52° | 51° 38° | 41° 36° | 52° 44° | 50° 50° |
| Chill °F | — | — | — | — | — | 24° | 21° | 36° | 43° |
| Wind mph | 31 | 47 | 38 | 35 | 30 | 38 | 41 | 21 | 23 |
| Gust mph est. | 50 | 66 | 61 | 56 | 48 | 61 | 57 | — | — |
| Storm risk | — | — | — | mod | mod | — | — | — | — |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | 0.2 | 0.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Freezing ft | 13,612 ft | 12,966 ft | 8,862 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 63% | 100% | 54% | 6% | - |
| Vis mi | clear | 0.3 | <0.1 | <0.1 | 9 | 8 | clear | clear | clear |
| UV | 6 | 7 | — | 1 | 7 | — | 6 | 8 | — |
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| Elevation | Today Jul 21 | Tomorrow Jul 22 | Thursday Jul 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 5,260 ft | 53/56° 31 | 53/55° 35 | 36/41° 41 |
| 5,000 ft | 54/56° 31 | 54/56° 34 | 37/42° 38 |
| 4,100 ft | 57/58° 29 | 57/58° 31 | 40/46° 26 |
| 3,300 ft | 58/61° 23 | 59/62° 24 | 43/50° 20 |
| 2,500 ft | 60/64° 18 | 62/65° 16 | 47/54° 16 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 61/66° 16 | 64/67° 14 | 49/56° 14 |
4 more days of forecast — plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
Conditions synthesized from: NWS Higher Summits Forecast, NOAA Open-Meteo, Mount Washington Observatory, NETC Trip Reports, NOHRSC Snow Depth, Mt. Washington Avalanche Center, USGS Stream Levels, OpenWeather Air Quality.
AI-generated from public data. Always verify conditions before heading out — backcountry weather can change quickly.
As of July 21, 2026: Mount Lafayette (5,260 ft) is currently 49°F (feels like 41°F) with overcast and SSE winds at 13 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Today's freezing level is 12,828–14,075 ft. Expect the summit to run about 9°F colder than the trailhead. Trail conditions are rated Dangerous.
Temperatures drop roughly 2.8°F per 1,000 ft of elevation on Mount Lafayette. Today the trailhead (2,000 ft) tops out around 68°F while the summit (5,260 ft) reaches about 59°F, with a wind chill as low as 53°F.
Winds at the summit of Mount Lafayette are forecast to reach 47 mph today, with 42 mph at treeline. Above treeline there is no shelter from wind — plan layers around wind chill, not air temperature.
Today's freezing level (12,828–14,075 ft) is above the 5,260 ft summit of Mount Lafayette, so the full route should stay above freezing.