Como Peaks is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

in Ravalli County,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, United States.

Description

Como Peaks is west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

in the

Bitterroot Range The Bitterroot Range is a mountain range and a subrange of the Rocky Mountains that runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of and is named after the bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva ...

which is a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. It is the eighth-highest peak in Ravalli County as well as the eighth-highest point in the

Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness The Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness is a protected wilderness area in the states of Idaho and Montana, in the northwestern United States. At 1.3 million acres (5,300 km²), it is one of the List of largest wilderness areas in the United Stat ...

which is managed by

Bitterroot National Forest Bitterroot National Forest comprises 1.587 million acres (6,423 km2) in west-central Montana and eastern Idaho of the United States. It is located primarily in Ravalli County, Montana (70.26% of the forest), but also has acreage in Idaho ...

. The nearest community is Darby, to the east, and the nearest higher neighbor is

El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...

, to the west. The mountain is a set of three peaks: the West Peak is the highest point at 9,624 feet, the Middle Peak is 9,537 feet, and the East Peak is 9,493 feet. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains to the

Bitterroot River The Bitterroot River is a northward flowing river running through the Bitterroot Valley, from the confluence of its West and East forks near Conner in southern Ravalli County to its confluence with the Clark Fork River near Missoula in Misso ...

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises above Tin Cup Creek in , and above

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

in . This mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

. The mountain is named in association with nearby Lake Como which in turn was named by

Antonio Ravalli Antonio Ravalli (b. in Ferrara, Italy, 16 May 1812 - died at St. Mary's, Montana, USA, 2 October 1884), also known as Anthony Ravalli, was an Italian Jesuit missionary, artist, and doctor active in the Pacific Northwest region of the United State ...

in the 1840s for

in his native country of Italy. Ravalli County is named after him. The mountain is also unofficially called the Three Sisters.''Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences, Volume 30'', Montana Academy of Sciences, 1970.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, the mountain is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Winter temperatures can drop below 0 °F with wind chill factors below −10 °F. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter and as thunderstorms in summer.

Gallery

File:Lake Como - July 2011.jpg, East Como Peak from Lake Como File:Lake Como, Montana.jpg, Como Peaks in winter File:Lake Como Fall Fog (5558965907).jpg, Como Peaks in autumn

References

External links

* Como Peaks
Weather
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Como Peaks , North = Little Rock Creek , Northeast =

, East = Darby , Southeast = Tin Cup Creek , South = Kerlee Lake , Southwest =

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, West = The Lonesome Bachelor , Northwest =

Mountains of Ravalli County, Montana Mountains of Montana Two-thousanders of the United States Bitterroot National Forest Bitterroot Range

Description

Climate

See also

Gallery

References

External links