col springs - weather, schools??

[Charles]

Originally Posted by summit21

Charles last winter was anything but normal. In Jackson Creek we measured about 155 inches of snow, further north Bill Kapel, a former meteorologist at channel 11 got 208 inches of snow this past winter ( both areas in Monument). Monuemnt area generally averages around 100 inches a year, so last winter was well above normal for Mopnument. The following is from a local paper, our community news:
May 2007 Weather Statistics
Average High 64.8° (-4.5°)
Average Low 37.6° (+1.3°)
Highest Temperature 80°F on the 13th
Lowest Temperature 26°F on the 6th, 24th
Monthly Precipitation 3.21" (+2.03")
Monthly Snowfall 18.2" (+15.5")
Season to Date Snow 208.6" (+70.1")
Season to Date Precip. 32.42" (+13.65")
For more detailed weather information and Climatology of the Palmer Divide and Tri-Lakes region, please visit Bill Kappel’s Weather Web page at http://users.adelphia.net/~billkappel/Weather.htm.

You are correct. I should have checked the data first. My bad.

Recently (about a month ago) I dug a little deeper and noticed that Monument had much more snow than normal and the Springs and Denver had about normal. (I too have been in contact with Bill and I have since downloaded his excellent weather data files.) In fact, I asked Bill about how this could be. Bill is very detailed and responsive and I thank him for that. Here is how Bill responded through Ourcommunitynews.org


There are a couple of factors, the most important of which is the fact that we are 2,000 feet higher than Denver and 1,000 feet higher than Colorado Springs. This ensures that storms in fall and spring that bring rain or wet snow to Denver and Colorado Springs bring accumulating snow for us (think of last October, April, and May - the storms in those months alone brought 50+ inches that Denver and Colorado Springs didn’t get). Next, because many of the winter storms that affect us come from the north, we get enhanced upslope that Denver and Colorado Springs do not get. This allows the storm dynamics to be more efficient over us, producing more precipitation. Further, because we are at a higher elevation more of what falls from the clouds reaches the ground before evaporating and temperatures are colder allowing more of what falls to accumulate. Finally, Colorado Springs is located in the heart of the downslope (rain shadow) region of the Palmer Divide, so that in a northerly flow pattern there is most of a storm’s moisture evaporates as the airmass descends downhill to Colorado Springs.

The area from Colorado Springs through Pueblo is affectionately known as the "brown hole". This is because on visible satellite pictures after a snow event that region looks brown instead of white because of the lack of snow accumulation. Denver (61.7 inches) of course averages much more snowfall than Colorado Springs (44.6 inches) because they are not subject to the same downsloping affects from a storm coming in from the north.

[summit21]

As I read the Q&A w/ Bill I saw the question posed by Charles and had this gut feeling it might have been you, anyway, it is very interesting the way snowfall varies around the Springs. You will see a 40-50 inch avg. amongst weather sites for the Springs, but it has been nowhere near this officially in a few years. Areas East and North still get their fair share though. I lived in Briargate for 3 yrs. before moving further north to Monument. We had 38, 68, and 51 inches those years, in Briargate. Officially the Springs airport recorded 23.3, 30.6, and 17.4 respectivley for those same years. I think many people see the qouted avg. and think thats what they can expect when moving here. Unfortunately ( if u don't like snow) it can be drastically higher the farther north and northeast you go in town.

[Maynerd]

Originally Posted by mimi12

Any suggestion on builders/new homes communities?

Give some serious consideration to buying an existing home, rather than new construction. The Springs has a lot of cookie-cutter new developments. Many of them (not all) have no personality, no soul, and certainly no trees. Older developments generally run cheaper, and you can get a feel for the neighborhood, schools, crime, etc. They even have trees and shade. [No, I'm not a realtor.]