Winter 2014-2015 Colorado Weather Thread (Denver, Colorado Springs: tornado, vacation, property)

[KB24 x JG24]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I can remember winters when those temperatures would have been considered a "warm" low temperature in North Park. In one of those winters, I drove into Walden. The only things bare of snow were the main highway and the grocery store parking lot north of town. The weather was clear, but brutal cold. The sun had just set. I stopped at the grocery store. There were about 15 cars in the parking lot, and about 400 head of elk--the latter trying to stay warm from the absorbed solar heat in the asphalt parking lot. Those elk were a real pain--they didn't want to move at all. You just had to park where they weren't standing and walk around them. I'm sure that they were bedded down there all that night. That was life in the "old" Colorado.

Come on man I know all your stories of the old Colorado and how cold it was, but -39 and -31 was never above average for any part of Colorado. Just very likely temps for the time of year.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by KB24 x JG24

Come on man I know all your stories of the old Colorado and how cold it was, but -39 and -31 was never above average for any part of Colorado. Just very likely temps for the time of year.

In some winters, temperatures in North Park could drop to -40° F. or lower with some regularity. I personally saw a lot of days in Gunnison where the HIGH temperature was below -20° F. A high of 0° F. was like a warm spell.

Here's Walden's 114 year averages:

http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...erica&units=us

[Colorado Rambler]

^^^

Interesting site. I used it to check out the historical climate data for Cortez and Durango. I remember when both towns would have snow on the ground from December through March. Lots of snow. In Durango it would snow everyday just about. Even Cortez which has always been somewhat warmer and drier than Durango averaged 40 inches of snow every winter. Last winter we had just a few inches - if that much. The winter before was just as bad and the one before that was even worse. I'd love to see us get 40 inches of snow again. I'd be delirious with joy. The people who have lived here for a while are not just telling fairy tales because we've all gone senile. Colorado (and the rest of the West) has become slowly but surely warmer and drier. Not good. Not good at all.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

^^^

Interesting site. I used it to check out the historical climate data for Cortez and Durango. I remember when both towns would have snow on the ground from December through March. Lots of snow. In Durango it would snow everyday just about. Even Cortez which has always been somewhat warmer and drier than Durango averaged 40 inches of snow every winter. Last winter we had just a few inches - if that much. The winter before was just as bad and the one before that was even worse. I'd love to see us get 40 inches of snow again. I'd be delirious with joy. The people who have lived here for a while are not just telling fairy tales because we've all gone senile. Colorado (and the rest of the West) has become slowly but surely warmer and drier. Not good. Not good at all.

Maybe those snowy winters that you remember were abnormally wet and cold compared to the 100 year averages. Can you point me to a site that has snow fall totals for every year for the duration of weather keeping in those cities? Then we'd at least have some actual data that we can work with. I don't trust my memories or anyone else's enough to use them as a basis for these sorts of claims.

[Colorado Rambler]

I got my wish! Well, not 40 inches of snow, but we've got 5 or 6 inches that fell last night all the way down here at the Four Corners. That means that the the San Juans, the La Platas and the rest got a really good snowfall, as well. We want more! Bring it on!

[jazzlover]

About the most complete data for the Western states that is publicly available without charge or subscription comes out of the Western Regional Climate Center. Western Regional Climate Center

To dig into data for individual years, well, that usually means paying for it.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

I got my wish! Well, not 40 inches of snow, but we've got 5 or 6 inches that fell last night all the way down here at the Four Corners. That means that the the San Juans, the La Platas and the rest got a really good snowfall, as well. We want more! Bring it on!

Sad for southern Colorado, though, the storm that was predicted to be a pretty epic New Year's storm has pretty much fizzled compared to predictions of snowfall measured in feet, the main energy heading south into central and southern New Mexico. Good for that area, as it also desperately needs moisture. Good for me, too, as I have to travel extensively in Colorado over the next few days on business (a circumstance that I don't like, but that is necessary from time to time).

[xeric]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

About the most complete data for the Western states that is publicly available without charge or subscription comes out of the Western Regional Climate Center. Western Regional Climate Center

To dig into data for individual years, well, that usually means paying for it.

I use this site all the time. But it's all averages over a period of record. They don't have the yearly data so I can't cross-reference winter averages from (for example) 1930 to 1970 vs. 1970 to 2010. In any case, winters might be getting warmer and drier in parts (or all) of Colorado, but if so the basis for that determination needs to be actual data.

[jazzlover]

^Then try this for Colorado:

Colorado Climate Center - Data Access

Go to "National Weather Service Co-op Program," then click on "Monthly Data." Get ready to do a lot of number crunching.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by xeric

Maybe those snowy winters that you remember were abnormally wet and cold compared to the 100 year averages. Can you point me to a site that has snow fall totals for every year for the duration of weather keeping in those cities? Then we'd at least have some actual data that we can work with. I don't trust my memories or anyone else's enough to use them as a basis for these sorts of claims.

Jazz already pointed out the site in his reply above. I used his site to look up the weather data for Cortez which gives the averages from the past 30 years:

The average temperature for the year in Cortez is 48.5°F (9.2°C). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 71.4°F (21.9°C). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 28.0°F (-2.2°C).

In Cortez, there's an average of 39.2" of snow (99 cm). The month with the most snow is January, with 11.0" of snow (27.9 cm).

So, my observations are not merely anecdotal or a commentary on a couple of unusual years in the past. The unusual years have been the more recent ones. The snow that we are now getting that I'm doing the happy dance over used to be the same old, same old every winter. Now this amount of snow is cause for glee. I got to put my truck into 4WD today for the drive over the snowy roads into town. Big fat wet flakes of snow were hitting my windshield. I was in heaven. As of 5:30 this evening it continues to snow here. Yes! Yes! Yes!