5th Hottest July in Grand Junction! (Delta, Gunnison: living, versus, shopper)

[abosmom]

Hi Franco, you seem to be very knowlegable about Grand Junction and my family is moving there in 2 weeks. I have read different reports about the amount of snow you get in the winter. When does the snow start and does it last and for how many months? I'm glad fall and spring are nice but just how long does winter typically last? Is it possible to get snow storms as late as May and June? I have lived places that that happens and its not my favorite. It definately did seem that you had a very hot summer. We were expecting a very hot one this year and its seemed unseasonable cool, but still hot by normal standards so I guess all the weather patterns got mixed up this year.
Thanks

[CosmicWizard]

abosman

I've only been through one winter in Grand Junction, so my knowledge of Grand Junction winters is rather limited. The week after Thanksgiving, there was about 3 - 5 inches of snow. It got cold right after that, so the snow was on the ground for a few weeks, though the roads were clear. There was one other snowstorm of about the same amount, and again it got very cold right after the snow. It also covered the ground for a few weeks. The severe cold was pretty much over by the time February rolled round. All of my neighbors and everyone else I talked to said that this past winter was unusual ( colder & snowier ) compared to the winters of recent years. Though I cannot say this for a fact, I seriously doubt that Grand Junction would have snow in May or June.

During this past winter, the lowest temp on my home thermometer was 2 below zero. Officially, the lowest temp of the winter was -8. There were 23 days where the high temp failed to rise above freezing. It's just about always sunny, so the cold is not as bone numbing as the much warmer, gray winters I was used to in Virginia Beach. The sunny climate really made a big positive difference...for me anyway. There was perhaps 10 inches of snow over the course of the winter.

Send me a message when you get into town. Perhaps we can meet for lunch one day!

I hope this is helpful....Franco

[Tulsa Guy]

So how does the weather in GJ and Montrose (am I correct to say that Montrose's weather is the same as GJ??) compare to Co Springs or Tulsa heat and humidity? (We, Tulsa, normally have one bad month of winter maybe 2 - wt ice and temps ave in the low - 40's, maybe 2 - 3 weeks of highs below freezing. Summers here: It can be in the 90s May - Sept. Normally we'd have many days in the 100s by now - but we've had a mild wet summer until the past 2 weeks. We'll hit 100 this week during the PGA championship). If we moved to the GJ - Montrose area would we be in 'winter' shock (we grew up in S.Dak - so we know what cold is. Hopefully, it isn't that cold in GJ). I would think summers, wt the dry heat would be better.
Thanks

[CosmicWizard]

Tulsa Guy

The highs & lows in Montrose & Grand Junction vary a few degrees on a day to day basis, but the climates of the two places are very similar. If you are willing to take the time, you might do a day to day temperature comparison between Tulsa, Grand Junction, & Co Springs @ Welcome to The Weather Underground : Weather Underground

regatrds...Franco

[HappyMontrose]

What is nice about Grand Junction is the mountains are just a jog away and you can get up to where it is 30 degrees cooler in minutes..

Montrose is always a bit cooler but this year has really been a hott one.. well a little warm is no problem ..especially when the winters are mild..
HM

[DOUBLE H]

I moved to the Grand Jct. area in 1993. This past winter I saw more storms than any other two winters combined. Which was still not a problem, in my view. Every time I think of Denver's weather, I think of the blizzard of Christmas of 1982.That's what lit the fire under me to look elsewhere. This area has four seasons; Denver has two.

[jazzlover]

I still have family in the Grand Junction/Delta/Montrose area and lived there for a number of years myself. Grand Junction sits at 4,500 feet elevation; Montrose at 5,800. Montrose is cooler than Grand Junction in summer, gets more moisture (though not a lot) both summer and winter. Winter in the lower Gunnison and Uncompahgre valleys varies considerably from year to year. Grand Junction gets about 16-18" of snow in a normal year, Montrose about double that. Often it is from small individual snowfalls that melt quicky. But, if a fair amount of snow (4" or more) comes in a single storm, followed by a cold front, the snow may stay on the ground for a considerable time. Unlike the Front Range, western Colorado does not get the Chinook winds that can melt a lot of snow quickly. Most years, the area from Montrose to Grand Junction (in the valley areas) have no snow on the ground for any length of time in most winters. But there are years that are exceptions. During the 1978-79 winter, the area got a big snowstorm the day after Thanksgiving that put 8"+ of snow on the ground. The snowcover caused a cold air inversion to set in. It seemed like everytime it would warm up a little, it would snow some more, then get cold again. That winter, the ground was snowcovered from that first big snow until the end of February. I know--I was working outside in it that whole winter.

Much as I like NewAgeRedneck's comments, he (as he candidly admits) has only lived in the Grand Valley for a year. It's been quite awhile since most of western Colorado has had a real "tomcat" of a winter. When (and if, thanks to global warming or climatic variation, take your pick) western Colorado does get a bad winter, it will surprise the crap out of bunch of people. The last REALLY bad one was 1973-74. I was living in Gunnison then (no banana belt spot, anytime). Went from January 2nd to March 15th without getting above freezing. Went 32 DAYS STRAIGHT without getting above zero F. Many nights to -40 or lower. Snow about 5' deep on the level (in town) from just after Christmas until early March. Frost went to 5' deep+ in the ground. Ice on Blue Mesa Reservoir was so thick in places that 3' ice augers couldn't get all the way through it. Traffic would get stopped on U.S. Hwy. 50 by HUNDREDS of deer crossing the highway trying to find any unfrozen water to drink (or anything to eat). Probably 40% of the deer herd died that winter. Some ranchers had to go back to using horse teams to feed because diesel fuel used to fuel tractors didn't just gel up in the cold, it turned to slush. There were more than a few people who packed up and left western Colorado after that winter--they'd had enough. I stayed, and didn't mind it much at all (though I admit that I was younger then). This past winter (considered by many Front Rangers to be pretty rough) I thought to be child's play compared to that winter of '73-'74 in Gunnison.

[CosmicWizard]

I spent the 73-74 winter in Mcbride, British Columbia located in a broad valley known as the rocky mountain trench. Although the elevation is lower than Gunnison, it is much farther north, so the severity of winter is about the same, though the days are shorter and the nights are longer that far north. It was a cold winter indeed! I don't think the temperature got above freezing the whole winter. 35 and 40 below were quite common. It go to be that temps around zero were actually quite pleasant. EG, I would chop firewood in a T-shirt, or go cross country skiing in a T-shirt. As long as I was moving it wasn't too bad.

The cabin I lived in was heated with a cook stove, and I burned 2x4 mill ends that were readily available and FREE for the taking. A fire never burned for more than 2 or 3 hours at the most. Since I was too lazy to get up in the middle of the night to feed the fire, the temp in the cabin by morning was usually around zero. Man, is it ever hard to get out of bed in those conditions. I'd force myself to get up and start a fire, then crawl back into my sleeping bag until the cabin warmed up. It's kinda fun doing crazy stuff in one's twenties, but I don't relish the thought of going through another winter like that. Hopefully we won't have a prolonged, severe deep freeze in Grand Junction anytime in the near future!

stay warm....Franco

[jazzlover]

About half of Gunnison in '73-'74 was still coal-heated. I lived in a "modern" apartment that was gas heated. One morning, I got up and starting cussing out my roommate for turning the heat down--it was about 48 degrees in the apartment. I went and looked at the thermostat and it was still set at 68 degrees (remember the energy crisis, when everybody was supposed to keep their thermostat at 68 or less in winter?). I was about to starting tearing into the furnace, when it came on the radio that the unofficial temperature was 55 below zero outside. I think the HIGH that day was 31 below zero! The furnace was fine--it just couldn't keep up.

I think I posted before that one of my endearing memories of Gunnison was the smell of wet clinkers (they were used to melt the ice in the alleys after they were shaken through the grates of the coal furnaces) and the smell of coal smoke in the morning. And, then, in summer, the smell of wet sagebrush. If I smell any of those things now, I immediately flash back to my Gunnison days.

[CosmicWizard]

Hey Jazzlover

This is funny, the topic of the thread is 5th Hottest July in Grand Junction! and we're both talking about freezing our butts off. Interesting how the mind resembles a grasshopper at times. Since I started the thread, I've go no problem with it. I'm enjoying your comments. Thanks for participating.

blessings...Franco