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Weather Station Forecast may not be updated for the next couple of
days
(posted at 840 PM on Thursday, April 1)
To my friends and all local users:
The storm system that brought us
light snow on Tuesday afternoon, will stick around for the next several
days. There should be more snow from this system for the next several days,
and I know and understand (and appreciate) how much my fellow Crestoneans
rely on this site for their local forecast each day, with snow days being
the most busy days we see here.
So of course, with a snow system
hanging around our area this week, I have to leave town tomorrow morning and
I'll be away for a couple of days and be over on the Front Range for medical treatment. I will
be leaving the weather station in the hands of my grandson Colton, who will
take all the needed readings for our weather records. But since his web
coding skills are limited, while he might update a few things and makes sure
our station stays up and running online, please understand that until Thursday
night or some time Friday, our forecast will not be updated here at the site
until I return.
The station itself will still be running, so the local readings should not
be affected by my absents, other than the rain/snow gauge, which I must
handle manually and can only be undated online by myself.
When I return, I'll get back to work here,
and I ask all of our snow spotters to please send in any snow reports in the
same usual matter as you always do. Thanks.
I also thank all of you for your patience
until everything here gets back to normal.
Cheers,
Keno
Winter & Snow Advisories and Warnings Explanations
It's been at least a couple of years, maybe 3 or 4, that I last posted
this, and I like to repost it every few years to remind everybody what each
advisory covers. I really should have posted this in late October, as we can
see these conditions anytime starting in September/October and have already
had them issued here this season.
All of the following are issued when hazardous winter weather is
occurring, imminent or likely. I'm only noting the warnings we see here and
will skip the other winter advisories (like a freezing rain or drizzle advisory) that the
National Weather Service (NWS) issues
elsewhere, since
that kind of weather never really ever occurs in our neck of the woods:
- A Winter Weather Advisory is issued for less serious
winter weather conditions than warnings - but will still cause significant
inconvenience.
- A Winter Storm Watch is issued when
conditions are favorable for significant winter weather and/or blizzard
conditions within the next three days, but the timing, intensity, or
occurrence may still be uncertain.
- A Winter Storm Warning
is issued when a combination of heavy snow, blowing snow, and possibly ice
mixed with snow is expected to impact the area. Time to act! If caution is
not exercised, such storms could lead to situations that may threaten life
or property
- A Blizzard Warning is issued when the
combination of strong wind, low visibility, and heavy snow will
significantly impact daily life. Plus once again, if caution is not
exercised, such storms could lead to situations that may threaten life or
property. Blizzard conditions are also met when visibility in falling and
blowing snow reaches ¼ mile or less.
- A Snow Squall Warning is an alert from the NWS that indicates a short, intense burst of heavy snowfall that can create dangerous driving conditions
-
A Wind Chill Watch is issued when Wind Chill Warning
criteria are possible in the next 12 to 36 hours.
- A Wind Chill Warning is issued for wind chills
of at least minus 25 degrees on the plains, and minus 35 degrees in the
mountains.
Some more on this:
A Blizzard Warning has
different criteria's for different areas. For one to be issued in the Rocky
Mountains, the conditions noted above apply, but winds must be in
excess of 50 mph. This criteria also applies to our Foothills and all higher
elevations. For
our Mountain Valleys and the Colorado Great Plains, the conditions
noted above again apply, but winds don't have to be as high, as speeds of
35 mph or higher at lower elevations
is all it takes for a Blizzard Warning to be issued.
Plus, while large amounts of snow are usually expected, little or no snow at
all can be expected when such a warning is issued, since blowing snow from
past storms also can meet criteria for a Blizzard Warning to be issued.
Heavy snow criteria for Colorado also representative values
applied by area: Mountains: 8 inches of snow in 12 hours and/or 12 or more
inches in 24 hours. Lower elevations: 6 inches of snow in 12 hours and/or 8
or more inches in 24 hours.
For a Wind Chill Watch or Warning: As the
wind increases, the body is cooled at a faster rate. The “wind chill” is a
way for meteorologists to communicate what the combination of wind and
temperature “feels like” to exposed skin. While wind chills negatively
affect our bodies - and our pets bodies, they have no effects on other
things like your car. While a vehicle's battery and other engine parts are
effected negatively by the cold, they aren't effected by wind chill.
Our area rarely sees Snow Squall Warnings issued here in the
winter, as snow squalls are more likely to occur in the spring here, plus
they usually don't last all day long around here like they do in the U.S.
Great Lakes. But yes, we can still see them in the winter months here, too.
A Freeze Watch and a Freeze Warning
are issued when freezing conditions are possible in the next 12 to 36 hours.
They are only issued during the growing season when widespread temperatures
are expected to drop to below 32 degrees. Since these last two watches and
warnings have already been issued and already reached this fall on more than
two days, they will no longer be issued for the rest of this
season.
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