Crestone
Weather Center
Crestone, Colorado
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Snow Totals from March 13 & 14 Snowfall (posted at 250 am on Sunday, March 16) Since this report is being made so late (3 days) and I'm still under the weather, I'm not gonna comment on things as much as I usually do (isn't everybody lucky?). I'll just mainly list the snow reports from our area from the last snowfall that started at nite on March 13 and was over just before noon on the next day. So I'll just list the reports from the order in which they came in to me, i.e. from first to the last report. Here we go: This report made-up and sent in at 8:15am, March 14, from near Arrowhead Way in Chalet 1 at 8,215', where our spotter reported a total of 1.1". Then a report from the town of Crestone where one of 2 of our reporters live, but a problem with the email took place and only the time and date was shown! On top of that our second Crestone reporter was away, so we have no way of knowing what fell in town. Perhaps our other spotter can try sending his report in again, if possible, but no big deal, at least he tried to get it to me/us. Next report got here at 1042 am on the 14th and this report comes from the Baca Ranchettes (which aren't really in the Baca), at an elevation of 7,730 feet, with the report from March13 & 14, noting that at 10:50 am they had seen 0.03" liquid in the rain gauge from 1" of snow that fell. The rest of these totals that I report here had totals taken after the snow ended on the 14th (for the most part): Here at the Baca Weather Station in Chalet 1 at 8,085 feet, I recorded 1.5 inches of snow that ended around 11 am on March 14 and we saw 0.08 of an inch of liquid water in the official NWS gauge; Then out in the valley at the Grants off Camino Real and Willow Trail, at 1128am on March 14th at 7,681 feet, there was 0.5” of snow on the ground. Next report came in from the east end of the Chalet 1, at 8,560 feet and was measured at 11am on the 14th too, but it came in after the last report at 1150 am, where 1.8” of snow fell. After that, this next one wasn't a snow report but a wind speed report from around noon in the 2 Trees area in Chalet 2 where they recorded a wind gust of 45 mph. Our station was seeing gusts of 30 mph tops at this same time, and yes, that area usually seee higher gusts than here in Chalet 1. Wish we still had somebody out in the Grants who measured wind speed, haven't had anyone out there in several years, as the Grants of course usually see our highest winds than anywhere else in our greater area... Now back to our snow reports, this one also comes from the Grants, at Brook Trout west of Wagon Wheel, at 7,800', and where 0.7 of an inch of snow was reported. Then our last report from this light snowfall, didn't come in until March 15 at 928 am, yet the snow was measured on March 14 at 6am, making this report actually the earliest one made and also the latest one to get to me. But that's more than okay, heck, I'm the one who's reporting all of this 3 days late! Plus I noted way up above that I wasn't gonna comment too much for this overall report, but I guess I did. Sometimes I just can't control myself. Anyway, the report comes in from Chalet 2 at 8,000 feet, near Carefree and Camino Del Rey, and reports 1.2" of snow, with no accumulation from the snow that fell after 8am in the 14th. No reports from my kids outside of Crestone, as they were away from their homes during this snowfall, with Jackie and her hubby still out of state, somewhere in the Midwest and on their way back home by late tomorrow. By then all of the snow at their place will be all gone, and in Moffat where the grandson is, there wasn't any to report there other than a dusting which melted away 2 days ago, so his neighbor told him when he got back yesterday.... So as has been the trend in our neck of the woods - for the third year in a row for snow, well, we keep seeing below average snowfalls, but at this time, we still have a months plus of the snow season still ahead; but the later the snow falls this time of year, the faster it melts away, too, making it hard for our spotters to measure, since it's hard to be Johnny on the spot doing this job most of the time. But as always, I'm so very thankful to our spotters for taking their time to send in their reports to me after each snowfall, no matter how small an amount falls! In closing, our last report, as usual comes from high up over town in our mountains, to our east, at 10,800 feet from the Colony Lake auto-reporting Weather Station. This report I'm looking at right now covers the time frame from the March 13th to this morning on Sunday the 16th. Now like here in town (where we saw snow showers for a few hours in the afternoon, but only a dusting on the ground), the area by the lake saw a bit more snow, but of course it always snows at least a bit more up there - and for a longer time. So the station tells me this: On the ground there's a snowpack of 40 inches. That is as many of you know, even after a few days of snow up there, still less than what is expected at that elevation for this time of the snow season, at just 72% of normal, or in other words, the snowpack is lacking almost 30% of what we want to see up there for this time of year (it's 28% off to be exact). Now, for March 13, the area received 4" of new snow, then on March 14, 1 new inch was recorded and with another 1 inch for March 15. Do note that since this is a auto station, it only reports snow totals to the nearest full inch. So a bit more may have actually fell. Now, while the area by the lake saw half a foot of new snow this past week, and it did raise the snowpack from 36 " to 40", that was still way too little and more than likely it's gonna be almost impossible to get to the 100% marker where we want to see it, by the time the snow season ends on July 1. Yap, the drought we been in for the last month or so, looks like it will continue into spring at this rate. Oh well! Springing Forward (posted by Keno on early Sunday Morning, March 9) Yes, this is the time of year where those of us who live in the Mountain Time zone, are forced to live in the Midwest's time zone, which almost immediately messes with our internal body clocks. The worst part of this mess is that our otherwise good governor, signed a bill to make Daylight Saving (nothing) Time (DST) permanent in Colorado as soon as 2 of our surrounding states do the same. This terrible idea is domed to fail, as it was tried already here in the 1970s and it totally failed, everybody hated it, since again - who the hell wants to be living in the wrong time zone 365 days a year? Most of us here in Colorado want our bodies to live 365 days a year in the Mountain Time Zone, where our internal clocks are set for, regardless of what a few might not want! So please - take the time to write an email to our governor and explain to him about this awful bill/new law he signed and get him to have our state Reps in Denver to sponsor and then vote to end DST for good and if this is passed by our state, Coloradoans won't have to wait to implement it, either, since going by our federal laws, it can take affect the very day such a bill is passed (like they did in Arizona) without us having to wait for two neighboring states to join in, as is the case if any U.S. state decides to make DST permanent in the U.S. That doesn't apply if we go back to staying in the same and normal time zone that our bodies live in 365 days a year! You don't really want yourself and children to wake up in the pitch dark, during the fridged winter months - and worst yet, have our babies walking to school in total darkness, do you? If we didn't want that in the 1970s, what makes our governor think we want it now? Also, just think of the extra electricity we will have to use getting up in the dark when we are getting ready to head out the door in the darkness to go to work and school. We will all hate that again, and as those who were alive in the '70s and were forced to do that - hated it. So the sane folks united and had the insane law changed back to where the time is suppose to be - other than they allowed the time change over in the spring to stay in effect. Now today, and for years now, we have the change over happening even earlier, in the late winter months, just so big business can sell more charcoal and outside Bar-B-Grills to people, so people would start to grill food outside earlier in the late winter and early spring and in turn, make more $$$$! Hard to believe that's why they started DST earlier - this was even stated in the new law - to help big business sell more crap! Yep, as long as big business makes more money, that comes first, since money is so more important than human lives. Heck, with more people going to the hospitals for treatment - because of them having heart attacks directly related to this (it's a medical fact, look it up) - or worst, going to the emergency rooms after getting hit by cars while walking on our dark roadways to go to school or work - well that helps the very rich grow even richer, too (while it makes the rest of us poorer in the end)! Bottom line: Who cares about the little guys - like all us normal folk? Big business and the rich come first in this country - after all! Please take action now to stop this madness! Snow Reports from Monday and this Morning's Snowfall... and I'll start out with a little bitching, too! (Posted by Keno at 1022 am, on March 4) First, to skip the bitch, please go to the next paragraph, as if you wish to always stay positive, I can totally dig it and wish I didn't even have to waste time with this nonsense.... Anyway, it's always nice when we get the snow that I forecasted, as has been the case for the last few snowfalls here, while what the NWS forecasted for our area was again, way off (they only forecasted 1 to 2 inches for this snowfall). Please understand that I don't wish to sound cocky or arrogant here (and my opening sentence sure sounds that way), as that's not me, it's just that after trying to get the folks at our local weather office in Pueblo, who are forecasting for all of southern Colorado, to cover the entire area when discussing any upcoming storm in the weather discussion report (that the general public doesn't usually read, but folks like me do). That discussion report helps me and others set our local forecast for our local areas. But greater Crestone is ignored on average 90% of the time, and for this latest snowfall, our area was 100% ignored in the discussion. They made it out like the Colorado Plains and the Pikes Peak area were going to see a major blizzard while not saying a single word about anywhere else, including our area, or the SLV, and while barely mentioning our mountains. They need to understand that they have to cover this part of the state too! A few years ago I complained about this to my local connection at the Pueblo weather office and that talk worked for a few years. But no longer, not that I blame the man I report this to. He's cool and not to blame, and with he and all of his coworkers today having to worry now about losing their jobs, thanks to those 2 pigs in DC who are destroying our country (and other countries), well, the last thing they need is to hear me complain. But then again, they are paid to cover and talk about our area, and I'm not!... So it would make things easier for me if they covered our area as they are suppose to do. Okay, I bitched enough, so let me now write about last nights snow. Today I'll go in the order of when our local reports came in to me, and most of them all came in early, which is wonderful! Starting off with my own report that I make out for the NWS, here at the Crestone-Baca Weather Center, located in Chalet 1 at 8,085 feet, one block south of the Baca firehouse, and where I measured 4.9 inches of snow along with 0.32 of an inch of melted down water... Next up is the first report sent in to me, it comes from the town of Crestone, right at the south border line at 7,888 feet off Birch street, where 4.5" accumulated on the ground... Next report up, comes in from near 2 Trees on the southern Chalet 2 border (at 7,800 feet if I recall correctly), where 3.5 inches was noted. Up next is another report from Chalet 2, this time near Carefree and Jubilant at 8,000 feet and where they received 4.5". Then we head back north to outside of Crestone, by E Galena Ave, 1/4 mile east of town at 8,150 feet, where 4.0 inches was noted. Okay, the next report to come in means we are heading south again, this time out to the Grants, off Camino Real and Willow Trail at 7,681 feet, and where they recorded 3.3 inches of snow. Now we head up to one our highest spot in Chalet 1, on Panorama Way, at the east end of town at 8,560 feet, and where 4.7 inches was measured around noon, so more than likely this spot saw the most in Chalet 2, since while I measured 4.9 inches here, I reported that at around 230 am, when the snow had just turned off to just flurries and this other report had the sun shinning on it before the measurement was made.. Let me start a new paragraph here, the last one is getting too long, even if it's still all the same reporting stuff, but this time we head down the hill in Chalet 1, down to just 8,400 feet on Arrowhead Way and where once again, 4.7 inches was recorded and where yes, it was noted to me that a gorgeous morning was happening there, indeed, yes it is, well, it was when she wrote out her report which was sent to me just after noon, and now as I type this out it's a gorgeous early afternoon here and it's even snowing again to boot, and it's been well over 2 hours since I was bitching up above, and while my kids and the phone have made writing this report take forever to finish, I'm once again feeling positive again, too! Let's see, where were we? Oh yes, for the next report we will head back to the Grants by Brook Trout Road, west of Wagon Wheel, at 7,800 feet and were 3.2 inches of snow along with 0.21 of an inch of melted down water was found in the rain gauge. Well no, she melted down the snow that was in there with hot water to get that reading of course! Well that's how I do it, while others who are more patient than I, will just bring the gauge into the house and let the snow inside melt away by the heater and then measure it. If I had been born and raised in Colorado, that's how I would do it today, I bet! But living my entire childhood in and around the Big Apple, well, everybody there learns to do things real fast, indeed! Okay, finally, we have one last local report from the Baca Ranchettes, off T Road, at 7,730 feet and where they received 0.27" of liquid along with 4.0 inches of snow. Now for our out of town reports. Only got two, as my daughter and her hubby out by La Veta Pass are both under the weather and didn't need to be outside in the cold and snow measuring snow, but their son, my grandson Coop, was just here and reported to me that where he lives in downtown Moffat, they had zero snow on the ground this morning. He didn't know if it snowed there earlier Monday and melted by the time he got home very late last nite (really early this morning), as he works for Baca Water and was working all day and nite thanks to a water emergency we had in town. But since today he's been all over the Baca, he informed me that the snowfall was pretty even and that the most fell right here. Good to know. Finally, our last report from where the highest weather station in our area is located, at 10,800 feet, up at the South Colony auto reporting station, which is located east of the Baca above Chalet 1 and/or southeast of the town of Crestone. They have seen 11.0 inches of new snow in the last 36 hours along with a snowpack of only 36.0 inches, which is just 67% of normal. The liquid water report from this last snowfall is not reported yet. So that will do it for today's snow report and weather blog. It's 1:40 in the afternoon noon and I'm finally done writing! In closing, and again, sorry I was on the nasty side early in this blog, but I'm only human and I hate seeing our area neglected by those who don't live here. But being retired from most other work, I do have the time to complain I guess. But as I noted, I'm actually in a cool mood now and as long as I don't watch the world news report tonight on the tube, I should stay okay. Cheers!
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.
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