Crestone Weather Photos

Crestone Weather Center
Keno's Home and Crestone's Official Weather Station

Crestone Weather Photos

This page shows some of the more interesting weather that we have experienced here in Crestone. Anybody reading this who has any cool photos of storms or weather events from years past - or up to the present - and who would like to share them here, please send them on in to me. Photos of interest would include snowstorms, floods, hail, ice fog, rainbows, etc. Please send photos in via email, along with: where and when the photo was taken; and who took the photo, so I can give the proper credit. Please include "Crestone Weather Photos" in the email's subject title, this way the email should not be blocked by my email spam filter. Only rule is that the photos must be local, preferably taken in and around Crestone. Also if possible, the resolution for the photos should be set at 72 DPI. However, if you don't have the means to lower the DPI, send the photos as is and I'll take care of it on my end.

Okay, so please send in those photos, and thanks in advance!

Keno

- Crestone Weather Photos -

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Funnel Cloud, just before it hit the mountain above Crestone, April 24, 2005
(Photo sent in by Jeanne Sullivan)

Back Deck of Keno's House... (1) ...after 31 inches of snow fell on March 13, 2003, located south of the Baca Fire Station in the Chalets.	Front Deck of Keno's House (2) From March 13, '03 - Can you make out the burried 2 1/2' tall table? It's in the middle of the photo.
Frozen Artesian Spring next to Casita Park Notice the ice fog just behind it. This was taken by Bill Hill in the early 1960s, where the lake bed now sits.	Frozen Artesian Spring w/water shoting out Wish we had a larger photo of this one! Located across T Road from Casita Park, and taken by Bill Hill in the early '60s.
Flood Damage to road on Panorama, in Chalet One (1) Caused by a flash flood that hit on July 28, 2003, after 1.5" of rain fell in less than 20 minutes.	Flood Damage to infrastructure in Chalet One (2) After flash flood hit on July 28, 2003 (This photo and the one to the left sent in by Janet Woodman)
Duststorm getting ready to hit - June 3, 2005 (1) Looking North on Hwy 17 it's about to hit Hooper , CO	Duststorm Hitting Hooper, CO (2) Taken again on Hwy 17 seconds later
Duststorm hits Hooper, CO, Crestone is next! (3) Storm is heading Eastward with winds between 50 & 70 MPH	Hwy 17 between Hooper & Moffat, Co (4) Inside the storm, all photos taken by Fred Farrell

- Some Double Rainbows over Crestone -

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June 24, 2009

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June 26, 2006

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A hawk flies by a building cumulonimbus cloud over Mount Crestone, July, 2006
(This and rainbow photos taken by Keno)

- The following photos are of the Flash Floods that hit on July 3, 2006 -
(All photos below taken by Keno)

Flash flood as it was taking place by our front door	Damage to side of Camino Baca Grande Rd
Car eaten up by flood on Panorama Way	Panorama Way
Looking down Panorama Way	Panorama Way
Panorama Way

- For more flash flood photos from the July 3 storm, click here -

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The Meadow at Willow Park w/ our mountains in fog
From the trail heading up to Willow Lake, August, 2006
(This photo sent in by Fred Farrell)

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Bottom of Rainbow on Baca Grant Way
July 26, 2006 - Lets dig for the gold!
(photo by Keno)

(Next 2 photos by Keno)

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Baca Grant Way after October 2006 snowstorm
14.2" had fallen on the 2 days prior to this photo, but snow does melt fast in October, perhaps a foot is left.

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More from October snowstorm - our back deck
3 days later, Zack with my two grandsons Colton and Cooper.

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Morning freezing fog at Crestone's Dragon Mountain Zen Temple
December, 2006 (Photo by Steve Allen)

- The following photos are from a 23.6" spring snowstorm that hit on April 23, 2007 -

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Backyard of house on Moonlight Way
Taken as the storm was on-going

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Brothers Tahca & Rainbow Zephier in snow on Moonlight Way
(This photo and the one to the left sent in by Eri Zephier)

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Photo taken from 2nd floor window...
Looking out onto garage roof as the snow was at its peak
(this and the next 2 storm photos by Keno)

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Our weather station in the storm
Some of the equipment is buried, but they still recorded the storm anyway.

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Grandson Cooper gets stuck in a snowbank...
Off to the side of Camino Baca Grande Rd, just after the storm had ended.

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Lighting strike near Poncha Pass
Photo taken near the Welcome Center at Valley View Hot Springs (Photo by John Lorenz, July, 2007)

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A thunderstorm moves into Crestone from the Valley....as the sun sets, July 14, 2007 (Photo by Fred Farrell)

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4th of July (2007) Double Rainbow
Taken by Wayne Clark out at the Ranchetts, looking SE towards the Baca Grande.

Hail Storm hits Sept 2, 2007 1" plus accumulated on ground on our deck. (This photo and the next one by Keno)	Damage to vegetable garden from hail This photo was taken 4 hours after the storm ended, hail remained on ground for over 30 hours in this garden.
- Next, a couple of sunsets, one looking west, and one looking east -
Valley Sunset (June, 2007) (Photo taken by Fred Farrell looking west from Chalet 2)	Colorful Clouds at Sunset (November, 2007) (Photo by Benjamin Byer looking east from Dragon Mountain)

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One More Sunset (December 3, 2007)
(Photo taken by Sylvia Hazlerig from Chalet 1, looking west)

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Rare White Rainbow (aka Fogbow) (October, 2008)
(Photo by Julian Stollmeyer near Crestone Park, Chalet 1)

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Snowy Thanksgiving Morin' w/ clouds hangin' low (November 2008)
(Looking north on Camino Baca Grande Rd. in Chalet 2; photo by Fred Farrell)

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Freezing Fog Hangin' low out in the Valley (January 18, 2009)
(Photo taken from our weather tower in Chalet 1 by Keno)

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Clear skies, Moon and Venus Over Crestone (February 27, 2009)
The skies here in Crestone are among the darkest and clearest skies anywhere in the USA. (Photo by Keno)

Easter Sunday Snowstorm

The two photos below were taken as the April 12, 2009 snowstorm, which produced 28.6" of snow, was taking place. 30 other excellent photos of this storm were sent in to me by locals, and they can be found on a special photo page I set up by clicking on Easter Snowstorm.

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Early in the morning as the storm started up
Cotton Creek, 3 miles south of Valley View Hot Springs, off the SE corner of CR 65 and DD, on the mountain side.

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Just how deep is it?
Waylon Jepsen measures the snow at Cotton Creek, as the storm is not yet at its midpoint, with lots more to come.
(This photo, the one to the left, & below right sent in by Jason Jepsen)

April 17, 2009 Snowstorm

The second snowstorm to hit Crestone in five days brings in another 18+ inches before it ends the next day.

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Heavy snow a-fallin'! Again!
About a foot of snow is on the ground at this point.
(This photo taken by Keno up in our weather tower in Chalet 1)

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April in the Rockies
Cotton Creek, by Valley View Hot Springs

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Thunderstorm w/hail about to hit! (1)
June 26, 2009, this photo and the next taken at Casita Park.
.42" of rain & hail fell in 20 minutes from this storm.

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Thunderstorm w/hail about to hit! (2)
This shot and the one left is looking north.
(This photo and the one to the left sent in by Michael Scully)

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Okay, so what is this strange phenomenon?

This is a very rare kind of double rainbow, that some call a "low bow". You can see the faint "normal" rainbow on the top, and the phenomenon near the horizon, well, it's a rainbow that is half on the ground - very rare indeed! This kind of a rainbow can only take place with the right condiations, either at or within one hour of high noon. This picture was taken on the Baca Ranch near the Great Sand Dunes National Park (looking north) just after 11 am, on October 7, 2009 by Larry "Animal" Garner. Had this happened right at noon, the rainbow would had been totally on the ground.

- Crestone Flash Flood Photos | Easter Snowstorm Photos -

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