- Special Statements - 

Snow Report from Friday
(Posted by Keno at 1228 am MDT on Saturday, March 18)

For Friday's snowfall, since it's early morning just after midnight, only my own report is in. Here at the weather station, we officially saw 2.9" of new snow for the day with .17 of an inch of water, so the 2 day total was 6.8", on the lower end of what was called for 2 days ago. Updated at 9:16am: Reports from other spotters are slowly coming in. From Chalet 2 at 8,400 feet, another 4.5" along with 0.32 water equivalent and 2 reports from out in the Grants on the north side, at 7,715 feet, 2.5" and 3.0" even at Brook Trout Rd west of Wagon Wheel. When other reports come in, I'll post them here. Updated at 5:46pm: 2 more reports and one update. First from the Grants at 7,715 feet and where they saw 2.5" of new snow, you can add in 0.20 water to that amount. then from our highest residential spot in Chalet 1 and on the east end of town, at 8,650feet, Friday saw 1.5 new inches of snow for a total of 7.3" along with .55" of liquard precip. Then also in Chalet 1 on Arrowhead Way, another 1.4". So the south end of the Chalets saw the most snow from this storm.

Thanks to all of our snow reporters who have taken the time to measure the snow and report over the last 2 days, everybody in town appreciates it!

Keno

Snow Reports, mainly from Thursday
(Posted by Keno at 125 am MDT on Friday, March 17 with an update at around 930am)

Snow report that came in for Thursday afternoon and 2 from Thursday night: First report covers up to early afternoon (about 1pm), from our highest location in town at 8,650 feet in Chalet 1, 5.8". Also for Thursday afternoon at 3pm, from lower Panorama Way in Chalet 1 at 7,977 feet, 3". Then .... out in the Grants (at 7,600 feet if I recall correctly, off 2 Trees), I didn't get a snow report but just a report for total precipitation (snow melted down to water), with .34 of an inch there. Out at the very south end of town at 8,400 feet in Chalet 2 below the main stupa at Cottonwood, around a foot has fallen through the day(estimated because of melting, which is of course a problem during the daytime here in the springtime), with about 2 inches overnight into Thursday morning (with .13 of an inch in the morning) that melted and about another 10 inches in the afternoon. Note that none of these reports reported on last night's snowfall - yet. Other than this report from our official Crestone/Baca weather station. We saw a total of 3.9" for the entire day, with 3.4" falling by midafternoon and the rest up to midnight Friday morning (standard time, or 1am MDT). Update early this morning, so far only 2 updated reports and one new one have come in. Chalet 2 reported .65 of an inch of melted snow in the rain gauge, so with the other .13" reported earlier, that foot estimation has to be pretty close to being correct. Then out in the Grants, by Brook Trout Rd west of Wagon Wheel at 7800', 4 " total for all of Thursday, but again a report of more than likely more than that fell, because of melting before the measurements were taken. Also 1.4" of new snow this morning (Grants).... A new report from Chalet 1 at 8,100 feet on Arrowhead Way, 4.6" for Thursday and 1.7" so far this morning, as of 7am.... Then here at the weather station, overnight we saw since midnight (or after 1am Daylight time) 1.6" new inches so far, as of 6am. To rap up Thursday's snow reports, at 8,650 feet in Chalet 1, another 3.3" for a grand total of 9.1". Then .08 of and inch of water to add to the report from the Grants (.42" total for the day) and one last new report from the Ranchetts off T Road, 0.26 of new water out there.

Keno

Let's end Daylight Saving Time in Colorado
(this is a repost from what I wrote here a year ago about DST, with just a few updates added in)
 
First, I go out of my way to not politicize the Crestone Weather site. But in this case I will once again. I usually feel that we have great state representatives in Colorado, but a year ago, our otherwise excellent state government went way too far when they voted to place Colorado on permanent Daylight Saving Time (DST)! Outrageous! We DO NOT live in the Midwest, so why is our state going to pretend that we do? (NOTE: While this law would keep Colorado locked in daylight saving time, it can only take effect if a federal law is enacted to allow states the option and at least four other states in the Mountain Time Zone also would have to opt in for year-round daylight saving time to happen. Such a law is being considered in the U.S. House at this time. However, by current federal law, we can drop DST whenever we want to, as is the case in both Arizona and Hawaii).
 
Yes, the twice a year change-over in most of the U.S. is an insane thing to do and saves us nothing energy wise, as that has been proven over and over again. What it does do is kill people in the week that the country sets the clocks ahead (by causing heart attacks, another proven fact). So yes, this insane practice needs to be stopped for several reasons. Back in 1973, when Colorado tried this moronic idea to change over to year-round DST, after just one single year, it was changed back to using both Standard Time and DST after most of the people of the state hated it (note: I did not live in Colorado yet back then, so I'm going by what I've read. I moved here permanently in '77). Why? Among other things, locals hated it because of having to awake for work in the dark, but even worst, preteen and teen children had to walk to school every morning - in pitch black darkness, which of course is very dangerous. Do you really want to see your small children (or your grandkids, if you're my age) doing that all over again? We would be putting our children in danger in doing this (plus of course, on the other end of this problem - try to get your preteen to bed early on a school night when it's still light outside).
 
I, as your weatherman, also hate it for a personal reasons. The National Weather Service (NWS) (who I do volunteer work for 365 days a year as Crestone's official weather observer), does not, and flat-out, cannot change time as far as official record keeping goes. You just can't skip one hour of time like that when taking and keeping such hourly records! So, whenever this insane time change-over takes place, those of us who make these daily reports for the NWS, have to live one hour behind everybody else when we keep our records. I have to wait until 1am to send in my daily report when we are on DST, instead of doing so at midnight.
 
I always loved studying the weather and I've been doing this since I was a young boy growing up back east, back when I was at the time, the youngest weather spotter in NY state. Yet today as an old man, while I still love studying the weather, I hate having to deal with this BS DST crap, which makes a once fun job, no longer fun for half of the year. But thanks to the Colorado Assembly, our state might go back to placing all of us in danger once again.
 
Yes, we absolutely need to get rid of DST!..... But again - we don't live in the Midwest, we live in Colorado, and we need to be placed back on Standard Time for 365 days a year and end DST for good! If you agree with me on this, then please write our state representatives to get them to repeal HB22-1297, which these clueless fools passed last spring.
 
I thank you for taking the time to read this and hope you understand why this would be totally a bad policy for our otherwise great state.
 
Keno

Winter Weather Quick Facts and Preparedness

Quick facts you should know about winter weather:
• Snow can occur with temperatures as high as the mid 50s (in degrees Fahrenheit, or around 13 degrees Celsius) if conditions are right.... Note: The following is actually a Springtime fact, but since we're talking about snow with warm temps, it's worth noting here..... We have seen spring snow fall here in Crestone with readings more than once above 50F in the last 20 years, with the warmest reading being 55 degrees, back on May 6, 2003. This occurred under partly sunny skies and for just a few minutes. But it still happened, as many in town, including myself, saw this occur.
• The record for most snowfall in the Lower 48 in a 24 hour period is 75.8” at Silver Lake, Colorado in 1921.
• Blizzard conditions are met when visibility in falling and blowing snow reaches ¼ mile or less (with more on this down below).
• As little as 1/16” of ice can begin to impact roadways and sidewalks.
• 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.

*Heavy snow criteria for Colorado are representative values applied over a large geographic 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.

Preparedness:

All of the following are issued when hazardous winter weather is occurring, imminent or likely:  

- 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.

Some more on this:

A Blizzard Warning is issued in the Rocky Mountains for the conditions noted above, but with winds in excess of 50 mph at the higher elevations, while at 35 mph or higher at lower elevations - including the Mountain Valleys and the Colorado Great Plains.
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.
A Freeze Watch is issued when freeze conditions are possible in the next 12 to 36 hours.
A Freeze Warning is issued during the growing season when widespread temperatures are expected to drop to below 32 degrees.
Since the 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.