Public Information Statement
Okay, so while we didn't see anywhere as much snow as the weather service felt we would see, we did still see some and our drying out land sure got a good needed drink this weekend that it badly needed. Now, including myself, 9 of our spotters have updated their reports this morning from Saturday morning, so those reports will be listed first, followed by our other spotters who send in their reports on Saturday morning. So here we go...
Might as well start off from the official Crestone/Baca Weather Station, located in the Baca in Chalet 1, near the Baca Firehouse, at 8,085 feet and where 0.9" fell late Friday night and then another 2.9" came down Saturday morning, with most of that melting by mid afternoon Saturday when the last round of what was very wet snow, started up after 2 pm and lasted into the early evening, and with that total of 2.4 inches, we ended up with 6.2 inches of snow that fell over the last 2 days, with the liquid water from that snow coming to 0.41" and the snowpack left over this morning was around 2".
What about everybody else in our other areas? Okay, going by what came in first from late last night into this morning, well, my first report comes from a few blocks away from the weather center, also in Chalet 1, on Arrowhead Drive at 8,200 feet, and well, only a report for Saturday was reported, but it was in detail, which I totally love, and for that 24 hour period she recorded 5.5 inches.... Next up was from the town of Crestone, at Birch St, just south of town, at 7,888 feet, where they saw a 2 day total of 5 inches.
Next we move to a place we never had a report from, but from our spotter who, well, used to be one of our two reporters from out in the Grants, but she got some new digs well north (about 10 miles, is my guess) of the town of Crestone, near San Isabel Creek at 7,897 feet in elevation. For Friday night into Saturday morning she recorded 4" and then another 2.8" fell last night, for a total of 6.8 inches.
Where should we head next? Well, looks like we'll head next up to Paul's place, at the very east end of Chalet 1, at 8,560 feet. He reports another 2 inches there late Saturday on top of the 3.8" earlier Saturday and late Friday, for a total of 5.8 inches, with total water received at 0.42". .... Okay, our next report comes from where Chalet 1 and 2 are located, and out there they reported 3.5 inches over the 2 days.... Then we will head back northeast into and them out of the town of Crestone to past E Galena Ave, heading east to you get to around 8,150 feet., where they reported 3.2 inches plus 1.3 inches more late Saturday for a grand total of 4.5 inches of snow over the 2 days.
Alright, now we head out to the Grants where Jan is now the lone reporter out there. She reports from Brook Trout Rd west of Wagon Wheel, at 7,800 feet. There they saw 2.8' in the first snowfall and then this morning reported another 0.8" from late Saturday for a total of 3.6"!
Next report comes in from my out of town daughter Jackie, east of Fort Garland, near the bottom of La Veta Pass, at 8,400 feet (I need to check that, it might be 8,600 feet, as I can't recall correctly any more). She tells me that they didn't see any snow at all Friday Night, as it missed that area, but did see 3" Saturday morning and another 2" last night for a total of 5 inches for all of Saturday. Then her son, my grandson Cooper, who lives in Moffat over by the school, and who usually reports his snow totals from there for me, well, not this morning, as he only reported around a quarter inch of bunny poop on the ground outside along with a few headless chicken peeps inside their joint by the front door, trying to escape to their coop out yonder, after his baby daughter bit their heads off. Guess that's why he didn't get to measure the snow this morning, busy cleaning up the mess left there.
Alright, now the snow reports from Friday only, starting with - well, actually we only have two reports left and only one is from Friday/Saturday morning, that being from the Baca Ranchettes off T Road at 7,730 feet elevation where they report 2.0" of snow along with 0.20" of liquid water. If I get an update, I'll add it in down below**. Finally, our last report from way up high above town, to our east in the Crestone mountains at South Colony, located at 10,800 feet. This comes from the automated weather station by the lake up there and from it's 1 am report for Saturday morning.... The total snow depth (snowpack) was at 33.0 inches, and believe it or not, that's down an inch from 24 hours earlier, but as I have noted often in the past, is that snow melts away real fast in the springtime, even in our high country. Sadly, and the really bad news, is that total is only 64% of what the normal snowpack should be at this time of year, and why we are in a new drought. Yet while we had a nice drink of water down here, that wasn't the case up there - and yes, that's a rare happening, but this entire snow season has been weird, thanks to climate change totally messing things up. Plus while talking about down here getting a good drink of water, still, we are way below normal snow wise this season - with time running out. We are about only half of where we should be for a normal total snow fall in any snow season, still under 40", and right now we're seeing the 5th lowest snow total ever at our official weather station. We got about 5 weeks or so to go to reach or surpass the normal totals that we need to see, but for the next week, there's not any snow in the forecast, but just a little is for our high country.
I thank all of our snow spotters for their important work all over our area, as we come to the close of the snow season.... but they should still have a report or two to go, if we are lucky!
PS - UPDATED PLUS: ** Precipitation update from Baca Ranchette for Saturday's late snow: The snow that fell melted before reading could be taken, but we did get in a water reading of 0.14" liquid for the rest of Saturday.... Then a new report in from Chalet 2, near Carefree and Jubilant, elevation 8,000 feet. First, no report from Friday nite since that snow had melted already... But for Saturday morning they measured 3.0 inches, and they guessed 2 more inches for late Saturday, but again they didn't get to measure it in time before it melted The NWS wouldn't accept guesses, as you might guess, but I will for here only, since it helps us to understand what an area did receive... But only one guess a month at most from any one spotter!! Plus, this is the time of year when if our spotters don't measure the snow right after it falls, it will melt away fast! So all spotters please keep that in mind for the next one of two snows we have - and yes, we should see another one or two snowfalls till the season ends in a few weeks. May averages 2.6 inches of snow each year here, and yes, June averages 0.1"! We have only seen one May since weather records started to be taken here (in 1981) where it didn't snow at all, that was in 2002. The snowiest May ever was 18.4 inches, that fell in 2016. For most Junes here it doesn't snow of course, but the last time was just 5 years ago, when we saw 0.7" in 2020 (linked to photo was taken on my, well, on the NWS's snow board that I use to measure with).
While snowy cold days do happen here in April, and are normal, the high temperature for any day staying at or below freezing, just doesn't happen - yet that's exactly what took place on Saturday, April 5! With the snow that fell and lasted the entire morning and afternoon helping to keep the air cold all day, the high temperature reading at our station was only 32 degrees (and that wasn't reached until 520 pm, with the temperature most of the day in the mid to upper 20s).
Yet it didn't stop there with those two records being broken, since the average daily temperature for the day of just 26 degrees, was a new record low, with that reading destroying the old average low record of 40.2 degrees for April 5.
- 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
-
- A Wind Chill Warning
Some more on this:
A Blizzard Warning
Heavy snow criteria for Colorado are 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.
