At Last - Snow

At Last  - Snow

Chatted with our county plow guy at the post office last week and the subject, of course, was the lack of snow to plow. The county snow plow had not been moved since December 19th. For a ski area this is bad but it is even worse for the approaching summer Fire Season. In March the forest service measures the snow pack to determine fire danger and issues in the watersheds. The snow pack recharges our aquifers. And with the prolonged drought there are dry well issues. If the drought continues newer wells will be knocked off.

So when snow fell on the 31st of January everyone was happy. It was a very wet snow but not much off it. Maybe two inches, when here in the mountains, a foot would be more ordinary. But not this year. Or for much of the last four years. And the temps this winter have been 15 to 20 degrees above normal - recorded normal. That is the problem with weather forecasts at the moment. We are so far from normal that none of the computer models based on normal records work.

In the last forecast for the 31st Denver was to get a foot but only received about six inches. Starting tonight there are snowflake icons in all the next ten days but it is chance of snow or slight chance of snow. And no guesses about depth of snow.  We have all become rather skeptical. Like, "We will believe it when we see it." I worry about my trees and bushes.

And the future. When will be have a winter with no snow? Water will soon be the new oil so those who believe in fracking will have to one day realize they have soured the only water they have to drink. Think that is silly? I understand it was one of the subjects for the BLM management plan for our new national monument, Rio Grande del Norte.

God, what a mess men have made of things.

Comments

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more