Colorado Snowpack April Update

For Winter Year 2007-2008 (in black) on April 12 when the majority of Colorado's ski resorts closed, compared to the past three winters and the 30 year average (in red):



More proof the MSM can't get the story straight--two stories from 9NEWS reporting on recent concerns about flooding following a bountiful, near-record winter snowfall season, produced within 7 hours of each other on Monday. The first indicates the flooding concerns have abated--and the headline agrees--"Climatologist: Dry spell cuts flood threat from Colo. snow melt" (published at approximately 10 AM):

A Colorado weather expert says several weeks of dry weather have reduced the risk of flooding from Colorado's deep mountain snows.

State Climatologist Nolan Doesken said Monday the deep snow is a cause for concern but the threat has decreased.

Doesken says Colorado's snow usually melts off gradually as warm temperatures work their way up to high elevation, reducing the chance of floods.

Major flooding becomes more of a threat when snow melts quickly.

Doesken says not all of Colorado has benefited from deep snow.

Much of the Eastern Plains have been dry since last summer.

He says recent storms have reduced the threat of drought but the area still needs spring storms to keep from drying out again.

Here is the second story, not an update, but a rehash of comments from the same State Climatologist, Nolan Doesken (at around 5 PM). Note the wide difference in tone, especially the headline--"Higher than normal snowpack raising risk for flooding":

Snowpack at higher elevations is at levels researchers have not seen in a decade.

"Basin wide, the snowpack is 110 percent to 130 percent than average. There is a concern for flooding because it's been years since we've had this much of a snowpack where the snow is deep at high elevations, all the way from northern New Mexico to the Colorado/Wyoming border," said Colorado climatologist and Colorado State University researcher Nolan Doesken.

Doesken says on a scale of one to 10, the risk of flooding in river basins like the San Juan, Rio Grande and Gunnison basins is "a five or six." So far, spring temperatures have been relatively cool, said Doesken. Depending on the precipitation in the coming weeks, Doesken says the risk of flooding may be increased even further.

"There's still plenty of time, lots of different ways the snowmelt could occur, but when there's a lot of snow and when spring has been cool, that does increase the chances of flooding later on," said Doesken.

Snow at elevations 10,000 feet and above usually begins to melt in May and continues on through June. Doesken says if there are many consecutive days of warm temperatures, then flooding is more likely, but he emphasized that Colorado has historically had a "well-behaved" snowmelt.

Shortly after it became clear that Colorado's snowpack would be well above average--in record setting territory perhaps as second wettest in 113 years--the local MSM started stoking the "imminent flooding" story, no doubt trying to bring the focus back on to climate change and global warming causing all the snow to melt rapidly.

Apparently someone at 9NEWS didn't get the memo. The first story appears to have the basic theme of the climatologist right--there is still a chance that a rapid warm-up will cause some minor flooding concerns, but that risk diminishes over time as normal melting occurs. The second story buries the climatologist's estimate of "a five or six" with fearmongering headlines about the raised risk of flooding.

At least get the story straight, 9NEWS. It was the same climatologist and interview, fer Chrissakes!

Denver Snow Cover Reaches Record Books For Second Straight Year

Although there was no mention of it until it had passed (all the global warmening that had to be covered, aside from record Christmas Day snowfall), Denver saw 32 consecutive days of snow cover for the second straight year, pushing into the top 10 once again:

Only a trace of snow was measured in Denver Wednesday, ending a 32-day streak with an inch or more of snow on the ground.

December's above average snowfall and cold temperatures kept measureable snow on the ground at the old Stapleton Airport for over a month straight. The streak of snow-covered days was long enough to secure 10th place for consecutive days of snow cover in Denver. At least an inch of snow was measured on the ground in Denver from December 8, 2007 to January 8, 2008.

Every morning observers at the old Stapleton Airport officially measure the amount of snow cover. In an area free of obstructions like trees and buildings, several measurements are taken and averaged to account for melting and drifting. If the average is an inch or greater, it is added to the count. Less than an inch is recorded as a trace amount.

The Denver snow-cover record was set at 63 days between November 26, 1983 and January 27, 1984. Last winter recorded a second-place finish with a 61 day stretch between December 21, 2006 and February 19, 2007.

This year, the 24 days in December and 8 days in January with snow cover came close to a ninth place finish. One more day would have tied the 33 day mark set in 1919.

This comes on top of the news that actually has been covered since late November worries pushed the state's global warming panickers into overdrive following a warm, dry month--the state's snowpack is now uniformly over 100% of the 30-year average in all 8 river basins, with two above 150%, and the state average of 127% overall.

Global warm-mongers routinely cherry-pick evidence to support their claims, and even go so far as to claim that all weather, even unseen-in-a-century snowfall in Baghdad is also evidence of global warming.

For the past two years, early season predictions for Denver and Colorado as a whole have not come to fruition. Before 2006's twin blizzards and subsequent months of frequent snow and cold, Denver was supposed to have three months--December through February--of above average temperatures and little snowfall. Oops.

Same thing has occurred this year. Heavy snowfall over the southwest portion of the state has necessitated Colorado's Division of Wildlife to bail out elk and deer herds without winter forage due to snow cover above 50 inches.

Once again, it is difficult to reconcile reality with global warming conspiracy theories (where all evidence is evidence of climate change, etc.) and the inability to make believable predictions that are correct not just decades or years but just months and days away. There is a reason people poke fun at meteorologists' predictive power (the only job to be correct less than half the time and still be employed!), based as it is on complex computer models that certainly give more advance warning, but can not definitively predict a storm's path or strength. Nature still remains beyond human beings' arrogant attempt to predict or control, making frivolous "doomsday" assertions of climate change catastrophe that much more unpalatable to anyone with a skeptical frame of mind.

The only thing certain about climate is its uncertainty, and our inability to do much about it.

XDA, another Colorado blog, has been following the science of climate change as well.

Blizzard Babies About To Boom

Turn back the clock to last December, and visions of snowflakes, ice, and bitter cold come to mind--now nearly 9 months later, the blizzards' last gift is about to appear:

The back-to-back blizzards have resulted in a bumper crop of babies.

It was the end of December when the metro area was pounded with the back-to-back blizzards, keeping most people from their daily activities.

"We were all cooped up inside for the whole winter, for months," expecting mother Kimberly Pruitt said.

Turns out, many couples found something to do to keep them busy.

I'm sure!

And nothing like a little late August snow in the mountains to remind us that winter will soon, once again, be upon us.