Weather Imagery

This was another one of those infamous Colorado blizzards that snuck up with about a 1-day warning. The first forecasts from a few days earlier didn’t mention anything about a significant snow storm, only that we may get a couple inches of snow and some moderate winds. Then on Tuesday, the day before the storm hit, forecasters started hinting that this could be a pretty powerful storm. I figured it wouldn’t be that bad because a fairly potent yet uneventful cold front had already pushed through a few days earlier. Anyhow, here’s the hour-by-hour experience of the December 20th, 2006 blizzard from the town of Falcon just outside the city limits of Colorado Springs:

Wednesday – 4:00 am MST

Wind is howling outside. It’s very difficult to sleep because the house is making all sorts of noise. No snow yet so I’m guessing I’ll be driving into work this morning. Forecasters are kind of uncertain about how much snow we will get and the intensity of the storm. Just yesterday, there weren’t any warnings.

Wednesday – 7:00 am MST

I can’t sleep. It’s just too noisy. Still no snow and I suppose I should go into work. No messages on the TV either about Schriever Air Force Base being closed. Only a couple school districts in Colorado Springs are closed. Are they anticipating a bad storm? No one has come out and said “OK, This is going to be a monster.” Still no snow and just moderate winds.

Wednesday – 8:00 am MST

OK, I guess I’ll get ready for work. Still no snow and just a lot of wind. About the same as earlier this morning. TV still doesn’t indicate Schriever AFB is closed.

Wednesday – 9:00 am MST

Wow! The snow has started and it’s pretty bad out. Conditions went from OK to poor in about 15 minutes. Not horrible, but visibility is down to about 100 feet. This is a typical winter storm for Colorado and I’m sure Schriever AFB will be closing soon. Yep, there’s the TV announcement. Closed. Just to note: That is not fog in the pictures. It’s snow moving so fast it shows up blurred on the camera. Visibility really is this bad!

Wednesday – 11:00 am MST

Sheesh. Snow drifts already starting to build. Look to be about 5′ in height. Visibility is about the same although it sounds like the wind might be picking up. Highest wind gust is 45 mph. That’s getting up there. Snow is still coming down and visibility is still about 100′.

Wednesday – 1:00 pm MST

My gosh. The 10-minute wind speed average is now 45 mph. Highest wind gust is 56 mph. Wind chill is down to -1°F. I will bump up the wind speed alert on my Vantage Pro weather station to 55 mph. It’s almost always sounding off now. Highway 25 is closed from New Mexico to Wyoming. Highways 24 and 94 are also closed. Travel is now very difficult if not impossible. Radio says about 50 cars are off the side of the road in Austin Bluffs Parkway. Highway 25 is at a stand still. Lots of motorists are stuck.

Wednesday – 2:00 pm MST

Wind is still averaging 45 mph. Gusts are still well into the 50 mph range. Snow rate almost looks like it has picked up a bit. Visibility is now down to about 30′. We can’t see the fence on the side of our house. Snow drifts are about the same height, but they are getting longer. Man, it’s horrible out. I’m not sure you could drive in this.

Wednesday – 3:00 pm MST

Nothing has changed. Still very intense out there and it hasn’t let up at all. Just heard Colorado Springs and Denver International Airport are closed. That’s got to suck for the holiday travelers. Actually, the TV is scrolling that the entire city of Colorado Springs is pretty much shut down. Police are on cold reporting … you get stuck, you stay stuck. No one is coming to get you.

Wednesday – 4:00 pm MST

Wind not as strong but still averaging about 35 mph. Gusts down in the 40 mph range. Still snowing a bit and the wind chill is now -2°F. Looks like it could be a pretty cold night. News is saying the low pressure system will only move about 70 miles by tomorrow morning, which isn’t that far. So we can expect more of the same all night and into tomorrow morning.

Wednesday – 5:00 pm MST

No change. Still snowing. Wind the same. Barometric pressure is now rising instead of falling, so the low pressure system is moving out … slowly.

Wednesday – 7:00 pm MST

Mellowing out a bit. Wind speed has died down quite a bit and is only averaging about 25 mph. Gusts are around 30 mph. Temperature is 17°F and the wind chill is -3°F. I think the worst is over with. A state of emergency has been declared and the National Guard has been called to rescue stranded motorists off the highways. Last report was a ton of people were hanging out in a Village Inn off Highway 25 because there was nowhere else to go. Lots more are still stuck on the freeway. I’m afraid some fatalities will be reported. Reports are coming in that some airplanes are taking off from Colorado Springs Airport. However, some travelers will be stuck in Colorado until after Christmas. That’s going to make some people mad, but hey, it’s not the airline’s fault.

Wednesday – 8:00 pm MST

It’s starting to snow again.

Wednesday – 10:00 pm MST

Wind is picking up again. It’s averaging around 35 mph and gusts are above 40 mph. It’s also snowing. Most school districts and military bases have already announced they will be closed tomorrow. Wind chill is now -4°F.

Wednesday – 11:00 pm MST

This is crazy and so much for mellowing out. The 10-minute average wind speed has increased to 42 mph and gusts are back into the 50 mph range. Wind chill is now -5°F and the barometer is steady. More snow is falling and the regional radar is showing some pretty good snow bands moving in from the northeast. Snow drifts now span the entire length of our 1/2 acre lot and look to be 6 feet in height. It’s going to be another noisy night of sleeping. Front door is totally blocked by a snow mound. The door cannot be opened (not that I want to open it).

Thursday – 10:00 am MST

Got some good sleep after the winds died down. Woke up and the snow was still falling. Snow drifts were huge. Most streets are impassable. This guys house (bottom right) is totally blocked in by snow drifts. On the far right side of the house appears to be a gray wall (looked live a big wave about to break). That is the front side of a snow drift. I estimate it’s about 7 feet high!

Thursday – 4:00 pm MST

Cars are everywhere on the sides of the roads. The remains of a new Humvee were being dug out of the snow bank at Woodmen and Powers. It was in pretty bad shape and based on the damage it sustained I can’t imagine what the other car looks like. My guess is, he thought he could stop on ice better than the rest … doesn’t work that way. Plows are coming through local neighborhoods now so things are bearable again. Everything should be back to normal tomorrow. Miraculously, there were NO fatalities! That’s a great Christmas present for all.

On April 7th 2005, we were starting to get the first indications that there might be a significant weather event in store for Colorado Springs, Colorado. Most of the time, these weather events are hit or miss in which they may or may not have that much of an impact on our location. We don’t actually live in Colorado Springs. We’re about 8 miles east in the town of Falcon and due to the geography, we fall in the “rain shadow” of Black Forest and the Palmer divide. This means any storms that come from the north (as most winter storms do) produce very little snow fall by the time it reaches us. However, the wind can be ferocious.

The Arrival

Early on April 10th, 2005 the storm barreled in. By 8:30am we had our first 50mph wind gust and the 10 minute wind average was about 32mph. I couldn’t remember any other storms making that much noise. All windows except the east facing ones were almost totally iced over. Unlike most of the winter storms in Falcon, this one was putting down quite a bit of snow. After pulling up the radar images, it looked as if all the moisture was streaming in from due east yet the wind was howling from the northwest. From Wyoming down the New Mexico, the entire front range out to about Limon was getting hammered.

By about noon, it was very nasty out. We could not see our back fence which is about 130 feet from our house. There were times when my weather station couldn’t be seen, and that’s about 50 feet from the house. In addition to the snow falling, the 40mph winds were picking up snow and hurling it sideways. The wind chill averaging 7°F and the wind was just relentless. I don’t think it dropped below 30mph until about 4:00pm. Gusts up to 45mph were a regular occurrence. The city of Colorado Springs announced they would not be plowing roads in northeastern El Paso county until Monday morning due to the wind.

Snow Drifts and Their Affect

After only 6 hours, the snow drifts were about 5 feet high. This is a shot of our neighbors to the east. The white fence stands just over 4 feet high and the snow drift tops that. We seem to take the brunt of the wind here in Falcon because the entire area is new housing developments, so there are very few trees. To make matters worse, all the lots are 1/2 acre minimum and there’s about 300 yards of undeveloped land that backs up to our property. So the wind and snow have few obstacles to overcome before they slam into our houses. About 2 years ago, we had a similar storm in which the snows drifts on Highway 24 and Woodmen were about 6 feet high. I have no doubt that they were just as high during this storm.

Driving in this storm would of been impossible. Literally. Not only were the streets covered in snow drifts, but the visibility … well, there was no visibility. Even getting out of the house presented a challenge. For some reason, the snow seems to pile up in front of our house. The front door is usually blocked and opening it might mean you never get it shut again. In addition to our house being closed, Denver International Airport canceled all incoming and outgoing flights for the remainder of the day (that’s a pretty big deal). Highway 25 was closed from Pueblo all the way down to Trinidad (New Mexico border). Highway 24 was closed from Colorado Springs out to Limon (about 75 miles). Highway 94 was also closed. As a result, Schriever Air Force Base was closed (even to mission essential personnel). There was just no way to get there. Smaller surface streets within the city were also closed, such as sections of Powers. The city had already decided that school would not be in session on Monday and issued the closures Sunday afternoon.