While you guys get snowed under, back home they're gearing up for thunderstorms, tornado watches, - the type of weather normally seen in the spring. Moisture off the Gulf + low-dipping cold front = beaucoup snow & rain. Stay safe over there.
I'm in Kansas City this weekend. Looks like we'll get rain starting this afternoon. I'm hoping to get in some railfanning tomorrow. I may have to settle with trying to get some shots from the truck. It's very possible to do with the location I go to. Have a good weekend!!!
We're due for 100% rain and possible t-storms starting tomorrow early morning and lasting well after dark. I hope our area sucks most of the moisture out of the clouds before they get to you guys in the Plains and Mid-West, or else you'll get a bunch of nasty skid stuff......mg:
Sounds like fun... Up here we just got a couple of inches the other night... myself being in the snow removal business... well that's an amount I can handle. Down in CO well... that's just unreal. If I didn't have to remove the snow I would say "send some more our way up north"... Drive Safe all you folks down there. Cheers,
The missus called me- says that there are tornadoes, hail storms, and flash flood in Texas, with at least one fatality. Lotsa heavy rain up thru Oklahoma and western Arkansas, with snow in Kansas and the Texas panhandle.
...and there's me thinking the weather in Lincolnshire is bad We've had up to 80mph gusts over the weekend here in the UK. Front of the house took a battering last night. Numerous New Year's celebrations have been cancelled nationwide due to the poor weather conditions.
And add another 4 1/2 inches of snow!! That's what was on the driveway, when I got home at 6AM this morning. Started snowiung over night and about 3" or so already on the ground when I left. Got to leave work 30 minutes early, because of the weather. Supposed to stick around until about 2PM today, so we shall see. May put a kink in my weekend plans though. Oh well........
How much of this snow Denver is getting is hitting the mountains? Snowpack is nearly the only water source for Denver and the metro area....
As strange as this might sound, when DENVER gets hit like this these storms are not dropping much snow in the mountains. This is not to say the montains are not getting snow but it's a MYTH that they are related. Trust me our SKI Industry loves the news and the Myth since people do think one is related to the other. The kicker is DENVER gets there water from the mountains so these storms don;t help that much with our water issues for summer. DENVER itself is considered to be within a semi-airid plain so these storms ae not the norm for us either but they do happen from time to time when Upsploe condition occur. "What is Upslope?" Think of a wheel (a Low Presure system) rotaing counter clockwise in the North East part of NM pulling Gulf of Mexico mosture over TX and then rotates it west into Colorado. Then mix in a Canadian Cold Front dipping down over WY into CO. The two mix sending BLIZZARD over the eastern plains and on into DENVER, and because of the montains, the storm stops right over the I-25 line and just dumps snow by the foot very quickly. In the wind protected areas of the city you have to figure out were to put all the snow for several weeks which is a trick. In the open areas that have no wind protection you end up with 6-10+ foot drifts that will bury you, wildlife, livestock, trains, etc. very quickly. This is why DIA failed to stay open since they are out in the open plains to the NE of the city. Before the plows could clear a single runway it was covered again and you just can't takeoff or land when there are snow drifts 6' deep on the runway in places. This is also why you see so many roads get closed east of DENVER because it is truly deadly to be out there when these storms hit. On the flip side I think I hear NY is not getting any snow this year. Welcome to the effects of Global Warming and El Nino... :asl: :asl: :asl: :asl:
I got about another foot here. I'm about 50 miles west of Denver. Just a few miles west of me, the altitude increases quickly. With that there is more snow. There is some really good snowpack up there right now. With these storms, the mountains have gotten alot of snow. But we haven't gotten the wind the plans have gotten. So we don't have the 10 ft. drifts they are dealing with. I-70 west of Denver has been open for the most part. East of Denver, it has been closed off and on for the last two weeks. Mostly because of blowing snow and drifts. Eric
Yes the latest storms are the normal mountain storms which is why DENVER is only getting a few inches and the mountain cities are getting dumped on this time. I've heard that Evergreen between all the storms got about 80" of SNOW total, that's nearly 7 FEET before adding drifts. Don't know how train traffic has been effected by all this during the past couple of weeks.
Well I have spent more than a few hours on the joint line in since the first snow and traffic in the early part of the day has been very thin. South bound coal loads are all using additional power (it has been a new ES44AC 6044). I'm out in the AM again tommrrow maybe I will catch somethin any thing?
I saw on the news the other night, that UP had the rotary snow job out. They were interviewing one of the UP officials and told of the battles with snow and traffic. Jim
News from the Colorado Railroad Museum (CRRM) [FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Snowstorms throughout Colorado had a real effect on all businesses, and ours wasn't left out. We had nearly 3 feet of snow fall on us on December 19th and 20th, causing the museum to close its doors for the first time on the 20th, 21st and 22nd. The return of the snow the following week closed us down again on the 29th and 30th! Thanks to some great volunteer efforts, strong backs, our front end loader and a newly donated snow blower, we were finally fully operational by the new year. Thanks to all who helped, and all who wanted to but couldn't get here.[/FONT][/FONT]
Man, we've been saying that for about the last 15 years. We are finally coming out of a sustained drought. I was talking with my Mom tonight. We were discussing that this is the way the weather is normally here in Colorado. I just don't see the big deal. The new Colorado residents aren't used to it so it is major for them. Eric
