Fall Weather Right on Time

It snowed yesterday here in Colorado Springs. Not just on the top of Pikes Peak, but right here in town. While that sounds pretty silly, given yesterday was the last day of summer, the fact is, it is not that unusual to get our first snow in September. What would be unusual is if stuck to the ground (it didn't), or if there was much of it (there wasn't). Still, it gets some of us excited for the change in seasons. After all, season pass sales for the ski resorts are going on, the leaves are just hinting at changing, and fall in Colorado is a favorite for many of us, myself included. While today was cool and gray, the sun will be back along with pleasant temps by the weekend. No, the photo was not from yesterday, it was our fall blizzard of '06, hit just before Halloween. That is when our first real snow usually hits. Can't wait!

This fall is kind of fun, with the Broncos at 2-0 and the Rockies looking like they will make a serious playoff run as the National League wildcard. We all remember the 'Rocktober' of 2 years ago, with a closing run of 21 out of 22 games to get into the World Series. It could happen!

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! Visit me on Facebook to see even more photos!

Colorado Springs Sees 2nd Major Snowstorm in 1 Week

After the Easter Sunday snowstorm this week, it kind of had me thinking Colorado Springs was done with snow for the season (at least with major storms), but this one was even bigger. Schools were closed yesterday, and for good reason, as the snow just kept coming back after it would quit for while. There were even some periods of thunder and lightening in the middle, kind of a rare occurrence. This was a classic 'Albuquerque low', with low pressure moving slowly through New Mexico, sucking moist air from the Gulf of Mexico up to mix with cold air over the Rockies, and just keep snowing. It was still snowing this morning, but is starting to let up, and I won't be surprised if the sun is out by noon, and at least the streets melted off by dinner. I think we had 8 - 10 inches maybe at our house? The temperature is already close to 40, so the worst is over. March and April are traditionally our snowiest months, and this year was certainly no exception to that pattern. The good news is that this should pretty much get us back up to snuff with the water supply. Lots of wet snow should result in the mountain reservoirs filling up pretty nicely.

The ski resorts are pretty much all scheduled to close this weekend, with well over a foot of fresh on top of a 6 foot base! I had really hoped to get one more day in yet this year, maybe tomorrow? I 70 was closed for a chunk of the day yesterday, so even with good snow, you couldn't get there!

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784!

Snow Day

Today was a snow day for Academy D20 schools in Colorado Springs. Because a portion of the district is in Black Forest, where the snow is typically deeper, more windblown, and in general not school bus friendly on snowy days, they tend to close or have late starts a little more often than for example, Colorado Springs School District 11, where it snows less, melts quicker, and is almost entirely city maintained streets. My wife loves these kinds of days, because as a school teacher at the Classical Academy in D20, she gets a day to catch up on other things, like wrapping Christmas presents, etc. Best of all, because we live more in town, the roads are usually not bad enough to really stay home, so she can even do some shopping! In the case of today, we probably had 3 or 4 inches in Briargate, and the sun is shining now, though it is only 23 degrees by noon! I usually work from home on these kinds of days anyway. Unless someone needs to sign something that requires an original signature, email phone and fax work just fine.
We have all wheel drive on both of our cars. For years I drove only front wheel drive, and occasionally got studded tires, but often a dry winter would just wear out the studs, and the extra traction was seldom an issue. The bigger problem with cars and winter driving in Colorado Springs is more stopping than going, and while the AWD tends to make the car handle better on snow and ice, my son managed to hit a curb last week with my wife's because he had not slowed enough for turn. Realignment is often required with these sort of mishaps, and in this case a new wheel as well, because the old one was bent. Yet another good reason to stay home until the roads melt a bit, often just an hour or 2 is all it takes!
Interest rates are holding in the mid 5's at the moment, exciting since usually these kinds of dips only last a day or 2 in this volatile market.

Over a foot of snow in Black Forest! The Colorado Springs weather forecasters even admit they really missed this one, they were predicting 1 inch originally. Living in Colorado Springs means living with snow and uncertain weather forecasts sometimes. There are a few easy coping mechanisms.

1. Don't sweat it. If you have to postpone something because of weather, try to enjoy it and don't fret, it's part of the "spice of life".

2. Be prepared for it. Even when the weather man gets it wrong, they usually have a clue something is going on. During the winter season, bring an extra layer of clothes, never leave without coat, hat and gloves, throw boots and a shovel in when going out in questionable weather. It all improves your odds of not being as impacted even if you do get stuck. Stock up the cupboards. There is no point in getting stuck in the snow during a storm just because you need an extra cup of sugar or gallon of milk.

3. Remember that "this too shall pass". After a foot of snow on Sunday, it is a beautiful blue sky day today, and we are expecting 60 degrees by tomorrow. Although it won't all melt off this late in the year, it will definitely be less of an issue, and the roads will be cleaned off pretty well.

Today's photos are of some trees in our back yard this morning that caught some nice snow. What a great way to begin December and the Christmas season!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Colorado Springs. After some teaser snow storms just after Thanksgiving, we got a real one today - and as usual, they did not predict it. I would guess maybe 8-12 inches? It was nice fluffy stuff, perfect powder for skiing, and easy to shovel, thankfully! My wife and college age son are hoping for a snow day tomorrow, we'll see. If it quits early enough in the evening, the plows get the school bus routes cleared, they will have school anyway. It could still be a late start though. That is when the kids don't go in until 10 or so, to give the plows a chance to do their job. It should be a gorgeous morning, with fresh snow and sunshine.
Hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours! We had our usual family group, less a couple of families (between work, hospital stays and in laws, it gets harder as time goes on to have everyone at once), and had some guests who were new to the Springs, so it was very nice. I ate too much - as usual, before and after "the feast". I guess it will be a busy month on the tread mill for me!

Is today the last snow day of the year for Colorado Springs? Technically it was just a 2 hour late start, so not really a true snow day, but as spring progresses, the odds start dropping that we'll see any more of this until next winter. The sun was already coming through when I took this in our back yard this morning. A pretty typical Colorado Springs snow, it does it's thing, and the sun comes back out. 60's and maybe even 70 by the weekend! It really didn't even stick to the roads here in Briargate, but D20 serves a big chunk of Black Forest as well, and the little change in locale seems to make a difference as to how much sticks to the roads, in addition to how much falls to begin with. District 38 is even farther north, and often they will have a late start or cancellation, even when D20 does not. D11, which covers most of the Springs area wise, seldom has to close or have a late start, because it is just enough lower in elevation that it may not even have snowed at all. District 49, which covers the eastern plains as well as part of Black Forest, will often have problems from wind blown snow and visibility, even if the snow is not deep.

My wife is a school teacher in school district 20 (The Classical Academy), and she loves a late start or snow day as much as the kids. Today was a good illustration as to why field trips are tough to schedule though. Her kindergarten class does an annual trip to Garden of the Gods, and it was rescheduled from last week to this past Tuesday, which turned out to be a fantastic day to do it. Today however, would not have been a good one! I guess it encourages living for the day, because you really don't know what tomorrow will bring, especially with our fickle spring weather!