Here we are on the eve of the last day of August. Snow levels plunged all the way to 11,000 feet the past few days in the mountains, bringing snow to highways over the mountain passes. Impressive for late August, and a harbinger of things to come... In Astronomical terms, Autumn does not begin until late September, but in meteorological terms, it begins September 1st. Thundersnow season is nearing. Some of you may be wondering about the dates of some of the earliest snows in recent memory. In 2001, on/around September 20th, 5-7 inches of snow occurred in the Sterling area during an overnight snowstorm. Iliff had 7 inches of snow, proven by a photo my mom took of the backyard. Plus, I remember it well myself! More staggeringly, on September 10,1993, 2-3 inches of snow fell up and down the South Platte Valley. I remember snow beginning to fly as my school bus neared Caliche school early that morning. Since 2009 here are the dates of the first snows: 2009: October 9th- A fierce snowstorm accompanied by an Arctic blast plunged temperatures below 20 degrees (not including windchill) for over 36 straight hours hastening the beginning of winter, freezing away all the fall color to the leaves and leaving trees bare well before the end of October 2010- A late first snow occurred on November 11th. 2011- October 25th. 2012-October 5th. 2013. October 18th. Most years, it is plenty cold enough to snow temperature wise in the overnight hours even by late September, but there are frequently no moisture laden storms to produce the snow in the midst of those cold temperatures. In any case, almost every month this year has been cooler than normal, including July and August! If that chilly trend continues, and the moist pattern persists, look for earlier than normal snows this autumn.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 03:02:24 +0000