Colorado Weather Discussion Thread

[ate'em]

cant quite figure the 'not winning' among some here???

thanks lindahl for the righteous vibe. good snow under my feet too!

CB bringing the hope. havent been that side of the elks yet but west side could be worse. especially if the FR cunts showed up to add a second track to the skinner.

maybe a new thread for those of us that seem to know where to be in this fine state. let the FR fuckoffs have their own thread somewhere in aurora?

lots to be stoked on (wolverines!?!)
get it

[grskier]

not specifically snow conditions,

but anybody seen wolverine tracks/evidence anywhere in colorado?

no pics to verify, but i was out at 9k in the west elks today, and came across big 5 claw slashes in the snow next to a deer jawbone. did some google and its either badger or wolverine, neither one quite where they 'should' be.

super cool surprise to end to the tour

I've seen badgers around at different elevations in the RF valley...

[BDKeg]

cant quite figure the 'not winning' among some here???

apparently if it's not snowing then people get butthurt. I don't care where you are (front range/summit/eagle/steamboat/san juans/elks), there is good snow to be had, you just have to look for it.

[ate'em]

I've seen badgers around at different elevations in the RF valley...

how big do you figure they were?
i think the tracks i saw would have been from a 25-30 pound animal about the size of a small dog.
footprints were in an alternate gait, feet were maybe 3-4" long (a bit hard to tell exact foot size in the soft snow)
the slash marks in the snow were about 4" wide (for the 5 claws), and dragged through the snow for 8" or so. impressive!
i sent a report to the 'correct bureaucrat' at dept of wildlife, he didnt have much to say other than thanks.
i am still super curious.

[downvalleytrash]

how big do you figure they were?
i think the tracks i saw would have been from a 25-30 pound animal about the size of a small dog.
footprints were in an alternate gait, feet were maybe 3-4" long (a bit hard to tell exact foot size in the soft snow)
the slash marks in the snow were about 4" wide (for the 5 claws), and dragged through the snow for 8" or so. impressive!
i sent a report to the 'correct bureaucrat' at dept of wildlife, he didnt have much to say other than thanks.
i am still super curious.

Former RFVer here...what about a Lynx?
Wouldn't surprise me if there are a few in the West Elks...I know some have been sighted near the Braun Huts.

[ate'em]

Former RFVer here...what about a Lynx?

the scratch marks distinctly had five claws, which should exclude all felines and canines.
badger or wolverine? or?

[Ireallyliketoski2]

[Like a Boss]

not specifically snow conditions,

but anybody seen wolverine tracks/evidence anywhere in colorado?

no pics to verify, but i was out at 9k in the west elks today, and came across big 5 claw slashes in the snow next to a deer jawbone. did some google and its either badger or wolverine, neither one quite where they 'should' be.

super cool surprise to end to the tour

I saw one on Notch Mountain Trail here in EC all the way back in aught eight. It was up around treeline. He bugged out before I could get a photo. Yeah yeah, pics or it didn't happen.

[grskier]

how big do you figure they were?
i think the tracks i saw would have been from a 25-30 pound animal about the size of a small dog.
footprints were in an alternate gait, feet were maybe 3-4" long (a bit hard to tell exact foot size in the soft snow)
the slash marks in the snow were about 4" wide (for the 5 claws), and dragged through the snow for 8" or so. impressive!
i sent a report to the 'correct bureaucrat' at dept of wildlife, he didnt have much to say other than thanks.
i am still super curious.

The one in my driveway was only the size of a typical house cat.
The one on the Snowmass Club golf course was about 2-3x that size
The one hanging on the farmers fence in Carbondale, just up valley from the Catherine store looked to be well over 25lbs, despite that being the bigger size of the range on wiki..


I should have looked closer at the tracks of whatever killed the rabbit in my driveway the other night... left a nice blood stain in the snow.

speaking of snow...
who's going to win this Friday/Saturday storm?

[Soups]

speaking of snow...
who's going to win this Friday/Saturday storm?

San Juan's as always. Contemplating hitting Silverton on Saturday and use my free unguided day on the LL pass. Last weekend to use it before April.

[ate'em]

POWERFUL AND COLD WINTER STORM TAKES AIM ON THE WESTERN SLOPE FOR
FRIDAY AND WILL HELP MAKE THE WINTER OF 2012/2013 MUCH MORE
MEMORABLE. CURRENT MODEL PROJECTIONS INDICATE THIS STORM WILL HAVE
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AS WESTERN COLORADO TAKES A DIRECT HIT.

sorry for the caps. that the nws shouting.

[mortalim]

I like it when they shout. It turns me on.

sorry for the caps. that the nws shouting.

[ate'em]

REMEMBER...THIS STORM MAY
EVOLVE INTO A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM

ha

[mortalim]

I was bored at work so...

This is a seasonal graph of snow depth for the Vail Mountain Snotel site which is located at the top of Vail Mountain here: http://goo.gl/maps/kaSAJ

I guess it's just a reminder of how epic 2010-2011 was. Apparently there's almost as much snow there now as there was last year. Lots of variables in effect: SWE, wind, and the longer the snow is on the ground the longer it has to sublimate/melt.

[hatchgreenchile]

It’s crazy how in 2011, the snowpack continued to build until Memorial Day, but in 2012, starting melting away in early March.

[georgio]

That graph is.... Just wow. Hoping we can turn the corner here in the next few weeks...

[SterlingSpikeDancer]

Yup, December was better than all of last season for me.

Agreed. My first ever trip down to Wolf Creek delivered deep pow on every single run the week after Christmas. Late start after getting mini-me going everyday, 4,000 people on the hill. Knee deep to waist deep turns on every trip (not top to bottom, but they were there with limited looking). Easily the best powder I have ever skied. I don't get out of the resorts, and I know there is plenty out there, so get looking. For snow, wolverines, maggettes, just get out and get looking. Now, let it snow.

[gratzo]

Re: Vail SNOTEL. The station is actually around mid mountain between mid Vail and the top of the Lionshead Gondola, so it gets decent snow but usually less than some other locations. Still it's a consistent way to compare the seasons. Here's another plot for the state as a whole: ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/CO/Sno...lotstate13.gif

Notice that 2010-2011 was great, but the snowpack mostly grew at an average rate with the exception of a great streak in December.

JOEL

[grskier]

Re: Vail SNOTEL. The station is actually around mid mountain between mid Vail and the top of the Lionshead Gondola, so it gets decent snow but usually less than some other locations. Still it's a consistent way to compare the seasons. Here's another plot for the state as a whole: ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/CO/Sno...lotstate13.gif

Notice that 2010-2011 was great, but the snowpack mostly grew at an average rate with the exception of a great streak in December.

JOEL

And the fact it kept going up at the end of the snow season....

I would love for someone to dig up the 07/08 year and put it up against that one.

[hatchgreenchile]

And the fact it kept going up at the end of the snow season....

I would love for someone to dig up the 07/08 year and put it up against that one.

Go to season reports--> 07/08.

Great website. http://bestsnow.net/

[UGASkiDawg]

Looking like a repeat of last year is a best case scenario right now....it's gonna be ugly on the front range this summer.....no water for irrigation along the south platte is gonna destroy some farmers

[montanaskier]

Crazy graphs, it's certainly another lean year for many areas. Hopefully this storm drops good snow before its dry again next week.

[Lindahl]

Looking like a repeat of last year is a best case scenario right now....it's gonna be ugly on the front range this summer.....no water for irrigation along the south platte is gonna destroy some farmers

Not really. March is usually the snowiest month in CO. April isn't that far behind. Last year it stopped snowing early March - very unusual. The chances of that happening again are very slim, so it'll certainly be better than last year. Would be interested to see a normal below average year on that graph. Would be surprised if we didn't end up with something more like that this year. Which means, yeah, this year isn't awesome, but it isn't going to be awful either, just below average.

[Dr Donny Brook (Richard Head)]

this is a good one:

[DanSkier]

The chances of that happening again are very slim, so it'll certainly be better than last year.

People were saying that last fall, then it didn't snow for an entire month.

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