The weather just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Using Tea Bagger logic, because it's happening out my back door, it must be happening around the world. For once they might actually get something right.
I am keenly aware of our local weather. I even keep a weather log and have been doing so for the past 5 years or so. When things start getting weird, I take notice.
Because I live near a mountain pass, 90% of our winds come over the pass from the Southwest. Only in the heart of the winter will we see winds come out of the North, and then it only lasts for hours, or at most a couple of days. A couple of weeks ago, the wind came out of the North for 5 straight days. I've never seen anything like that before.
So this morning when I check the forecast at the Denver National Weather Service website, I see this:
THUS SHOULD SEE VERY HEAVY SNOWS IN THE MTNS AND FOOTHILLS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR 1 TO 2
FEET WITH LOCALLY UP TO 3 FEET IN A FEW MTN LOCATIONS EAST OF THE
DIVIDE.
Here's the forecast map:
See those big Low pressure systems near Utah? And that text bubble that says "Heavy Snow Possible'? That arrow next to the bubble is pointing at my front door!
If you live in the Colorado foothills, you are use to getting some really big snows. I've seen several storms that have dumped more than 2 feet of snow on us. I've seen them in November, I've seen them in March, I've seen them in mid April, but measuring snow in feet in mid-May is insane!
Now here's the problem. It's supposed to be springtime. The hummingbirds that arrived last week think it's spring. The bluebirds and swallows that arrived a couple of weeks ago think it's spring. And the Wyoming ground squirrels, which might more properly be called predator Hors d'oeuvres, came out of their burrows about 3 weeks ago.
The Wyoming ground squirrel is a keystone species up here, a lot of things depend on them. In Apr 2010 we had a 3 1/2 foot snowfall just as the squirrels were coming out of their burrows. It was a massacre. Those brown squirrels running across the pure white snow might as well have had signs on their backs saying "I taste delicious". Coyotes, hawks, Golden Eagles, and especially Ravens, drove them to local extinction in a matter of days. It changed everything.
All the predators soon disappeared. The grasses grew taller. More Elk, deer, and pronghorns showed up. The squirrels finally came back last year, along with a few badgers and more coyotes.
The fact that the squirrels come out of their burrows in mid April, seems to indicate they evolved around a climate that will have food waiting for them when they come out, without getting feet of snow dumped on them resulting in near extinctions every 5 years. If this is going to be the new normal, it only takes one species that can't adapt, to change an entire ecosystem.
The weather models haven't been too accurate this winter, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping those pesky little squirrels are going to get a break this year.
UPDATE: Well, we had a foot of snow overnight and it's still coming down hard. The weather service is saying some of the moisture may get cut off by this afternoon. It makes for a wonderful winter picture, but I've had my share of winter this year and was ready for spring weeks ago.
UPDATE 8:55 AM MST: We got a couple more inches and it's still coming down really hard. Went out to clean my solar panels and measured 14". A small wind is coming from the NE and piling the snow on the south side of my roof. The drifts are now 3 feet deep on my roof, and since this is a wet heavy snow, I'm going to have to go out with my roof rake and clear some of the snow.