Glad to hear you are doing ok over there. I've been thinking about you as I watched the stories on TV, including the one about the roofs collapsing in Spokane.

I guess I'm just lucky to live here in WY where we have such a temperate climate! OK, maybe that's just for today - no wind, light snow (last snow blew away before it could sink in).

Take care,
WW

Hi Digit,

With the exception of the Blizzard Winter of 05, were always dry here in Colorado! South of the Denver Metro area tends to get more snowespecially a place down on I25 called Monument Hill, between Denver and Colorado Springs. But most of us stay pretty dry most of the time. Im on the north end of Denver in a place called Thornton. Its an area that almost always gets skipped over by the precip as it moves off of the mountains. Boulder, where the fires were (just northeast of Boulder) isnt all that far away from me. But what REALLY done-the-deed this time was the WIND!!! When the fire started, there was no stopping it! The reporters were having trouble standing up to report on the story! The wind has died a little bit here by me today, but up in Boulder, and in Nederland, where Jennifer is, its still 15 mph sustained with gusts up to 26and I bet in reality the gusts are still higher than that! The fires are mostly out, but are still being monitored just to be sure!

I wish I WOULD get some snowor somethinghere! The wind has been blowing for days and days now, and everything is DRY! It was blowing so hard a few days ago that my (hollow aluminum) flag pole on the post by my front door bent in half! I just replaced it this morning! And a bunch of the bark mulch in mytiny, completely surrounded by 6' privacy fenceyard blew off of the soil and onto the grass. Ive been looking for a nice day to "fix" it, and its been pretty warm66 in my backyard yesterdaybut the wind just keeps blowing, and that makes it feel cold! But I was out yesterday hand watering things! Partly because the wind has REALLY dried out the soil, and partly to try to get the mulch thoroughly wet again so no more blows off! They said that there was a "chance" of some snow again today, and I keep hopingbut it just never seems to happen. Of course, when I have to get out to the airport, Im GLAD theres no snowbut my yard could sure use some!

Im glad you didnt have any catastrophes in the melt down! It sounds like youve already had enough "uncomfortable" weather so far this winter! I hope you get a break with some bright, sunny weather for a few days at least. And I hope your "ugly" snow goes away and/or you get some (a little bit) pretty fresh snow to cover it up. I like our "system" here in Denver! When we do get snow, it almost always melts off before it gets "ugly!" I dont like dirty snow!

Anybody else around here live up in the fire areas, and have any fire stories? Or other WIND stories?

Stay warm everyoneand dont blow away,
Skybird

P.S. Just saw your post, Windwhipped, and I'm glad to hear you're getting at least ONE day without wind!

Well, over here on the OTHER side of Colorado, the weather is MUCH different!

We've had at least 6" of snowpack for the past three weeks, a little melts, then every couple of days we get another inch or two of snow, so it just doesn't go away. Today, is the warmest day we've had since before Christmas, and it is currently 36 degrees. I checked the Denver area forecast earlier this week, and our HIGHS were about the same as the LOWS there!

What a difference a couple hundred miles can make!!!

Bonnie (whose thankful the wind is not on this side of the state this time)

Our next door neighbor's wind vane hit a maximum of 115 mph. Of all the things flying around our property, none were my wintersown containers! Packing down the potting mix and filling in the empty spaces with used coffee grounds really did the trick.

We posted last year about the amazing wind storm we had around here in January, blowing over 100 yr old cotton wood trees and flattening forests, and it was so strong it took two of us to shut the kitchen door. That was the worst wind I've ever experienced.

This past December, I can't remember the exact date, but the official weather 'spotters' were sending into NOAA in Grand Junction their barometer readings and all were saying that the reading was the lowest they'd ever seen. We had 80 mph winds forecast, but it never happened.

Whew.

Right now, 10" of snow on the ground, but melting off on the south facing stuff.

Just checking in. Yesterday was gorgeous. Sunny, warm everything you want from a nice spring day, except for it to be followed by today. I got about 1/4 mile of pasture fencing fixed yesterday and planned to do some more today, UNTIL the wind kicked up. We even got a few snow flakes.

Like Skybird, I have been watering things out in the yard. The lilacs should be blooming like mad in the spring though. They have had a smowbank over them since October, maybe earlier. I still have patches of ice from those first storms that have not melted: north of the garden fence (where the lilacs are), north side of the barn and north side of the house.

Skybird - guess I never really paid attention to your exact location, Thorton huh? Where they eat their dead, its a joke. There are no cemeteries in Thorton, ever noticed?

Billie

What? You lost me, Billie! Is that a movie I never heard of or something?

???
Skybird

... and where do you live that's had snow since October, Billie?

Skybird, maybe it's time for another "Who's Here" thread, to bring people out of lurkdome, and 'cause folks like me forget from one year to the next, where everybody is from.

Bonnie

Skybird - the town of Thorton has no cemeteries in it. You cannot get buried in Thorton, seriously. That is why people say "Thornton is were they eat their dead." There is no place to bury them. So it's creamation or another township. It's really weird to me, cuz where I am there are three or four cemeteries within 10 miles of me in any direction. Granted they are small, but they are there.

Bonnie - believe it or not, I am south east of Colorado Springs, that is why it is so surprising that I still have a snow bank or maybe its an ice bank, behind the fence.

Billie

I've been thinking about doing that for the last couple days, Bonnie, and just haven't gotten it done yet. If Chicago doesn't get snowed in overnite, I'm going there for a few hours tomorrow for my only living uncle's 90th birthday party, so I'll be gone ALL day, but then I'll be off for a couple days, and I'll try to get it started then. There are definitely people lurking around here! And a few new names have turned up recently! Time to interrogate them!!!

Re your comment above about "the OTHER side of the state," I should have said in my comment that we're "always dry" east of the foothills! I meant to stick a comment in that the mountains have been getting LOTS of snow this year, but then I forgot.

The wind has died down here now! Hope it stays dead!

Skybird

I don't live far from Billie, and I too was surprised she has snow still, from that long ago. Our snow from early Dec I think melted off finally in the 58 degree weather yesterday. While walking my dogs, I did see some snow up against somebody's fence, and I thought, Wow, that must have been a big snow drift to still be there.

How deep was your snow drift Billie??
Even the one that was probably 3' deep here is gone now. Of course, I guess all my drift areas do get some sunshine...

We got a dusting of snow today, at least that's what didn't blow away.

Reading Skybird's first post about what she's experiencing this winter in Thornton brought to mind things I've heard my parents and grandparents speak about. Although I now live in Utah, I was born and raised in Lakewood, Colorado. I grew up there in the 50s, and attended college in Colorado Springs in the 60s, to put a time perspective on things.

My parents were born in the early 1920s in eastern Colorado -- Kit Carson and Cheyenne Wells. Although they were small prarie towns, they thrived because the train played such a vital role in connecting eastern Colorado to Denver and other large cities. What Skybird has described (huge amounts of non-stop wind, no moisture, and very dry conditions even in the dead of winter) brought to mind the stories I heard about the dust bowl days in eastern Colorado. The wind continually howled, and the dirt, then dust blew everywhere and into everything. But in those days, they had winter snows...blizzards, in fact. White-out blizzards where school mates of their got lost in the snow on their short walk home from school, and died.

And the dust created similar conditions even during the warm weather months. My mom remembers how her father (who worked for the Union Pacific railroad) came to get her from school to walk her the one block to their home, using a flashlight in daylight hours, because the air was so thick with dust and dirt from the dust storms and constant wind, that they could not see...it was just like being in the dark.

The soil conditions are so sensitive in the West, compounded by the continual fight to save, preserve, and conserve the little water we receive...I've always had a concern that we might again have to experience a new version of the dust bowl days. While snow is not fun to shovel or remove, I'm always grateful for the snow we get here in northern Utah, because I know that we'll have water for the summer months. I hope you all understand the spirit of my wish for lots of snow for Colorado's mountains -- especially the easern slope -- and snow for Denver and its suburbs for the rest of the winter season.

Enough of my ramblings....

Well, I didnt make it to Chicagobecause of a stormbut not a dust storm! Got up at 0500 to get ready to head to the airport! Verified on NOAA and via email to my brother that the snow was letting up just before I left! Funny thing happened on the way to the airport! Got there, got on the planein first class, they closed the door to leaveand then they opened the door again! Air traffic said we had to wait TWO HOURS before we could leave for ORD! The storm had intensified! I sat on the plane for an hour, calling my brother to get NOAA and "real life" updates, and when he told me it was "moving out"but still went all the way west to the Mississippi, I decided all I was gonna do was get therepossibly too late for my Uncles party anywayand then get stuck thereovernite, and possibly all day tomorrow! Got back off the plane and came back home! It was disappointing, but sleeping in a boarding area at ORD isnt fun AT ALL! Ive done it a few times!

BUT, speaking of the Dust Bowl Days, Ive researched the subject a few times in the past. I find it fascinating, and I think a lot of people dont realize how much of the top soil literally blew awaynot aroundAWAY! Some of the pictures are absolutely amazing!

No! Im not old enough to remember it, Beth! And, for that matter, I grew up in Illinois, but it sounds like some of the dust storms actually got that far eastand further!

"The Dust Bowl began in 1933 when the land that previously had grass was plowed and uprooted, used and dried out due to drought. A wind storm blew through the state of South Dakota taking up much of the dry, dusty soil with it. A year later, a two day long dust storm ripped through the Great Plains region and CARRIED THE DUST AS FAR AS THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. Within a weeks time, the Dust Bowl weather storm actually reached the eastern coast. Overall the Dust Bowl lasted a period of ten years the land took time to recover due to all of the storm damage." famousdisasters.net

My parents were born in 1910 and 1911, but I dont remember them ever talking about the Dust Bowl. I suspect they were so involved in surviving The Great Depression that they didnt have much time to worry about a little dirt blowing thru Illinois!

It sounds like you and I are close in age, Beth! "Grew up in the 50's" would get us somewhere in the same price range! Im 65!

Billie, howdjaknowTHAT??? Ive lived up here for 18 years now, and I never heard THAT before! So do you just sit around down there researching where the cemeteries are? Hope nobody eats me when I die! So Nederland has Frozen Dead Guy Days maybe Thornton should have their own version of Alfred Packer Days! Waddayathink?

Digit, your thread is evolving!

Skybird

Whoops! I should have checked my links BEFORE I posted! The "pictures" link reverts back to the home page! To see the PICTURES, click on Dust Bowl on the left side!

Yow, what odd weather we all have!

Okay, the fires were actually north of Boulder, not the old north but the new north.

That day, I was all ready to head into work when Darren told me that a weather warning had popped up, something about 80 mph winds and to stay off of our two highways. I thought, Yeah, I'll stay home today.

Darren had to go into town briefly and passed a car that was on its roof. Workmates emailed me to let me know of the fires because they thought they were close to me. The fires were actually closer to work than home! They sent everyone home because eyes were burning and watering and we can't produce candy with smoke or the scent of smoke in the building.

I was safe and sound at home, bored out of my gourd!! Boy, did I ever crochet a lot!! Oh, and I had to shovel about three feet of snow dune at least three or four times. I am NOT going to have another 5-6 foot drift in the middle of my pathway again, no way!

What else? We had such high winds...err...when was that? Oh, New Years Eve! Right in the middle of the last few minutes of the climactic scene of the last episode of Lost (we rented the dvd) from the last season, the power went out. Oh, darn. We stayed up so late waiting for it to come back on. "Hey, maybe its new years?" That happened a few times!

It came back on well after 2AM so, naturally, we watched the end.

Really, not that bad but it seems like the wind is never going to go away.

Skybird, stop eating your dead!

Oh, sorry, I couldn't resist!!

Oh, nononononononono! It's not me doin' the eatin'! It's me worried about bein' et now!

;-)
Skybird

I actually heard that one when I was working in Castle Rock and DH had heard it when he grew up in Longmont back in the 70's. I checked it out some time back when it was a snow day or something. DH accuses me or just sitting around thinking of things like that too. It is weird though, isn't it?

Unpleasant Dreams

Billie (aka Elvira)

Oh, nononononononono, Elvira! No more unpleasant dreams for me! I had enough "unpleasant" dreams of being eaten after being stranded out in the mountains! I'm sticking to HAPPY dreams now!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,
Skybird

P.S. Jennifer, I know the earth's magnetic poles reverse sometimes, but what's up with the "new" Boulder north? Did the poles reverse and I missed it or something! Come to think of it, I have been feeling a little bit backwards lately! ;-)

I once lived just a few miles from the "Oregon Vortex" - with its "House of Mystery." This place is up Sardine Creek, off the Rouge River. I lived there when the owner of the farm at the mouth of Sardine Creek drove his truck across the railroad tracks, something he must have done several times a day, and was struck by a train and killed. I worked at the farm for a short time as a young fellow.

The Vortex is something of a gravitational/magnetic mystery. I thought that it was explained by a large iron deposit underground in the near vicinity but apparently others just consider the "mysteries" a matter of optical illusion.

I haven't thought about the place or read any about it for a long time. It was interesting to learn that the little shack which amounts to the "House of Mystery" is still there, still the same, still hanging off the hillside where it came to rest after sliding down (or was it up ;o) 80 years ago.

How's that for drifting off??

d'S'
don't look at the linked article if you suffer from vertigo . . .

Skybird, I know you aren't eating the dead...at least, I think you aren't!

Also, North Boulder used to be JUST north of boulder, where Breadworks is. They call that Old North Boulder, which I find odd. The new North Boulder is where Lucky market is and beyond, all the way up to Lee Hill. The fires were north OF Boulder. Naturally, they kept saying Boulder which just set my parents off when it came on the news. Poor folks!

Now, for the mysterious changes in mass...I never went to the Mystery Spot while living in Santa Cruz but a lady I knew, who was a total skeptic, went and came back insisting I should go. No, no, it is real, she would say. One of my psychology professors actually included it in our class and insisted all of these spots were folly and optical illusions.

I, until I go myself, will make no decisions on whether they are real or not.

Good thinkin, Jennifer! ;-)

But, uh, if one doesnt know where Breadworks or Lucky Market is, the difference between Old North Boulder and New North Boulder iswellno difference! I kinda like the reversed magnetic poles theory myself! ;-)

And, Digit, Ive never been to The Vortex, butits an optical illusion! Ive been to a place near Lake Wales in Florida called Spook Hill. You drive your car to the "bottom" of the hill, put it in neutral, and watch it roll backwards back up to the "top" of the hill! I was there in circa 60. Saw it with my own eyes! Its an optical illusion! (Duh! Ya think?????) Guess I agree with your prof, Jennifer!

Skybird

Hey, we have a "Gravity Hill" in Salt Lake where your car coasts uphill. I wonder how many of these places are out there? :-)

There's the House of Mystery in Montana, near Glacier Park.
I'm starting to think there are quite a few of these places.

I never heard about Gravity Hill, but I only lived in UT for a short time...

Well, I'm inclined to think that the "Vortex" is an optical illusion. However, I haven't been there in years to be discombobulated by first-hand experience. I was there both as a child and as an adult and thought that some of the phenomena had been explained.

The measuring of height as referred to in the Public Broadcasting article takes place outside the little building. You are just standing there outdoors and your companion circles around you. What explains the perception of a difference in height whether the person is standing to your left or right? Got me!

The Vortex is just a few miles from the town of Gold Hill. In the 1850's it was a major gold mining area. When I was told that there was a varying mass of minerals beneath my feet - it made some sense to me. Certainly, "gravity" weighs on me to varying degrees throughout most any day . . .

You know, at higher altitudes - you weigh less. And centripetal acceleration means you will weigh less at the equator than at the poles. There's no question, I would be seriously light-headed if I was standing on a high mountain in Equador, right now. There's no question.

digitS

When we had a question about my wife's health condition, her MD copied information off the linked site. So, I trust it implicitly on issues of a scientific nature.

Since I've learned to test the law of gravity by 1st sticking a toe out of bed on early mornings, I've yet to collapse either the earth's crust or magnetic fields by too hasty of movements - always a safe course of action.

However, in later life I've begun questioning any scientific ideas on a law of gravity. Instead, I am turning more-and-more towards an Intelligent Falling explanation.

digitS

Honestly, even tho' I'm an editor (Easygardener) on Wikipedia, I did not add the Post Falls Idaho Gravity Hill to this list. (I've visited tho'. ;o)

Colorado is sorely, sorely absent from the extensive list . . . We can only guess at the explanation.

digitS

Digit,
The same professor stated that gravity cannot be proven, only experienced! He was a stickler for facts!

J

Sorry, we came from So Cal (San Bernardino), and I still have yet to see nasty fires like we lived through every single year (for 30+ years). Lost our barn and about 300 homes in our little 1 square mile neighborhood in October 2003, and it just keeps happening every year.

I'm SO glad to not live there any longer!

You shouldn't be sorry that CO doesn't have as severe fires as CA, TWH.

I'm sure that there is little desire by your new neighbors to engage in a competition.

I moved up here near 49° North from 40° North coastal California. What I wasn't expecting was that despite long, long daylight hours and next to no Summer clouds or rain: the areas are roughly equivalent in annual sunlight. On the SAD index, I can be equally miserable in both locations.

I attempt to overcome this reality by burning myself to a crisp during the growing season. Under the weak and brief sunlight yesterday, I found a bottle of cod liver oil at the pharmacy. The heavy addition of fog this morning has nearly driven me to drink it.

d'S'

Finally - - some sunshine!!!

I really should be happy about the nonflood hereabouts - and I am. But, it was sure nice to see blue sky this morning and a bright sun.

Yesterday, the low temperature was 28° and the high temperature was 30°. Wow! How's that for a nothing sort of day??

Seven mornings of "fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less" at a nearby airport. Seven days, I think, since I've seen the sun. Today it only got up to 33° but it was glorious!

DW & I took a Sunday drive of about 80 miles and looked at the Palouse Hills and the little towns in that part of the world. We saw a couple of bald eagles! Oh, to soar with the eagles after more than a month of severe cabin fever!

There is still plenty of snow everywhere in the yard and on the north slope of the roof but slowly, slowly, slowly, very slowly, it is melting . . .

digitS'