Are you far enough south to be in the blizzard watch area, Jay? I just checked down in that area, and it's supposed to actually be getting less snow than the Metro area. Here in Denver they're saying we could get 2" an hour for 4 or 5 hours tomorrow afternoon! It'll be interesting to see what actually happens!

As long as your plants are covered up with snow before it gets real cold out, they'll be fine! If you get a LOT of wind and the snow is blowing off of your plants, you might want to go out and shovel some on top of them if that seems possible---but I'm betting you'll get enough to cover them up naturally.

Batten down the hatches! It's spring snowstorm time!
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: NOAA - Northeast Colorado!

March in Colo.

This old weatherman's been watching as the northern hemisphere has changed over the past week into a late winter pattern - the kind that made 'in like a lion' a household phrase.

The forecasters around here a few days ago had an inkling, and as the days progressed you can see their concern grow. My comment on the other thread got at the temps, but not the power of this system to move air. Now we all are in agreement that there is a LOT of power in this system, and I completed my battening of the hatches this afternoon, and we modified some plans as the kindergartner is having a 'Program' at school Thurs evening.

Anyway, I'm with skybird and I ensured the plants that I think are too young/marginal are fine. And in the metro area we'll get plenty of snow, some of it will blow off but it will be wet at first and the lower stuff will stick.

Yay! Moisture!

Dan

We're supposed to get about 8-13" here it seems. They're warning that because of budget cutbacks, the residential areas of Colorado Springs likely won't see a snowplow until they have at least 6" of snow, and then it may be iffy. I don't know about those of us in the county...

I'm glad it's waiting till tomorrow. We've had today planned as a ski day for about 3 weeks now. The roads were clear most of the way and the snow was some of the nicest I have skied in a very long time.

Hickenlooper really has a lot of pull - weeks ago Denver scheduled a furlough day for Friday. I wonder how many city employees will be on the slopes...

Greenbean - I skied the Sierra and Cascades for decades - any snow around here to me is the nicest in a long time.

Dan

I'm looking out the window as Sleeping Ute appears and disappears and appears and disappears as the clouds head SE in a big hurry. They're indicative of the low that is currently "digging" into the Four Corners (I'm not sure how I feel about that) and then will trot along the NM border, giving you along the front range an 'upslope'.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1194436}}

Here's what I woke up to this morning, and it's still coming down:

{{gwi:1194438}}

I've always said that we don't have a "spring" in Colorado, but a "winter-summer-winter-summer". Heh.

Heheheheh! I was sitting here smugly thinking, gee, whereÂs all that wind theyÂre talking aboutÂwhen I looked up and suddenly I could hardly see the back fence across my, very shallow, backyard! ThatÂll teach me! I went to the front windows to see if hopefully the wind was blowing some of the snow off of the evergreen treeÂand couldnÂt even see that far! Between gusts I noticed my neighborÂs garage was open, and then I noticed my neighbor was out shoveling her drive and the sidewalk. I had thought about shoveling my own sidewalkÂsince there was no wind! During the blizzard of Â05 I decided to shovel my walk after the first couple hours, thinking it would make it easier to shovel when the snow finally stopped. Boy was that a mistake! Within a half an hour the wind had completely filled in the places I had shoveledÂand was adding in heaps and bounds on top of it! So since I really am getting the wind "theyÂre talking about," IÂm gonna wait till itÂs all over this time! And the evergreen! Yes! The wind is strong enough to be blowing the WET snow off of it, most of it, anyway. The stuff on the very bottom, the branches that are most likely to break, is still there. I could go out and shake them off! I could!

I measured the snow on top of my dumpster, and that measures 4", but I REALLY think I have more than that. ItÂs just that itÂs so uneven itÂs impossible to measure. Even on my deck railing, which is usually a good measuring spot, it varies dramatically. Wish I had gotten that weather station that I almost bought on sale! Funny, every time I look at them itÂs really nice out and I decide to put it off just a little while! [Remind self to stop procastinating!]

David, your link isnÂt working! It says IÂm "not authorized to view it!" Guess IÂm too young to see whatever it is that you posted there! Boy! Do I ever want to see it now!!!

Stay warm and donÂt blow away, everybody!

Stay safe,
Skybird

Still nothing more than a dusting out here, but the wind is blowing as usual. It starts snowing and I-70 will be shut down. Just hope this doesn't end up being a snirt (snow and dirt) storm.

Yeah!! So giddy over the snow here. A little worried that the bulbs will be hurt, but only some of them are peeking up and only by an inch or two.

We are at about ten inches now and have decided we better get my post office task out of the way before the wind hits. Maybe it won't?

Snow pants--check
Dog poop bags--check
Package to mail--check

Here we go!

I hope everyone enjoys the moisture and that all our gardens fair well.

J.

The MIL went out yesterday to cut a couple dozen daffies to give to the kindergarner's teacher and for our table. But the rest seem to be reacting as expected and we have ~6" here right now & will shovel piles where more moisture is needed.

At any rate, waiting for the break to go out and shovel to lessen the load for the next wave.

Moisture! Yay!

Dan

THE SUNÂS OUT! StormÂs over! Or not! ThereÂs a hole in the middle of the storm, kinda like the eye of a hurricane, and IÂm right in the middle of it! On the radar it sure doesnÂt look like thereÂs much upstream! For now! One channel just said Thornton has had a little over 8". A couple drifts in the backyard look like theyÂre close to 3'! Another neighbor is out shoveling his drive and walk. IÂm glad my house faces south! IÂll have to shovel the sidewalk, but IÂll wait for the sun to shovel the driveway!

;-)
Skybird

I just shoveled six inches of snow off the driveway but before I was done there was at least another inch! We always have high snow totals. A drift has already swallowed my whiskey barrel water garden.
Its a good excuse to get going with some more seed trays under the lights inside.

It looks like we whiffed completely on the moisture. maybe 0.01 inch.

Skybird, the link that doesn't work is to a photo of Sleeping Ute Mountain in the snow, a google images will find you several. Oh well.....

Looks like I've got something between 6 and 8 inches here. I thought it was closer to 8, but now that the wind has stopped blowing, it might be closer to 6. Traffic looks awfully slow out there... a LOT of slush on the road, this will be messy when it freezes tonight.

I considered going out and shoveling the growing drift in the driveway, but since it's still snowing sideways here, I think I'll wait... maybe Skybird's sunshine will appear here later this afternoon.

Well, I just shoveled the walk! It was 14" deep! The sidewalk was warm, of course, so it was slush on the bottomÂand HEAVY to shovel. I threw as much as I could on the grass! Yum, yum! There was a drift in front of my door that was deeper than thatÂit always drifts there.

It sure looks to me like itÂs almost over! Weatherman on one station said just a couple more inches, but Ed Green on Channel 4 said theyÂre not even positive that weÂve seen the worst of it yet, and it could move back in and start all over again. I sure hope my shoveling job doesnÂt blow back in and have to be done all over again. More "new" snow is one thing, but itÂs discouraging when all the old stuff blows right back where you just shoveled it from!

I guess itÂs made it out to you, Jali! I just heard I70 is closed from Tower Road to Kansas! I suspect youÂre getting more snow than dirt! (Chirp???)

Did you make it safely back home, Jennifer?

I decided to leave my daffodils outside yesterday, Dan. I guess it was wishful thinking! TheyÂre buried under snow now, and most likely bent "too far." TheyÂll be ok until they get out from under the snowÂand IÂll cut them and bring them in then. I sure canÂt wait till they multiply enough that I have enough to cut some to bring inÂbut still have enough left outside to make the yard pretty!

Sorry youÂre not getting more moisture down there, David, but youÂve had your share this winter. This is our FIRST snow storm! We REALLY need it! I know Sleeping Ute Mountain from "in person!" I donÂt need a picture of that one! But IÂve never seen him with a winter blanket!

ItÂs starting to snow again! And blow! Just checked NOAA, and itÂs building back in. Guess Ed Green was the one who was right!

ItÂs pretty,
Skybird

We made it back, Skybird, thanks!

It was a cold walk to our friends' house to feed their fish, a stop at the post office and a stop at the market. Down by the reservoir, the roofs hardly had any snow as they always get the wind, no matter what. Our neighbor's flat roof and our shed roof are perfectly and evenly covered with almost a foot.

I'll take more, I'd rather have the snow pack in these parts than the dryness.

Such a beautiful site!!

Good thing we don't have sidewalks to shovel...

J

Still nothing here. Sunny and a few clouds now. They keep saying anywhere from 6-24 inches with winds. A NE wind started up about 30 minutes ago. They said it would start at nine and then 2 and then 4 and now 7. Some are saying the heaviest should be east of us. Hopefully with the wind and the new born calves it won't be as bad as some say. And hope I don't get stranded at work. It has happened before. Heading out now to try to figure out a way to put a little straw on the onions in case the wind blows all the snow off. Hope everyone comes through this safely. Will be watching for your updates.
A NWS weatherman on the radio this morning said as he was leaving home for work today he told his wife how much we would get and also how bad. He said she said she thought he was just exaggerating. He said he didn't feel he was. Guess she said she would just wait and see. Lightened up my day a little. Jay

Ohmygosh! I just went out to take a couple pictures! Took 3 in the backyard and then went out in the front yard to get one. Walked down the drive to the sidewalk, took a pic, and walked all the way back up to the front of the garageÂbefore I realize my whole driveway had been shoveled! I had shoveled a one-shovel-wide path just to make it easy if I needed to walk out again to shovel the front walkÂand the whole thing was cleaned. The neighbors did it again. I was gonna just wait for it to melt off! Guess IÂll have to bake some cookies for the girls again!

The snow I have left here coming down now is very fine, and even if it keeps up, it wonÂt amount to anything. The local TV channels are all saying the blizzard warning has been taken down, but NOAAÂs still showing it. They are all still saying that weÂll get more wind tonite, which will be blowing the stuff we already have around.

The worst of whatÂs left is out over Limon now, so you must be a ways south of there, huh, Jay? If you are, I think it looks like itÂs gonna miss you. When I looped it, it sure looked like it was dissipating to me!

Skybird,
We will be able to tell more in a few hours. So far nothing but a little drizzle and it didn't last long. Went and filled all my gas cans. Started and ran my generator so if needed will be ready to go. Then hooked my tractor up to the blade and pulled it up front in case I need to clean my drive way. I'm over a gas storage field that supplies natural gas to the front range area including Denver. We ran at max all day. The worst is if you get called out and stranded at the station. After the blizzard two years ago everyone takes more precautions. The stores were full of people. I've got plenty to last me a few days and they are saying 50's by Sunday. So will melt fairly fast. Looking at the radar unless it wraps around don't see how it will last through tomorrow like some have predicted. Think it could be over by noon tomorrow. You have wonderful neighbors but know you are also.
I'm in the very SW corner of KS. Around 110 miles SE of Lamar. Yes I saw where it look like Jali was getting some snow. Hope everyone can stay warm and safe during this storm. Jay

It is showing on the radar that Limon is getting hammered, but there isn't much happening here. We normally get a big drift on the west side of the house and there is just level snow. Not much of a spring storm to this old prairie rat. I think it spent all its energy on the Front Range. Should be slick as all get out under the snow since we had freezing fog before the snow started.

Jali,
Nice to hear from you. Like I've said it is still hard to know what to expect here. They have changed the arrival several times and now have started lowering predictions some. Hopefully by morning we will have an idea what to expect. They won't totally back off till it is sunny outside. It is supposed to be mid teens here tomorrow night. If it don't snow much will try to spread straw if I make it home and the wind lays enough it will stay put. That has been the problem most of this week. With all the new calves being born around I really hope we don't get a bad one. Jay

Jay, this is an odd storm. Very odd. With the upslope we usually see the wall move in from the east, but not this time. It came out of the north earlier. Now it seems to be coming up Highway 24 from the Springs and intensifying. Maybe it is just the lack of horrible wind that has thrown me this time. :) Yeah, we have a bunch of calves too, but this happens every spring and you just hope. Stay safe all. Gonna be cold before this passes.

Jali,
We've got the wind... If it weren't for the wind, I don't think it would have been too bad today. We're down to 8 degrees and have wind gusts to 40 mph I think. Hwy 24 is closed between Colorado Springs and Limon, Hwy 94 is closed and Schriever AFB is closed. Bummer for DH. He would be getting a snow day tomorrow I think, but tonight is his overnight shift (he does one per week). He's there until tomorrow afternoon anyway. Good that he didn't have to drive home from work today though.

Boy, a couple hours ago I would have said I didnÂt believe you were gonna get the weather, Jay, but I just checked radar for one last time toniteÂand I think I would have been wrong if I had said that. ItÂs amazing how the whole thing redeveloped again! I hope both you and Jali are ok out there!

The snow up here continued for a few more hours after my last post, but it was so fine, it didnÂt really add up to anything. The wind hasnÂt been that bad for the last few hours, and the sidewalk up to my front door has blown shut a little bit, but really not bad. All my plants are well covered with snow, including the plants I have for the Spring Swap which are on my covered deck, so I donÂt need to worry about any of them. Glad for that! ItÂs 15 in my backyard right now.

Let us know how you guys are doing out there when you have time,
Skybird

Just to update. Haven't been out but by looking out at the drifts would say we haven't got much. Lots of winds some high gusts. Depending on who you believe it will end anywhere from 1-7 today. And anywhere from a few more inches to 7-11. I would say it depends on what that in CO does as it moves out. At the present track of things here we won't get much. Will try to update after I've been out in it. Jay

All clear here. Haven't been on the roads yet, but going to work shortly so I'll find out how they are. My cousin called and the calves and mamas all appear to be ok (know more later today). This wasn't much of a storm around here but looks like SE CO and SW KS are gonna get it, so be careful that way, please.

I'm at work. Not that much snow and what there is is light and small. But the wind has kicked up and visibility is about zero. Otherwise not bad yet. Biggest drifts I broke were two foot and where we normally get deep ones not yet. What happens in the next 6 hours will determine how bad it really gets. They are saying from 2-8 inches. If the former won't be that bad. If the latter will be real bad. Looking at the radar snow on the west and south looks like it is getting lighter. And they are saying it will be over from 1-7 tonight. All except the NWS which says 7am tomorrow. I think by mid afternoon the wind will be our main problem that most of the snow will be over. Jay

About 8 in here, hard to tell with the drifting, CoCoRaHS says nearby monitoring sites ~10in. Both sides of the house had ~3 ft drifts, took a long time to shovel this morning, and I transferred some snow to dry spots. The snow is melting at a very fast rate and lawn is spotty visible already where it didn't drift, and some rocks and plants, much of the garlic back up and making food for itself again already. Coldframe opened by itself early and seems like no big deal around here, the plant roots disagree, surely. I suspect Monday it will only be small patches if this keeps up.

We ended up with anything from bare ground to a drift that's about 5' deep in my garden. I posted some pictures on my blog tonight.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

We ended up with 9-10 inches they say. Had drifts over 4 ft. And bare ground in some areas. Where we really needed the moisture it blew off. It has turned into a nice day. Cleaned the drive off so I can get out. Will let it melt some before I clean anymore. Haven't heard of anyone getting stranded this time like two years ago. That reminded everyone of how dangerous they can be. Hopefully this was the last major one for the year.Jay

Well- that was a wonderful addition to our pitiful moisture amounts for the year. My place of work closed at 2pm Thurs, but that was my scheduled time to leave :( By Saturday most of the 6" had melted on hard surfaces and today I can see most of my grass that has magically turned green overnight! I think I will be mowing within the next 3 weeks!

Well, we left Thursday morning with about 1 1/2" of snow on the ground, drove to Montrose in near blizzard conditions, woke up to about 5" of snow there, but by Saturday it was almost completely melted. It did put a damper on our activities there, as did the 50 mph wind gusts today. It is brown outside now, partly from the huge dust clouds, and partly from a fire a couple of miles from here. We are supposed to see some form of moisture overnight, but with the winds like they are I don't expect much.

On the bright side, since it was too windy to hike today, we visited the Russell Stover store : )

Bonnie

Looks like we got about 10 inches or so here in Aurora. I didn't even shovel. The sun and the warm ground did it for me.

What I didn't like, though, was the hard freeze that followed. Anything that was under the snow looks all right, but above it almost everything got frostbitten. I had some bleeding heart and lilac flower buds that I think are goners. And that was my first lilac bush to ever flower. :-( The lilac and peach leaves are frostbitten. I hope this doesn't kill my peach harvest this year. The peach hadn't blossomed yet.

My spring bulbs, though, look like they weathered it. I can see some daffodil and tulip flower buds poking up. Maybe the fertilizing I did last year helped.

I'm glad we got the moisture. Didn't need the cold that followed, though. Even the dandelions got frostbit!

The one-half inch of snow we got here near 49° North on the 29th of March didn't prompt me to join this thread. Colorado & Kansas made national news during your major snowfall, I suppose you know.

The 2" that fell last night doesn't rate up there either but I'm growing rather tired of it all. On the 29th, after that little bit of snow melted, it took the very last of the December snow from my yard . . . it's baaaack!

I can certainly remember November snow lasting until March so I guess I shouldn't complain about December snow lasting until the end of the month. But, it was nice to discover that the last dirty pile had vanished into the greening patch of chives in the backyard.

Reviving this thread was the alternative to bemoaning the absence of even a single flower in my yard. I notice that the neighbor's crocus are blooming in their full southern exposure . . . just before they were covered with snow yesterday. And, I was at a church last week with the foot of its massive stone wall sprinkled with crocus. I got closer and realized that the purple crocus had bloomed first and been cut down by sub-zero temps we had back about 3 weeks ago.

After the church visit, I went off for a walk in a park. There is a little creek that comes down the hill and snowdrops bloom along its banks. I knew that the snowdrops would be there and they didn't disappointment me. I've often found them blooming there right beside the melting snow banks and above the icy waters.

I didn't have my camera or I could have taken this picture. (This is another of my "I could have taken this picture" pictures ;o) We all know what they look like but we really should honor their simple and pristine beauty, don't you think?

On this side of Aurora we're a little higher and warmer, so the plants don't mind.

I'm leaving the covering of ornamental grass clippings on some of the wee ones, as I can't tell what that forecasted storm this weekend is going to do. But I haven't covered the coldframe in some time now and the little bit of snow yesterday didn't do much for our moisture...

Dan

Digit I agree with you. I got one picking of asparagus a week and half ago and every spear since has got it's nose frosted after it comes through the mulch. Hopefully next week will start snapping some good ones again. Looks like a roller coaster for the next few days. Hopefully I will have some winter sown showing their heads soon. Jay

Without even a lawn violet, I'm a little discouraged here . . . I was noticing that the "normal" high is 54°F and was thinking that we haven't had it that warm yet this year. But, I see that the nice day we had about 2 weeks ago (1 nice day) topped out above that.

Getting to normal would be a relief. The snow that fell yesterday AM melted almost entirely but it is snowing again, blowing horizontal . . . This is shaping up like 2008 when the lack of sunlight slowed growth in the greenhouse and spiked my heating bill. We had a "normal" May - encouraging "normal" garden planting. Then frigid weather set in during early June that killed the melons and more-or-less crippled all the warm-season plants that survived.

The exception was tomatoes. I've yet to figure out why 2008 was such a good year for tomatoes! The Summer of 2008 managed to get back to no better than "normal."

Nothing to do about it. It's no good crying over spilt milk. No use crying in my beer. Whimpering and complaining won't make it go away. Gotta accept reality if that's the way it's going to be. It can't be helped. Yep, it's shaping up to be an excellent tomato year!

digitâ«Sâ¼

After yet another dust storm yesterday, we've got 4" of snow, and my skylights, along with everything else, are covered with a skim of mud.

I think that the key to a 'good tomato year' is plant at least 60 plants. Even if half of them die, there are still plenty of tomatoes. If most of them manage to stay alive, then you have an "overwhelming" tomato year.

Steve, how do you do that note thingie?

we are at about 8" and it is still coming down. last snow blast, there were about 22 wrecked cars on our short stretch down the mountain between here and boulder. Now, the weather is alerting that our little hwy should be marked hazardous to impossible to drive. Soooo, long story short, we are staying home and having pancakes! We try not to miss our Saturdays in boulder, but not today. Nuh uh!

So far, nothing is blooming :( but I guess that is obvious...

Let's see if I can make a few show up.

The first 3 are just from messing around in Word holding down the Alt key while typing a number (â« is Alt 14). Then copying and pasting.

The second 2 are from using the "Insert" & "Symbol" in Word. Then copying and pasting.

GW doesn't like all of the Word symbols . . .

ö â â¥
⪠âµ

I can do some fun stuff, like the ö thingie, right into the GW box, using command+assorted stuff.

¡Olé! Please pass the ÃvetûÂrünkin® ! (fermented cod roe - traditional Russian breakfast in the spring)

How's everyone doing with the latest weather system? We got a soaking of much-needed slush and rain here in Fort Collins, but I hear that areas to the south of Denver had a ton of snow dumped on them overnight...

Maybe an inch of snow here in Brighton. It's been raining for about 40 hours straight, though. I keep covering my lilac (still young) at night as the temps drop. I have a small lake in my backyard. As much as i love the moisture, I can't stand it being cold AND wet. Wednesday it's back up in the 70's. Can't wait to see everything green!

We had tons of slush in Westminster, enough that the lawns are still quite white with it. I went outside to scrape the sidewalks this afternoon, though, and it was raining on top of the slush!

8 inches yesterday, all gone today! gotta love it! I just patched my dead spots in the lawn so I hope this moisture helps it along.

Well, we got about four feet! I knew early on because we know someone who works with one of those gov. weather places and they warned us a week ago. They are never wrong! So, aside from being without power for over 24 hours, we are loving it!!! The energy in the air is exciting and the shoveling is a pain but, man, is it gorgeous!!!

I'm glad you guys got the slush, I kind of wish we had had more rain but I am not complaining!! I just keep shoveling the tiny dogs' area and putting that snow in my flower beds.

I hope you are all safe out there!

J.