Fifty Plus (50+) - And Two Days After the Blizzard - - - -

Just Two days ago
http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/snow102006.jpg

And Two Days After the Blizzard - - - -

Perfectly rideable plowed trails. In the mid 60's. Catch 14,110 ft Pikes Peak in the background, and me in my official "FRED" outfit:D on this fun 20 miler right out my back door.

http://members.aol.com/bfn50gallery/snow5.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bfn50gallery/snow4.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bfn50gallery/snow3.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bfn50gallery/snow2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/bfn50gallery/snow1.jpg

Never been to America but my wife has just looked over my shoulder while viewing your pictures. Think a Trip might be on the cards if it has areas like that. Bit different to our hills down by the coast where if it does snow- you have to be quick to get out in it.

Thanks.

Dnvr,

Thanks for sharing your blue sky with those of us who have been living in dreary land for the better part of 3 weeks.

Never been to America but my wife has just looked over my shoulder while viewing your pictures. Think a Trip might be on the cards if it has areas like that. Bit different to our hills down by the coast where if it does snow- you have to be quick to get out in it.

Thanks.

North America (and the US of A) is so varied that you can find any kind of climate and geography you might like at any time of the year.

If you come, we will go for a ride!

Dnvr,

Thanks for sharing your blue sky with those of us who have been living in dreary land for the better part of 3 weeks.

We seem to have a lot of blue skies around here. Some claim more than San Diego. The thing about San Diego is that the climate varies widely depending upon your closeness to the beach and the marine air flow that dominates the beach. It can be 60F, foggy and a bit drizzly at the beach, and 10 miles inland it can be 85F and clear.

Somehwat similarly, we can have wide variations here in Colorado. Many folks don't realize that the area from the front range of mountains going east is a separate climatic zone from the mountains, as is the area on the far west such as Grand Junction, which gets so little snow the city (as I have been told - can't verify this) owns no snow plows.

The front range can have a huge "upslope" snowstorm, and you can drive into the mountains and it will be sunny and clear. And vice versa. And then there are some storms which dominate almost the entire state as did this last storm.

But we do have a lot of blue skies around here.



Q - How much sunshine do we get in Colorado? On average for a year, how many days does the sun shine in Colorado? (http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/questions.php)

A - This is a question that comes up several times per year. You will find in many Chamber of Commerce publications from all areas of Colorado that we get at least 300 days of sunshine each year. The only problem is, there is no official definition of "days of sunshine" so there is no data set that you can easily turn to.
Have you ever wondered if anyone actually keeps track of stuff like this? It turns out that for many years, three locations in Colorado have operated an instrument called a "sunshine switch" -- Pueblo, Denver and Colorado Springs. If this instrument is cleaned and perfectly calibrated (which it rarely is), it can tell you minute by minute each day when the sun was shining. We did a study over 10 years ago based on these three stations and found that for Denver if you count every day when the sun came out for at least one hour, that then you could come up with an average of around 300 "days of sunshine" each year.

But my assumption is that most people, if they heard "day of sunshine" would assume that meant it was a sunny day. The National Weather Service did establish a criterion for determining clear, cloudy and partly cloudy days based on sky cover. Any day, with an average skycover of 30% or less was considered a clear day, while if the sky cover was 80% or more (averaged from hourly sky condition reports between sunrise and sunset). Anything in between counts as "partly cloudy". Based on this definition, there are 115 clear days, 130 partly cloudy ones and 120 cloudy days, on average, each year. Over in Grand Junction the number of clear days is great (137) but the number of cloudy days is almost the same (121).

But the fact is, here in Colorado and much of the Rocky Mountain region, there are relatively few totally clear days but a whole lot of days when the sun peeks out at least a little. Therefore, we tend to brag about our sunshine -- but mislead folks along the way.

I am circling around your questions. Of course the answer will differ from one location to another in Colorado with the most sunshine occurring down around Alamosa with the least around Boulder and in the northern mountains of the state. -- In the Denver area there are probably only 30-40 totally overcast days per year, and some of them are even fairly bright -- about 300 days would have at least one hour of sunshine sometime during the day, but only about 115 days per year fit the classic definition of "clear". -- Answered by Nolan Doesken (9/03).

Glad to see your "weather variety" is starting to melt.

I am SO looking forward to our move to CO. :D

I feel your cold.

I am SO looking forward to our move to CO. :D

My Brother-in-law is a deputy sheriff in Salida (Chaffee County).

What was your license plate, please?

I spent 23 years in Co, 21 in San Diego currently. It sure is beautiful there but I couldn't take it anymore. Some like weather extremes but it wasn't for me. I can visit any time I want :D

Spring and Fall sure make me miss it though. Till the sun goes down and I realize I am freezing my @#$ off LOL

My Brother-in-law is a deputy sheriff in Salida (Chaffee County).

What was your license plate, please?

:D :D Nice try.

:( Its cold here, our snow is not melting. Low last night was -4 and today's high is in the low 20's Winter has hit Montana like a frozen ton of bricks!

I spent 23 years in Co, 21 in San Diego currently. It sure is beautiful there but I couldn't take it anymore. Some like weather extremes but it wasn't for me. I can visit any time I want :D

Spring and Fall sure make me miss it though. Till the sun goes down and I realize I am freezing my @#$ off LOL

And I spent 28 years in San Diego and 37 years in Colorado, and I hate the smell of brush fires.

:( Its cold here, our snow is not melting. Low last night was -4 and today's high is in the low 20's Winter has hit Montana like a frozen ton of bricks!

holy crap. it's that cold already?! sorry to hear. we're having a mild bout of mid 60's right now (which i'm sure you don't want to hear about, right?).

Dnvr looks very nice. I like looking at snow. However, our forecast for the rest of the week is 87/73, 85/72, 84/72, 82/71 & 82/74. So I'll stay were I am at.

Dnvr looks very nice. I like looking at snow. However, our forecast for the rest of the week is 87/73, 85/72, 84/72, 82/71 & 82/74. So I'll stay were I am at.


I like looking at snow too. That's why they make postcards! :D

Totally agree - I don't mind looking at snow if you all keep it up there.

Writing from Costa Rica where there is no evidence that they had snow - even in the ice age!

The front range can have a huge "upslope" snowstorm, and you can drive into the mountains and it will be sunny and clear. And vice versa. And then there are some storms which dominate almost the entire state as did this last storm.


Well, this last storm did hit Ft. Collins (60 miles north of Denver), but all we got was some slushy snow that soon melted. By the afternoon, it was hard to tell it had even snowed.

Nick

Danged cold here, too! That blue, blue Colorado sky looks great! And the trails were plowed and dry in only two days!

There is hope. The temp for this weekend is forecast to be near 50, and I drove some roads yesterday and the are ice free.

-Frozen Montana

There is hope. The temp for this weekend is forecast to be near 50, and I drove some roads yesterday and the are ice free.

-Frozen Montana
Have daytime temps of around 55 at present- Summer is still here. But the first frost came last night. 2nd is tonight so wimped out on my night ride. Couldn't find the leggings and the Halogen lamps are needed to light the trail and not warm my knees.

Mid 50's today - got a nice ride in!

What's in the steamer trunk beneath your saddle? That thing is huge!

BTW - that's pretty cool that they plow the bike trails.

What's in the steamer trunk beneath your saddle? That thing is huge!

BTW - that's pretty cool that they plow the bike trails.

1 kitchen sink!

Nice photos, do they typically plow the paths? No such thing here.

Nice photos, do they typically plow the paths? No such thing here.

Trails are plowed immediately after the storm ends. We have a permanently assigned trail maintenance crew.

It can be icy under the bridges. I go very slowly or walk there.

Trails are plowed immediately after the storm ends. We have a permanently assigned trail maintenance crew.

It can be icy under the bridges. I go very slowly or walk there.

Wow! Sound like a great place to live. :beer: