Tuesday, 8 through Thursday, 10 September 2020
So after all that long day of figuring out a route and making campground reservations, I got sideswiped by Mother Nature. Tuesday morning's local newscast was almost entirely taken up with the weather forecast of huge amounts of snow in western CO that were expected that night and the next day. I'd planned to leave here Wednesday so asked the office for a couple of days extension.
Monday had been hot, with temperatures well up into the 90s, but that afternoon and evening, as the system came through, we got some serious wind. It was still blowing Tuesday morning, with gusts up to 51 mph at times. But the day got chillier as it went on.
When I woke up Wednesday morning, at first things didn't seem so bad. Yes, there was snow on the ground (for photos, see below), but the roads were just slushy, if that, so I could easily have left anyway. But then I watched the local (actually Colorado Springs) TV weather report and learned that if I'd left, it would have been a very large error.
In Alamosa, where I'd intended to stay on Wednesday night, the forecast had been for 4" to 8" of snow, but what they actually got was 14". If I'd gone, I'd have been stuck there. If, of course, I'd even gotten there: La Veta, a town between Walsenburg (where my last campground was) and Alamosa, got 6" of snow overnight. I hadn't looked at the topography in that area closely until I saw that report, but then I realized La Veta is near a mountain pass that's more than 9,000' up. I'm not sure I'd have made it over that pass to get to Alamosa in the first place.
The TV didn't say how much snow we got here in La Junta, but I measured it with my hand on a piece of equipment in the KOA dog park - 3" - and likely more except that much of the snow was melted by then because the air temp went up into the 40s right away.
Everybody I've talked to that's from Colorado has insisted this is extremely unusual for this time of year - and the weather is setting out to prove it: the temps are supposed to be back up in the 70s or 80s by this weekend.
As far as I can tell it's impossible to get from east to west in this state without going through one mountain pass or another, and I'm not real enthusiastic about taking this RV into the mountains if there's snow on the ground. I'll keep an eye on the weather forecasts, but they're pretty experienced at snowplowing in this state (just not between 7 PM and 5 AM), and it looks like anything that might turn to ice will most likely be melted by the time I get back on the road on Friday.
On the plus side, this storm dumped 8"-14" on what's called the Cameron Peak Fire, which is the one near Denver that had grown so fast and was about 0% contained before the storm. Unlike poor California, fighting forest fires with neither snow nor rain to help them out, it looks like Colorado may be able to get theirs under control. The snow didn't put out the fire but did help contain it by getting moisture to the area.
And speaking of moisture, I heard 58% of the state is in the extreme drought category, with the remainder in severe drought status. Given all that dryness it's a wonder the fires aren't any worse here than they are.
But back to the plus side of the weather, the first snow of the year is always pretty.
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| the campground playground in the snow |
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| the campground dog park in the snow |
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| the water on the ground shows it started melting fast |
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| This mobile home seems to be considered a KOA Kabin in this campground. But the current Kamper clearly enjoyed the snow. See detail right. |
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| close-up of the snow man - but he melted within an hour |
Of course, just when you thought we'd heard all the bad news from this stupid virus the morning news announced that Colorado schools may no longer have snow days: the pandemic taught folks that there's such a thing as online school available.
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| Across the street from the campground, the Ark Valley Animal Hospital's sign. |
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| But the same sign from the other side . . . . |
This campground is a short block off US 50. That vet clinic is between the highway and the KOA and, immediately on the other side of the highway is a frequently used train track. I often saw long lines of cars filled with coal, presumably coming from the Trinidad region and heading east.
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| this is part of a very long train of coal cars |
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