Colorado mountains under Memorial Day snow advisory, up to 8 inches expected...

[dirty]

By Rocky Mountain News
May 23, 2007
<!-- /byline --> Don?t set the holiday picnic table just yet. You might need to clear some snow first. Light snow is falling along Interstate 70 on both sides of the Eisenhower Tunnel and along some mountain passes, with 3 to 7 inches expected around Dillon. Heavy rain and some hail is falling in parts of the metro area and along the Interstate 25 corridor to the south.
The National Weather Service says rain or thundershowers are likely through this evening along the Front Range, with snowshowers expected by midnight in the Castle Rock area. Thunderstorms could be heavy on the eastern plains, where heavy rain has been reported in several areas.
The southwestern mountains of Colorado are under a snow advisory, with up to 8 inches of accumulation possible by early evening.
A freeze watch is in effect for tonight in the San Luis Valley region and much of southeastern Colorado is under a flash flood watch.
Conditions are expected to improve tomorrow, with highs forecast in the mid 60s along the Front Range. Highs are expected in the 70s to near 80 over what should be a mostly sunny Memorial Day holiday weekend.




Rocky Mountain News - Denver and Colorado's reliable source for breaking news, sports and entertainment: Local

 

[WildBill]

Re: Colorado mountains under Memorial Day snow advisory, up to 8 inches expected...

Dirty you do realize the places getting snow are about 9,000 feet and higher? Also that there has been recorded snowfall in Denver every month of the year? Yes it has snowed in downtown Denver in July and August.

 

[Nicolos_Darvas]

Re: Colorado mountains under Memorial Day snow advisory, up to 8 inches expected...

Our boy Al Gore is so full of shit, eh ?

This past winter saw record snows in the Rocky Mountain region as well as an unusually cold spring in Alaska. Currently, we are seeing a Memorial Day snow advisory for the Colorado Mountains. Wyoming being buried in a May snowstorm and parts of Canada are still enduring winter. In addition, South Africa just set 54 new cold weather records with some parts seeing snow for the first time in 33 years as snow and ice continue to fall. And I am not finished. A massive snowstorm in China has closed highways and stranded motorists. And finally, winter has arrived early in Australia as the snow season is off to a promising start for the winter recreation industry.

.: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works :: Minority Page :.

 

[Katie]

Re: Colorado mountains under Memorial Day snow advisory, up to 8 inches expected...

i was there in june one year and there was snow..

 

[dirty]

Re: Colorado mountains under Memorial Day snow advisory, up to 8 inches expected...

Climbers get the cold shoulder

Awash in snow, path to Pikes Peak summit proving dangerous


By DAVE PHILIPPS, THE GAZETTE
May 24, 2007 - 5:07PM

Last May, Teresa Taylor was watching climbers pad up to the summit of Pikes Peak in shorts and sneakers. This year, she’s warning everyone that beyond Barr Camp, you’d better be dressed for the worst.

This is the snowiest spring on Pikes Peak in more than a decade. Barr Camp recorded 231 inches of snow this winter. (It only saw 50 inches in 2006.)

Hikers venturing above treeline will find that the peak is more wintry this May than it usually is in January, and they should be prepared.

“The snow is still waist-deep in places, and we just got more today,” Taylor, the caretaker at Barr Camp, said Wednesday. Every day, she warns people that the trail is buried.

Some climbers listen — she persuaded a dozen Texans in jeans to turn back Sunday. But some climbers don’t. Two Air Force Academy cadets headed up to the summit Tuesday. They became stranded above treeline and had to be rescued by helicopter Wednesday morning.

The cadets, Jesse Mortensen, 21, a junior from Michigan, and Jesse Luschen, 22, a senior from Iowa, were out to enjoy a hike during an idle period at the academy between the end of spring term and graduation.

They hiked seven miles up the snowless bottom part of Barr Trail on Monday and spent the night at Barr Camp. Tuesday, they left camp early, expecting to cover the remaining five miles to the top before noon.

They did not have snowshoes, ice axes or winter gear, but they did carry sleeping bags and a tent.

When Taylor said weather was moving in, they assured her they could beat it to the top.

If you get in trouble or get tired, Taylor told them as they left, the last train leaves from the summit at 4 p.m.

“They said, ‘Four? We’ll be there long before then,’” she said Wednesday.

They never got there.

“We hiked for hours and hours. It was very frustrating and hard,” Mortensen said Wednesday.

The cadets pushed through knee- and waist-deep snow. A storm rolled in, pelting them with snow and hail.

Snow obscured the trail. Clouds obscured the summit.

“We could hear the train whistle. We kept thinking we were at the summit. Obviously, we weren’t,” Mortensen said.

The cadets likely took a wrong turn near 13,000 feet, two miles from the summit, and crossed onto a steep flank of the peak called the Bottomless Pit.

About 5:30 p.m., lost, soaked and shivering uncontrollably, they set up their tent. Inside, they shed their wet clothes and crawled into their sleeping bags. Mortensen called for help on his cellular phone.

El Paso County Search and Rescue drove a snowcat to the top of the closed Pikes Peak Highway, arriving at 10:30 p.m. Rescuers worked their way down the main cirque, searching for the cadets with no luck.

At dawn, searchers crossed into the Bottomless Pit and found them, said Steve Sperry, spokesman for Search and Rescue.

Both were cold and wet, wearing jeans and tennis shoes, but otherwise OK, Sperry said.

A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter flew the cadets and rescuers to town Wednesday morning. Neither cadet was treated for injuries.

Mortensen said he didn’t heed warnings at Barr Camp because he never anticipated how difficult the combination of deep, wet snow, weather and altitude would be.

In the years the cadets have lived in Colorado Springs, tennis shoes and jeans would have been adequate for a May Pikes Peak climb, but this year it’s so snowy that skiers have been riding the train up and skiing down the east face this month.

Temperatures at the summit have hovered around freezing for days. Snow will likely last into June or July.

“It’s been warm in town, and people think, ‘How much snow can there be?’ There’s a lot,” Taylor said. “And it’s wet, deep snow. You’re going to sink in and get soaked through.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0223 or dave.philipps@gazette.com