Frosty morning

[Scott Patterson]

Frost on the ground with a low of 32F this morning (officially 34F downtown). I guess our growing season will be fairly short this year.

It looks like full summer for the rest of the week though:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 7Ky1NhOVCo

[ravyrn]

Frost on the ground with a low of 32F this morning. I guess our growing season will be fairly short this year.

It looks like full summer for the rest of the week though:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 7Ky1NhOVCo

I miss spending my summers up in Colorado! I envy you! I recall more than a few times getting snowed on up in the La Platas during June and July. The most recent being during a quick trip in June of 2011... and we got snowed on overnight and woke up to about 3 inches on the ground on Father's Day!

[Scott Patterson]

Yes, I actually like it in summer when it cools off at night. We're supposed to be at or near 90 for the next week, but it is also supposed to be in the low 40's at night. It's better than a low of 70 or something.

I wouldn't mind if summers were a little longer though.

[ravyrn]

Yeah, I feel ya. One of my favorite things was to sleep out in the meadows in just sleeping bags. I was friends with a rancher's son who kept cattle up in the National Forest around us and my brother and the rancher's kids would go sleep out underneath the stars and just watch the sky until we fell asleep. We were pretty young around 10-14 so we'd always bring their cow dogs with us to alert us to any unwanted guests in our area. We never really had any problem outside of a bear and a couple coyotes, but it was so awesome sleeping out beneath the stars. We'd always wake up early the next morning once the sun started coming up and the birds started singing and I remember there always being frost on our sleeping bags. It was great. Our cabin was at 9000ft and we'd camp in meadows anywhere between 9000 and 10500ft. I loved it up there compared to the summer temps back home in SW Louisiana. It'd rarely get past the 80s up in the mountains and given our location we always had a nice breeze from the west. We'd usually dip down from the upper 20s to lower 40s depending on the weather and how far into the summer it was. I absolutely loved it! What elevation are you at in Craig? I'm assumering around 7000?

[Scott Patterson]

What elevation are you at in Craig? I'm assumering around 7000?

We're only at 6300 feet, but the cold air really sinks into the valley bottom at night. It's much cooler on the valley floor at night than it is on the hills. For example, the Craig 4SW station is often shown as being representative for Craig, but it's actually on a hill so it is warmer at night there.

Anyway, it is refreshing to have the cool nights after the hot days. You can tell which night this month was cloudy! Sometimes when it's clear we can go from near freezing to the upper 90's.

[ravyrn]

We're only at 6300 feet, but the cold air really sinks into the valley bottom at night. It's much cooler on the valley floor at night than it is on the hills.

Is that the case for Maybell to your west? If I'm not mistaken, I believe they hold the all-time record low for the state of -64F (or in that neighborhood -- I did a social studies fair project on Colorado back in elementary). I always thought it was odd that a low elevation would hold the record low but it makes sense as the cold air really can pool in some of the valleys (I often notice this occurring in the San Luis Valley while it is actually warmer in Wolf Creek Pass or the Sangre De Christos than it is in Alamosa.

[Scott Patterson]

Is that the case for Maybell to your west? If I'm not mistaken, I believe they hold the all-time record low for the state of -64F (or in that neighborhood -- I did a social studies fair project on Colorado back in elementary). I always thought it was odd that a low elevation would hold the record low but it makes sense as the cold air really can pool in some of the valleys (I often notice this occurring in the San Luis Valley while it is actually warmer in Wolf Creek Pass or the Sangre De Christos than it is in Alamosa.

Yes, same for Maybell. Maybell is just to the west of us and only 5920 feet elevation. The official record low there was -61F.

It's amazing how much a difference a few hundred feet elevation change can make.

Maybell has been officially down to -61F and verified temperatures in Craig down to -56F. Some people have recorded (unofficial) temperatures of -64F down by the river. The Trapper Mine, which sits at 6440 feet and where the Craig SW station is located has only been down to -41F. Still chilly, but much warmer considering it's only a few hundred feet higher and only a few miles away. The valley floors get much colder at night than the hills do, at least on clear nights.