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December 22, 2009 at 12:26 pm
$5.2 mil is the snow removal for DENVER alone! Something about gas tax is where it comes from, so it doesn’t add to the state’s woes.
Now, I’ve looked on a map. Delaware may be a little more north than Colorado on the whole, but why don’t you get snow, if you’re more north? Being by the Atlantic doesn’t seem to stop Maine or any of the others up there. I’m seriously confused about this one.
December 22, 2009 at 8:17 pm
You really have to look at a temperate zone map rather than latitude to see why we (usually) don’t get that much snow. Delaware is in zone 7 while Denver is in zone 5. That is a significant difference.
I think it is our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and (perhaps to some extent) the Gulf Stream that keeps us from having too many major snow storms (such as this one). The Atlantic Ocean helps moderate the mid-Atlantic coastal plain in winter. The Appalachian mountains also help because the mountains often block the coldest air and the downsloping winds coming off the mountains on the eastern side tend to be a little warmer. I think (and this is completely unscientific on my part) that the mountains tend to “squeeze” moisture out of the atmosphere. At least that’s what it seemed like when I was at Virginia Tech and I think my son would say the same about Elkins, WV. Both areas seem to get rain that disappears before it gets this far east. The location of the jet stream also impacts our weather. For us to get a major snow usually involves the coming together of at least two elements. The first is lots of moisture. That usually comes in the form of a Nor’easter – an intense low pressure that rides up the coast. Then we need a reinforcing cold air due to a dip in the jet stream. We often get one or the other, but seldom both.
All that said, the state’s snow removal budget was a joke. The state has serious budget issues from years of spending like drunken sailors on pet (and wasteful) projects, single party government, eight recent years of complete incompetence, and an ever increasing size of state government. (The state is the largest single employer in the state which is not a good thing if you ask me.) When you are face with a serious budget deficit, you make some ridiculous assumptions to make things balance. So now we had a major snow storm that completely blew the state’s snow removal budget and it happened before the first day of winter. I doubt we’ll get through the rest of the winter without some additional snow.
December 24, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Thanks, Bill. I’ve never thought about a temperate zone map. The difference is probably the altitude, I would bet.
Also, while your opinion about the mountains “squeezing” moisture from the air, they do. What happens on the western slope is generally the opposite of what’s happening on the front range. If a storm comes directly from the west, Grand Junction & all the ski resorts get snow, but we don’t. The mountains suck all the moisture before the clouds get here.