What’s wrong with this picture? I’ll tell you. Today is December 22 and this is the summit of Pikes Peak (14,115 ft). The temperature is about 17 degrees. Despite that, there are tourists here who drove all the way up. And there are two cog rail trains in service.
There should be snow! Lots of snow. The road should be impassable and closed. The trains should not be running. There should be no tourists.
Here’s Pikes Peak viewed from below, from the Garden of Gods:
Do you see any snow? Does this look to you like Colorado on December 22?
I live just north of Denver, and it’s dry as a bone here too, and at 11:30 am, it’s 57 degrees, headed for a predicted 60.
March is supposedly our snowiest month, so there is reason to hope. But right now that’s all we’ve got, because this is what extreme drought looks like.
This is dreadfully wrong. This is global warming.
(P.S. At 3 pm we’re at 62 degrees.)
Guess this will be an easy year for the AdAmAn guys? Haven’t the winds been crazy strong on PP, too? So at least some has blown away (as it evaporated….) Supposedly a good shot now on Christmas Eve–
Yep, it’s windy up there. Average wind speed for the last ten minutes: 28 mph. Big storm is supposed to dump a lot of snow in the mountains Thursday night, but Pikes Peak may be too far east to get any.
That might be a break for AdAmAn, but they might start a fire if there’s no snow …
Yup, the world is warming and we’re seeing that all over.
I understand that the storm we’re expecting will pass over you first. Please leave a little water in it for Colorado!
Not sure how much will be left – it’s been dumping down here all day.
We clouded up about 4:00 p.m. but the weather guys don’t expect us to get any snow. They think it’ll all fall in the mountains which is almost as good.
crazy and same here, only 1 day of snow so far!
And you are so much farther north! Worrisome, isn’t it.
it really is –
I’m already worrying about next summer, which should be hot and dry, if the current weather is any indication. We are getting snow up here near Estes Park, but very little, and it melts the next day. Not right.
I’ve been keeping an eye on Estes via the webcams, and it’s distressing to see almost no snow. No snowpack in the high country means water rationing down here. Bad for all concerned. The drought maps are very concerning. And we’re far from the worst of it.
For the past few years, we go several months in between any measurable rain. We finally had a smidgeon a few weeks ago, but has been since summer since it’s rained.
Rain? What is this thing you call rain?
The Sahara Dessert and Egypt used to be lush with vegetation thousands of years ago and the south pole was ice free once. Things change and us stopping producing carbon dioxide is not going to make alot of difference. I think we need to adapt or migrate to a better climate. That is what animals do and humans have done in the past. Hard as it is to accept that reality. Have a happy Christmas you and yours, we have to take the rough with the smooth as we have always done.
You and I won’t be around to see any really drastic changes (although I’m already complaining about abnormal heat and drought), but they are coming if humans don’t make some big changes. I worry about our descendants and the grief our inaction may cause them. Earth is a pretty nice place. I’d hate for us to screw it up.
But all that aside, have a great Christmas!