SNOWBLOG

Winter Returns to Colorado; DIA Testing Snow Melters

By Bob Berwyn, 2-12-07

After a pesky dry spell that lasted for most of January, Ullr finally returned to Colorado and brought widespread snow to the mountains, with the heaviest amounts in the San Juans. Silverton Mountain reported 18 inches, while Telluride and Durango Mountain Resort reported about of foot of fresh from the storm. Snowfall totals were not as impressive farther north, with only a few inches around most of the major I-70 corridor resorts, but on and off snow the rest of the week should help improve conditions that were getting a bit bony. Other parts of the west also tallied impressive amounts, with Sierra resorts in California finally getting some after a super-dry start to the season. Mammoth reported about three feet of snow from the storm, while several Utah areas picked up a couple of feet. Keep your boards handy because there’s more on the way. Click here for the full Colorado snow report.

NOAA forecasters attribute the dry spell across parts of the region to a split Jet Stream flow that has been driving storms north into Canada and across the southern tier of states. But staffers at the Summit Daily News recently learned the real reason. Ullr decided to take a little break, and upon his return apparently visited a reporter in a dream, who subsequently reported this: “the Big Guy is promising a wet-n-wild late-winter-spring season, so long as everyone shows some respect. He was muttering something about Hawaiian Tropic, the Swedish Bikini Team, mojitos and disrespectful dirtbags who leave litter in ski area parking lots and cigarette butts in the lift lines. Said he was getting so fed up with that scene and that he was thinking about moving south, permanently.” Check out the full riff on Ullr and other ski town nonsense at the paper’s daily humor column.

Along the Front Range, recent temps ranging up into the 40s and 50s melted some of the big snows from December, but city and airport officials are trying to ensure that they won’t experience a rerun of the costly DIA shutdown last December. As previously reported in the Denver Post, an airport consultant pointed out in a preliminary report that better equipment, training and communication could have lessened the impacts of the pre-Christmas blizzard. In the Feb. 11 edition of the Post, transportation reporter Jeffrey Leib followed up with a story describing recent tests of industrial equipment that can melt 600 tons of snow per hour.

In Vail, local officials are still pursuing the idea of some form of inclusionary zoning to provide affordable housing. An earlier version of the plan would have required 20 percent of all new housing to all under “affordable” guidelines. The plan met with strong resistance from the town’s powerful development and business lobby, so planners revamped their proposal. According to Vail Daily reporter Edward Stoner, the latest rules would require 10 percent of new homes to be affordable in specific parts of town. Homes in residential neighborhoods would have to compensate for 100 percent of the jobs they create. Affordable housing would also be required for 20 percent of the jobs created by new commercial development. The town’s goal is to provide local affordable housing for 30 percent of its workforce.

And the U.S. Ski Team, out of the Olympic limelight, is performing well at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Sweden. Lindsey Kildow scored her second silver medal of the meet in the downhill race Monday. Check out U.S. Ski Team results here. But the undispute star of the championship races is Swedish racer Anja Paerson. Skiing on home turf, Paerson has already garnered an unprecedented three Golds, in the Super G, the Super Combined and the Downhill. Click here for full results.

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