Colorado Newbie

Not I.
Wait, I haven't watched the news in years to even know.
I don't know!

So far I haven't heard any snow lines, but I also haven't been here long enough for them to report much snow. So I don't know either!

We in Montana don't even know if there is snow on the passes unless we drive up there to see. I think the feeling is if you die in a car accident it is fewer people to clog up the highways. LOL.

Our weatherdude usually differentiates between "foothills", "eastern plains", and "mountains" without specifying altitude. Fact is we are right on a ridge between the foothills and the plains, so we get socked either way.

I didn't realize until I looked at the aloe site that I already use their stuff. Miracle Hand Repair mostly -- it is the only thing I can use on my psoriasis in the winter.

The weather person I listen to, and I can't remember her name, always gives snowling info. I'm usually good at trying to figure out whether I can beat the frost, but snow is when I give up on my balcony garden for the year. Last year it happened on October 10th.

Kathy Sabine? I remember watching her forecast a couple days ago, and she said snow down to 8000 feet. Some just differentiate by "mountains," "foothills," or "Front Range," though.

A little bit of frost ain't gonna stop us! And I want to set up something in my garage with full spectrum lights, shelves, and containers so I can keep gardening through the winter. I'll get my lettuce yet!

Last frost around here is May 20th or thereabouts. First frost averages around September 20, so we were a couple days early.

White, that's who it is. Kathy Sabine.

Not ten minutes after I posted that I had no idea, I watched the news and the guy said above 6500ft. So now I know!

May 20th....uh! Stabbed in my heart. lol. I'm definitely going to have to set up some lights too.
Is the news just not good there Soferdig? That sounds a little scary.

Does the ground thaw out enough to be workable before May 20th in your area?
If so, there are a lot of things you can plant if you give them frost protection. If you use Wall'O'Waters, you can plant ~six to eight weeks before your last frost date.
http://www.wallowater.com/

If the ground is workable, you can put your seeds/seedlings out in the garden bed and cover them with a fleece row cover/blanket. It will let the light in, allow some air curculation, but keep the frost off.

I never wait until the last frost date to plant. Nothing would grow if it went in that late. You can always start over or cover any concerns with frost.
No the weather is not good here as far as forcasters and information. Not your best tv people search out montana to go to work. LOL

We have had two light frosts so far. Cucumbers and squash leaves show frost damage. Fruits are okay and no plant is completely dead, just parts of each. Tonight it is supposed to get down to 35, but that is better than the night 34 was predicted.
As for snow, we don't usually get snow predictions this early. Tonight 40% chance of precipitation is predicted. Perhaps there will be snow, perhaps not. The weather forecasters don't predict this early. Later in the winter they will start predicting snow levels.
On National weather, New Mexico is the state the forecaster stands in front of. One has to go to local news or weather or the weather bureau to find out what is supposed to happen here. On CNN we have the same forecast eternally, "sunny". Actually, not uncommonly we have clouds, but not usually for a whole day. I guess that is "sunny" to a weather reporter from Seattle.

We've had weather cold enough to take out some tuberous begonia leaves, but nothing colder. The blossoms are still on the plant, but the leaves are thin.

Ok I'll give you credit for the national weatherman standing in front of NM but his sholders are covering up Montana. LOL

Hey- for the first time, I heard an elevation noted in the snow report on the radio. I'll be danged. It's probably escaped my notice for years.

It's possible that I was more aware of the snow line because I commuted up and down the mountain from Tahoe to Reno or Carson City for work. Part of daily life was calling the highway patrol road info reporting line each morning to decide which route was open and how soon I needed to leave the house based on the snow levels. If it doesn't impact your day, the snow line is not relevant.

just heard the news:

drifting snow. eisenhower tunnel. I'm going to go crawl in bed an assume the fetal position now...

Let us hope it subsides for next week-end.
Now we're on weather again. Weather and science. There must be something that radiates from the rock composition in the Rockies...

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh

Am I missing something here?
Aren't weather trends important to share with new residents of high mountain climes so that they know how to protect their plants and stay warm and cozy themselves?

Or are you complaining about the effects of the high quartz content in the granite which conducts a variety of energies?

Humour keeps the soul warmer than gloom.

Chagrin at the snow! Somebody posted while I was composing. My comment was in response to greenjay's post.

hehehehe. Y'all are pretty funny. (Is it okay for me to say y'all still?)
I saw pictures of the Eisenhower on the news last night...eek! I've driven through there a couple times on ski trips earlier in life. I remember being stranded there for a couple hours one year. We might be in for a cold morning next weekend.

Well, the temps are supposed to be in the 70s early next week, so maybe the weather will hold for us on Saturday.

I always use the web cams to see what is going on before I travel over the Rockies. Web cams are my friends.

art_n, you can say y'all anytime you like. You don't need to change who you are in the mountains, just change how you dress in the winter to stay warm. :-)

Sof,
What web cams do you use? I didn't know they had them in the high passes. They are my friends too, but I only use them to look at Bourbon St. and the Mississsippi River in New Orleans and the Volcanoes in Hawaii and Mexico. I didn't know we had them in the Rockies, other than Sheridan, WYO.

Art_n,
I recently used the term "you all" in court ( long story there, I am not in trouble or suing anybody or being sued). The judge asked me how many people were included in "you all". I had to work hard at not cracking up. The judge was kindly, as if she were translating for a foreigner. I personally, think "you all" or "y'all" is a pronoun the English language desperately needs. English doesn't distinguish between singular you and plural you, unlike most other languages that I am familiar with. You all makes it clear!

In montana we have web cams on all of our passes. IE Webcams of Montana google. So you would use webcams of NM. Then there are many so pick out the ones you want and place them in favorites. Best way to know what you are heading into. IE Kooteni pass http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/bchighwaycam/index.aspx?hideFramework=False&cam=6

y'all is linguistically equivalent to an idiomatic friendly "vous", or a grammatically correct "tois" in french.

isn't y'all in the nominative case like "tu"?

You all is the nominative case alright, but it is the plural you. It actually is used for all the other cases as well. In most English the word " you" can be singular or plural and nobody can tell which except from context. Romance languages and some others have an intimate you, "tu", and a formal you, "usted", in Spanish. French has a similar structure. I think German and Italian do as well. English only has you. To make up for the lack of a distinctive plural you, southerners say " you all" or "y'all". I find it hard to give up, but people in New Mexico find it quaint.
"You " doesn't really parallel romance language "you's" very well. I have seen tu translanted as you, and usted ( in Spanish) translated as "your grace" which is what it actually means as I recall. Since no one would ever use "your grace" in the US, we just have one you.

Southerners add you all or ya'll and people from Boston, I think it is, add "youse guys", I undertand. I have never heard anyone actually say that, but I hear about it all the time.

after 10 years in NOLA, my SW Ohio accent was well and truly gone and replaced by idioms like y'all, "making groceries", etc. It doesn't help that my DH grew up in Miami (cuban community) and also spent many years in NOLA. The reflexive subjunctive is our friend....

this is what we call "Indian summer":

http://cbs4denver.com/slideshows/local_slideshow_264150244/view?slide=0

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

Yes I can't wait for snow to get to skiing levels. Yahhhhhhhhhooooooooo! Winter is so cooooool!

I haven't skiied for a while. My DH keeps breaking his ACL tendon and we finally decided to give it up. ( both breaks were while skiing) Skiing truly helps get through the winter, I admit. But this will give me time to read, cook and to learn to sew. I have a nice new sewing machine I want to learn to use and many books awaiting me.

It also is a good time to take a walk in the forest. Snow shoes and a quiet road less traveled make for a wonderful day of reading Robert Frost.

Yes, snow is beautiful to walk in. I could still ski but it would make DH go to work which he does way to much already.

Well good, glad I can say ya'll! I don't actually have any accent, so it's not sickening ( I hope) when I say it in speech, like plenty of people I know from Texas. lol

We had snow here yesterday- very wet, huge flakes that didn't stick. I saw it from my window at work and was very glad I wasn't in it. My husband and I are thinking about getting a ski pass....can't really decide what's worth the money and whether or not to buy, rent or get used gear. I don't even know if getting a pass would be worth it the first couple years, because I will have to be pried out of the house!

Grew up in Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, the Yankee equivilent to y'all was "yunse" pronounced like a very fast "you uns" often used in the phrase "yunce, djeet yit". Translated "you all, did you eat yet?" (I was a growing teenager then).

Since most people in Colorado aren't from Colorado, or so it seems. Anything that comunicates works. So have at it.

Life is good,

oldklingon

art_n, I bought a season ski pass the first year that lived full time in the "ski-zone" and only used it a few times. Why? Well, because I had to shovel so much snow to dig my car out every morning to get to work, that by the time my weekend rolled around, I didn't feel like shoveling. If you this situation is not likely to apply to you, if your work hours and location will allow a few hours on the slopes before and after work, or if you are just a die hard skiier, then by all means a season pass will save you money if you know you will use it. You might want to divide the cost of the pass by the cost of the day use ticket to see how many times you will need to use it to recoup the cost.

In terms of gear, most ski areas I've lived in have a "ski swap" towards season's end. Many of the ski shops will sell new equipment at a huge discount because it is last year's stock.

I say "You folks" so as not be sucked into one of those all-roads-lead-to-the-same-boring-town conversations that comes about if I say "Y'all" to the wrong group. And when it comes to english, I've tried everything...

But "you folks" is so much more uncomfortable than the sweet "ustedes.."

Kenton
(who is incidentally from CO but gets asked where he's from anyhow.)