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.. ~~~~::?~l '. '. . .~.,;;, , , '\fj/_.r , ~ .~.r~"~ /^:/~:~~~~ Special to The Denver Post I Ed Kosmicki Juan Mountains. Adams knows the territory well; he has been working land in the region for more lhan 20 years. . BALING OUT: Gene Adams bales the only cui of wild hay he'll gellhis year from Ihis parcel near lhe San Study proves state weather fickle . By Coleman Cornelius Denver Post Staff Wnter VOU know what they say about Colora. do weather: Wait a few minutes, and it'll change, A new study by the Colorado Climate Cenler at Colorado State University con. firms that weataer here is so vanable that one side of a town is often drenched by a summer rainstorm while another stays bone dry. The weather study was conducted in Larimer County this summer using 100 volunteer observers, most of whom are students at Fort Collins schools, The young researchers will gather today for a picnic to cap their project. Dramatic weather picture The kids, and some adult observers, gathered daily weather data and com- piled observations that form a picture of dramatic and changeable summer weath- er patterns, said Nolan Doesken, assis- tant state climatologist and the study's coordinator. "Even though we know how highly variable the rainfall is from casual ob- servance, to see it documented every day FoRI' COLLINS was incredible," Doesken said. "Every single storm that occurred rained dra- matically more in one place than in oth- ers." For instance, a storm on Aug. 2 dumped more than 1 inch of rain at the CSU Foothills Campus on the west side of Fort Collins, But just a mile away, ob- servers saw only sprinkles. During July, the city's west side re- ceived four times the precipitation that fell on the east side, the study showed. And the south side of Fort Collins got almost no rain during July - until one nighttime storm at month's end dumped nearly 2 inches, making up for the rest of the month. A similar summer storm hit the town of Wellington with 3 inches of rain and pounding hail but did not affect nearby areas. The study's purpose was to engage 10. cal kids in elementary school through high school, in a fun and useful science project, and to document summer weath- er patterns using standard research tech- niques. . .. , Surprisingly, Doesken said, there is lit- tle scientific data to support what many state residents surmise: that Colorado's summer weather is often severe, fast- moving and completely different from one place to the next. Important business data Such data is important to businesses with an economic stake in the weather, such as insurance companies, farms and ranches, and utilities that provide water ~ and wastewater services, Doesken noted. ~ The research volunteers were armed . I with rain gauges, pads to record impres. j sions from falling hailstones and observa- j tion log books. Many of the volunteers i logged weather data on a Web site set up for that purpose. The climate center used the observa. tions to create daily and monthly maps illustrating weather patterns. Doesken said he hopes to expand the project in upcoming summers to include a broader area and more volunteers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Coiorado Office of Emergency Man. agement and Fort Collins Utilities were among the project's contributors.