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2.04.8 <br />The Wilcox ranch weather station was moved to the West Elk Mine next to <br />its wastewater treatment plant in November 1983. This station was moved <br />again in 1993 to the southeast corner of the mine's fresh water pond FW -1. <br />This station is named Somerset 1 E. <br />Two other weather stations provide precipitation data for the general area. <br />They are both located in Paonia, the first is called Paonia 3SE with a period <br />of record from 1905 to 1957. The other is the Paonia 1 SW with a period of <br />record from 1957 to 1993. <br />Given the proximity to the proposed mine site, the Wilcox Ranch weather <br />station provides the most representative precipitation data for permit and <br />adjacent area. <br />Detail data sheets for the four weather stations are presented in Exhibit 4. <br />They were provided by the Colorado Climate Center, Department of <br />Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523- <br />1371, phone (970)- 491 -8545. <br />(1)(b) The average direction and velocity of the prevailing winds. <br />The following discussion of the prevailing wind is taken from the Bowie No.1 <br />Mine permit document pages 60 and 61. <br />The local climate of the North Fork airshed is strongly influenced by <br />microclimatic features - slope, aspect, elevation, soil type, soil moisture <br />content and vegetation. For example, the warmest surfaces in mid - winter <br />are the lower elevation, unvegetated, steep southfacing slopes (. 500) while <br />in mid - summer the warmest surfaces are those with only 12 -200 slope. The <br />steepness of the terrain, together with its type and amount of vegetation, <br />orientation and range of elevation are the major controls of the diurnal wind <br />patterns. During a warm sunny day, the heating of the sunlit valley slope <br />causes the adjacent air to warm and rise. A related phenomena occurs at <br />night when radiative cooling of the valley walls and higher elevations cool the <br />adjacent air. This air, being more dense than the surrounding air, slides <br />down the slope draining into the lowest portion of the valley or settles above <br />colder heavier air. <br />PR -14 2.04-70- 03/14 <br />