2015-12-07_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1973007

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CLIMATE INFORMATION Exhibit K - AMENDMENT Climate Information This operation is located only a few miles southwest of the Colorado Springs airport which is the location of the weather station for the city. Therefore, the climatic parameters measured at the weather station are highly applicable to this site. Much of the information presented here is drawn from that data. TEMPERATURE: Colorado Springs is noted for its wide range in temperature that can be experienced at any one time throughout the region. The temperature on the west side of the city during a strong Chinook wind can be as much as 30 degrees higher than the temperature on the east side of the city. Furthermore, the highly variable topography, at some seasons, produces a very wide range in temperature over even short distances. Hollows can collect cold air and be 10 or 15 degrees colder than the top of a nearby hill. In winter, this wide temperature variation can create intense and shallow temperature inversions where the air a thousand feet above the ground can be as much as 40 degrees warmer than the air near the ground. The January mean temperature at the weather station is about 29.5° F. and the mean low temperature in January is around 15.6° F. The lowest recorded temperature is -27' F. However, the daytime temperature in January can reach well into the 40's and sometimes into the low 60's. Temperature changes can be dramatic on a daily basis because the city is subject to occasional arctic fronts that bring in polar air. Those cold spells, however, usually last only a few days at most. The mean date of the last spring frost is about May 7, however,just 15 to 18 miles west of the airport, Manitou Springs has a mean last spring frost date of May 30. This wide variation would indicate that the amount of variation around that May 7 date is considerable. As a general rule, all along the Front Range Urban Corridor, gardeners usually avoid planting seedlings that are frost sensitive until the very end of May. Therefore, although May 7 is the average date, that date is not very reliable. The latest occurrence of frost in spring can extend into early June. The July mean temperature is about 70.4° F. and the July mean high temperature is about 85' F. The highest recorded temperature is about 100' F. These figures are far more relevant to revegetation than the January temperatures. They indicate a warm climate during the growing season. The mean date of first fall frost is October 8, but the earliest occurrence is September 11. Therefore, like the last frost in spring, there is a very wide variation in the dates of the first fall frost. In essence, the growing season, for all practical purposes, reliably extends from mid-May to about the autumnal equinox (about September 20 to 25). Daniels Sand Pit#2 Amendment (2008) Exhibit I Page 1 of 4