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i• <br />EXHIBIT "K" <br />Climate <br />In this survey area, summers are warm or hot in most of the valleys but are much cooler <br />in the mountains. Winters are cold i the mountains the valleys are. colder than the lower <br />slopes of adjacent mountains because of the cold air drainage. Precipitation occurs in the <br />mountains through the year, and a deep snowpack accumulates during winter. In summer <br />the precipitation in valleys falls mainly as showers, but some thunderstorms occur. In winter <br />the ground is covered with snow much of the time. Chinook winds, which blow downslope <br />are warm and dry, often melt and evaporate the snow. <br />In winter, the average temperature is 34.9 degrees F and the average daily minimum <br />temperature is 22 degrees. The lowest temperature on record, -36 degrees occurred at the <br />Walsenburg Power Plant on January 12, 1963. In the summer, the average temperature <br />is 69.5 degrees F and the average daily maximum temperature of 84.8 degrees F. The <br />highest temperature, 100 degrees was recorded on June 24, 1956. <br />Of the total annual precipitation, 9.68 inches, or 64 percent, usually falls during April <br />through September, which includes the growing season for most crops. Two years in ten, <br />the rainfall from April to September is less than 6.86 inches. The heaviest 1-day rainfall <br />during the period of record was 3 inches at the Walsenburg Power Plant on April 13, 1967. <br />Thunderstorms number about 44 each year, 30 of which occur in summer. <br />The average seasonal snowfall is 78 inches. The greatest snow depth at any time during <br />the period of record was 24 inches. On the average, 11 days have at least 1 inch of snow <br />on the ground, but the number of days varies greatly from year to year. <br />The average relative humidity in midafternoon in spring is less than 35 percent; during the <br />rest of the year it is about 45 percent. Humidity is higher at night in atl seasons, and the <br />average at dawn is about 77 percent. The percentage of possible sunshine is 77 percent <br />in summer and 73 percent in winter. The prevailing direction of the wind is from the south- <br />southeast. The average windspeed is highest 10.4 miles per hour, in April. <br />Climate information taken from "Soil Survey of Huen`ano County Area Colorado, USDA <br /> <br />