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CI i mate <br /> EI Paso County Area is t'airly hot in summer and <br /> rather cold in winter. Precipitation occurs mainly in the <br /> warm period during thu ndentorms and oeca~ional hail- <br /> storms. Snowstorms occur every winter, but blizzards are <br /> rare. Total annual precipitation is adequate for range <br /> grosses but mazginal for dryland crops. <br /> Table 1 shou9 temperature and precipitation data for <br /> the period 1951 to 1973. They were retooled at Colorado <br /> Springs but are repre>en[ative of the entire Area. Table <br /> shows the probable dates of the Cint freeze in fall and <br /> the last Creeze in spring. Table 3 shows the length of the <br /> growing season. <br /> In winter, the average temperature is :31.0 degrees F <br /> and [he acerc~e daily minimmn is 17.7 degrees. The ale <br /> .solute lowest temperature clueing the entire period of <br /> record was -'?7 degrees, obsen'ed at Colorado Springs on <br /> Febtvary 1. L951. In summer, the acertge temperature is <br /> !at-3 degrees and the average daily maximum is R?.a <br /> detin~ees. The absolute highest temperature ~cus U)0 <br /> deti~res, revs riled on June 13. 19.iJ. <br /> Crowing degree day's, shown in Table 1, are equivalent <br /> to "heat units." Starting in spring. they accumulate by the <br /> amount that the avenge temperature each day exceeds <br /> thc• 1rt.e temperature. The normal monChly accumulation <br /> is u.;od to schedule single or succesive plantings of x <br /> crop within the seasonal limits of the last Freeze in spring <br /> :uel the tint freeze in fall. <br /> As ~huwn in Table 1, the total annual precipitation is <br /> :d„ntt l"._°t inc h.~<. Of this total. 1°. Y.9 inches, or ,~1 per- <br /> ornt, u~wQly C:clls during the permd April thruuKh Sep- <br /> t,•niLor, •.~hieh inclueles the growing season [or most <br /> on q,~. 'I\co years in U), the April-September rainfall is <br />• h•s thun >i:4n inches. The heaeiest L-day rainfall dw•ing <br /> lhr porn..I of retard wa.; :S!N) inches at Colorado Springs <br /> on July ??, 1951. Thunderstorms number about 60 each <br /> 1~c:u•, 1:. ,~(w hich occur in summer. <br /> Average seasonal snowfall is 322 inches. The greatest <br /> depth of snow on the ground at any one time during the <br /> period was ?0 inches. On the average, 12 clays have at <br /> least 1 inch of snow on Che ground, but [he nutnner of <br /> days varies from year [o year. <br /> The average relative humidity in midu(ternoon in <br /> spring is Less then :35 percent, ar.d during the rest oC Che <br /> year it is about Sl percent- Humidity is higher at nigh[ in <br /> alt seasons, and the average at dawn is about t;:3 percent. <br /> The percentage of possible sunshine is 72 in summer and <br /> 71 in "'inter. The prey°ailing direction of the wind is from <br /> the notch-northeast. Average annual windspeed is 10.3 <br /> miles per hour. Average windspeed is highest, l°_2 miles <br /> per hour, in April. <br /> The po[enti;d Cor dry•land crops in EI Paso County Area <br /> is limited by low acertge annual preci pitati~tn, which <br /> ranges from about 11 inches w about l9 inches. The <br /> southern h:J( of the :u°ea and the part east of Fountain <br /> Creek hate the lowest average annual precipitation, less <br /> than 1:3 inches. Cool cempe ratures and a short growing <br /> season, in areas in the northern p:u-t of [he county that <br /> are at an elevation of more than about ti,Stw feet, further <br />-~ limit the choice of crops. <br />