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• 6.4.11 EXHIBIT K -Climate • <br />In Montrose County, summer is warm or hot in most valleys and much cooler in the mountains. <br />Winter is cold in the mountains. Valleys are colder than the lower parts of adjacent mountains' <br />because of cold air drainage. Precipitation falls in the mountains throughout the year, and a deep <br />snowpack accumulates during winter. Snowmelt usually supplies much more water than can be <br />used for farming. <br />In valleys, precipitation in summer falls as showers; some thunderstorms occur. In winter the <br />ground is covered with snow much of the time. Chinook winds, which blow downslope and are <br />warm and dry, often melt and evaporate the snow. <br />Table I gives data on temperature and precipitation in the survey area, as recorded at Uravan, from <br />1961 to 1990. <br />In winter the average temperature is 31.2 degrees F, and the average daily low is 17.9 degrees F. <br />In summer the average temperature is 74.1 degrees, and the average daily high is 92.0 degrees. <br />Of the total annual precipitation (12.6 inches), 6.53 inches, or 52 percent, usually falls from April <br />to September, which includes the growing season for most crops. <br />Average seasonal snowfall is 10.3 inches. On the average, 35 days each year have at least 0.1 inch <br />of snow fall. <br />Source: NRCS, Climatological data for the Uravan monitoring station for the period 1961 through <br />1990. <br />K-1 <br />