PERMFILE109948 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Exhibit K Climate Information The climate of this site is considered semi-arid, mild continental. Summers tend to be hot and generally dry and winters are cool to cold. Precipitation patterns show definite periods of peaks and valleys. A summer monsoon flow from the southwest often combines with southeasterly moisture influx to produce wet periods near the end of summer. During the rest of the year the precipitation amounts are limited. Winter tends to be dry and often cold along the river. However, a short distance above the river, temperatures are often warmer. This pattern comes from incense inversions that establish in the river valley. Temperature differentials can be as great as 15 to 20 degrees F. from the river co about 200 or 300 feet above the river. One of the difficulties with describing the climate of the site is the lack of nearby meteorological data. The nearest major weather station is Pueblo, about 30 miles to the east of the site. Because this site is near the mountains, climatic patterns and values are different on this site when compared to Pueblo. In the past, some records were kept at Florence and Penrose as well as Canon City. These records are of limited duration and not much direct value. Because the Florence data is of very limited extent it was not used in the analysis of the site climate. However, there is sufficient information from the remaining sites, during the same periods, to adjust the Pueblo data for this area. Of course, projecting data carries with it a considerable margin for error, but it is better than using unrepresentative data. The first sec[ion of this exhibit will describe the adjustment process for precipitation. No such adjustments are possible for other weather parameters because of the limited or non-existent data for those other parameters from towns near the site. Fortunately, precipitation is the one parameter that is most important for describing the climatic aspects of the reclamation environment. Calibration of Pueblo Data The calibration process is shown in tables 1 and 2. This applies only to precipitation as that parameter was the only one measured at all three stations. Table 1 shows that an average monthly adjustment value of 126.69% can be applied to the Pueblo data to project the average precipitation per month received at the site. This is reasonable as the site, being near the mountains, would be influenced by more orographic precipitation than Pueblo and therefore could be somewhat wetter. It is concluded that on an annual basis, the site receives about 12 inches of precipitation per year, about a half inch more than Pueblo. Table 2 shows that for years in common between all three stations the site received an average of 105.94 °!o more moisture than Pueblo. Once again the annual precipitation average is estima[ed at slightly less than 12 inches, in close agreement with the values derived from Table 1. All remaining discussions of precipitation for this site use those correction values for the Pueblo data to describe the site. This is probably valid because the site, although closer to the mountains, is at roughly the same elevation and under the influence of similar moisture patterns as Pueblo. If the site were much higher in the mountains or in a situation that was drastically different from Pueblo, it is unlikely that such a calibration system would have much validity. Grisenti Farms Gravel Pit Original Application Exhibit K Page G-1