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approximately twice that recorded at Hayden, showing the effect of • nearby mountains on local snowfall. December and January are the months with the highest normal precipitation figures, 2.79 and 2.59 inches, respectively, while July is the driest month with normal precipitation of only 1.56 inches. Snowfall Steamboat Springs averages 163.6 inches of snowfall per year, based on 56 years of data. An average of more than 30 inches of snowfall occurs in Steamboat Springs during the months of December, January, and February. In Hayden, an average of 96.7 inches of snow falls annually. The highest average snowfalls in Hayden occur in December and January with 22.6 and 21.3 inches, respectively. This difference in snowfall between Steamboat Springs and Hayden is exemplary of the previously noted orographic effects on precipitation. • Temperature Temperature data from Steamboat Springs and Hayden are presented in Table 4, Temperature Summary, Means, 1951-1970; Table 5, Temperature Summary, Extremes, 1951-1970; and Table 6, Temperature Summary, Extremes, 1971-1983. Based on data collected by the United States Department of Commerce, the mean annual temperature at Steamboat Springs is 38.7 degrees F with recorded extremes of 96 degrees F and -50 degrees F. Mean mcnthly temperatures range from 15.4 degrees F in January to 61.8 degrees F in July; mean daily maximums range from 29.2 degrees F in January to 82.8 degrees in July; and mean daily minimums range from 1.5 degrees F in January to 40.9 degrees F in July. Freezing temperatures can occur during any month of the year. The average annual growing season (above 20 degrees F) of irrigated land near the Yampa River and Steamboat Springs is 102 days as per the Colorado Water Conservation ~ Board and USDA, 1969. • In general, mean temperatures at Hayden are about 3 decrees to 4 degrees F warmer than corf•esponding mean temperatures in Steamboat Springs. 2.04.5-6