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The region falls within the study area of the <br /> West-Central Colorado Coal Environmental Statement of the <br /> Bureau of Land Management . Climatic characteristics of the <br /> study area have been noted by the west-central ES , which <br /> describes the region as having two climate types : (1) <br /> semiarid and ( 2) undifferentiated highlands . <br /> Terrain consists of rugged mountains , deep <br /> valleys and canyons , and a few large plateaus or mesas . The <br /> mountains of the Continental Divide , notes the ES , provide an <br /> effective barrier to moisture-laden air that reaches into <br /> the plains from the Gulf of Mexico . <br /> Variations in weather are related to synoptic- <br /> scale high and low pressure systems that move with the mid- <br /> latitude westerlies . From fall to spring , considerable <br /> snowfall occasionally accompanies the low pressure storms . <br /> Occurrences of severe weather are infrequent . <br /> b . Precipitation <br /> The precipitation totals (rainfall plus the <br /> water equivalent of snowfall) in the west-central Colorado <br /> region are low compared with the totals in many other areas <br /> of the United States . The high elevation of the region is <br /> the major cause of these low totals , according to the ES , <br /> because the water content of the atmosphere generally <br /> decreases with height . As a result , elevated regions tend <br /> to have less precipitable water in the air than lower regions . <br /> However , the rise of moisture-laden air up <br /> mountain slopes may cause precipitation, so that variation <br /> -6- <br />