“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow / Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below” (“Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore) is not likely to be Ouray’s 2019 Christmas Eve. The Long Nights Full Moon brightened our snowy landscape on Dec. 12, so it will be only a bright early morning sliver early Christmas Day. Falling snow, however, might cover that little bit of moon, if current weather forecasts come true.
A few days later, however, on Saturday the 28th, the young crescent moon in the southwestern sky at twilight will accompany the second brightest object in the night sky, for an unusual holiday show. Venus, Earth’s very hot and bright neighboring planet, shines at twilight through April, in conjunction with the crescent moons of Jan. 28, Feb. 27, March 28 and April 26. On June 3, after transiting between the earth and the sun, Venus will move into the early morning sky. These high sightings happen only once in three years, according to local astronomer Bob Risch.
December, the last month of the decade, has produced average snow and precipitation, at least so far. As of the 21st, Ouray had received 14.2 inches of snow, with more than half (7.9 inches) falling as cream powder during last week’s long duration storm, December 12-17. An average December sees 22.2 inches of snow and 1.65 inches of precipitation. In the past three weeks Ouray has recorded 1.14 inches of precipitation — 69 percent of normal — and 64 percent of normal snow.
Nationally, the lower 48 states have had an unusual amount of snow cover, with 46 percent of the contiguous U.S. covered with snow on Dec. 2, according to weather historian
Christopher C. Burt (“A Summary of U.S. State Historical Snowfall Extremes,” Weather Underground, Dec. 4, 2019). This is the largest percentage of national snow cover in NOAA records dating back to 2003.
Ouray’s December snowfall, precipitation and temperature vary quite a bit in the historical record. The maximum snow for the month is 74.1 inches, set in 2008, which is also the maximum snow accumulation for any winter month on record.
December 1957, which saw only 3.4 inches of snow, remains Ouray’s historical minimum. Ruby, Colorado, a ghost mining town in Pitkin County, holds the state record for maximum monthly snow total: 249 inches in March 1899.
The largest 24-hour Ouray snowfall for any month of the year is 27.6 inches, recorded Dec. 9, 2008. This comfortably exceeds Denver’s 24-hour snow record: 23.6 inches, set on Christmas Eve, 1982. The city shut down and neighbors invited each other for the family dinners they had prepared for Christmas Day, since travel across town to relatives was impossible.
Then there’s Silver Lake, located three miles east of the Continental Divide at 10,000 feet, 40 miles northwest of Denver. Silver Lake holds Colorado’s 24-hour snowfall state record with 75.8 inches, on April 14 -15, 1921. It also holds the U.S. record for snow accumulation over time: 87 inches in 27.5 hours.
Burt’s article on U.S. historical snowfall extremes notes that in, “All-time 24-hour snowfall records from 75 U.S. cities, all with long periods of record, a full one-third of the cities have observed their greatest 24-hour snowfall since 1990.” This is true for tiny Ouray as well.
The single storm maximum snowfall for Colorado is 143 inches of snow at Wolf Creek Pass from Dec. 27, 1964 to Jan. 1, 1965. Wolf Creek also holds the state record for the most snow in a season, 837.5 inches in 1978-1979, and the maximum snow depth, 251 inches on March 31, 1979.
Ouray’s December precipitation records show a maximum of 5.06 inches, set in 2007, a month with 50.1 inches of snow. The minimum was 0.36 inches in 2017, a December with only 7.4 inches of snow. The daily precipitation maximum is 1.37 inches on December 9, 2008, accompanying that record 24-hour snowstorm.
The maximum December temperature ever recorded here was 61 degrees, Dec. 6, 2012. The lowest was -17 degrees, Dec. 23, 1990.
In a Jan. 28, 2019, article in Scientific American, “Love Snow? Here’s How It’s Changing,” by Chelsea Harvey, she explains that climate change is having an effect on snow that isn’t well understood: “Scientists broadly agree that snow will change in most places as the climate continues to warm…but exactly how and why, from one location to the next, may be among the most challenging questions about weather and climate change.”
So, during this Christmas week, we may want to retreat to a simpler time and let Moore have the last word. As St. Nicholas zooms away in his Christmas sleigh after filling the stockings and charming the host, he calls out a “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”
Karen Risch gardens, records weather for NOAA and CoCoRahs, writes and hikes in Ouray. Her Wunderground weather station ID is KCOOURAY3, transmitting weather from latitude N 38º 1’ 34”, longitude W 107º 40’ 21”, Elevation 7,736.’
