Utah's Wrath hits Telluride

[ChrisC]

Due to Telluride's excellent expansion into its side, front & back country areas, Utah feels the need to get even.

So the state tries to ruin the skiing with toxic dust..........


Not exactly a natural sky color. Well, maybe on Mars.

Trying to give everyone 'red-lung' for the end of season party

Pink Flamingos blend into the dust...

All those particles trapped in the canyon

The recent March NW flow storms carried a lot of fresh desert into Telluride.

Generally, Telluride is not a windy place. However, these March storms were quite intense and were preceeded by strong winds....that unfortunately landed half of Bryce Canyon into the San Juans. Lovely. The only positive was the continuous 6-10" every other day covering the dust layers.

 

[egieszl]

That's the 3rd time this winter that I know of that the nasty dust storms have coated the ski areas in Colorado. Snowmass got destroyed on the evening of March 22 and the slopes were covered with it for the morning of March 23. I know Crested Butte got coated last Saturday as well. In all my years of skiing Colorado I've NEVER seen anything like this before.

 

[flyover]

Interesting pics. Years ago, I watched it rain red mud for an entire afternoon in Granada Spain. The locals explained that it was saharan dust mixed in with the precipitation. Sounds like a similar phenomenon.

 

[Admin]

Interesting pics. Years ago, I watched it rain red mud for an entire afternoon in Granada Spain. The locals explained that it was saharan dust mixed in with the precipitation. Sounds like a similar phenomenon.

Aah, mud rain...we get to experience that wonderful phenomenon, too. :roll:

However, I suspect that wind in Telluride was a southerly, which would make it New Mexico's and Arizona's wrath, not Utah's.

 

[ChrisC]

However, I suspect that wind in Telluride was a southerly, which would make it New Mexico's and Arizona's wrath, not Utah's.

The paper did say it was more Arizona based. However, I thought the winds were Westerly enough that is was Utah's fault.

I would not have been walking around in it - unless I had to see who was at the local community station KOTO bloack party.

 

[EMSC]

That's the 3rd time this winter that I know of that the nasty dust storms have coated the ski areas in Colorado. Snowmass got destroyed on the evening of March 22 and the slopes were covered with it for the morning of March 23. I know Crested Butte got coated last Saturday as well. In all my years of skiing Colorado I've NEVER seen anything like this before.

It happens more than you think. Copper got a thin layer on Fri Apr 3 I believe it was. Though Eldora didn't appear to have gotten hit with any dust at all with that same storm. Snow melt will be several weeks faster in Colo this year due to the dust warming up in the sun.

In my experience, significant dust storms from Utah or Arizona hit Colo about every 4-5 years or so. It not all that uncommon, but I did hear that SW Colo got hit much harder than usual with this one.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Years ago, I watched it rain red mud for an entire afternoon in Granada Spain.

The first time I skied Tahoe in December 1977 it rained mud during 200 miles of the drive up the Central Valley. Niseko in Japan gets dust storms in spring from the Gobi Desert in China/Mongolia.

Did Telluride close its usual first weekend in April or did they stay open for Easter? It must suck when places like that close so early with usually outstanding conditions.

 

[Marc_C]

Last month there was a mud-rain storm on my way home from Park City. The Jeep looked like this after I got home: