Deep WInter
By Laura PaskusJanuary constitutes deep winter in the Rockies. Even if you’re not up to your eyeballs in ice, the days are short and the nights more than a little cold. Check out the official record low temperatures below (all in Fahrenheit, with data from the Western Regional Climate Center.)
Of course, this cold, dark month means different things to different people. For some, it’s about spending as much time as possible tearing around in the snow. For others, it means hibernating someplace warm and fully stocked with libations. And for others, it requires desperately seeking social interactions to stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder, or setting out nuts for Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21.)
Whatever your passion or pleasure, keep yourself busy – whether that means finding the deepest snow you can, talking about the good ol’ days or becoming an avalanche nerd.
1. Unbearably sexy
Looking for some cold-weather fun that doesn’t necessarily involve skiing, sledding or ice fishing? Head to McCall, Idaho, at the end of January for the 43rd annual Winter Carnival. Running January 25 through February 2, this year’s events include: McCall Fire Department Polar Plunge, McCall Mortgage Company Monster Dog Pull, Avalanche Transceiver Extravaganza and the “Beard, Hairy and Sexy Leg Contest.” That one’s at 7 p.m. on January 31.
Record low temperature: -60 degrees at Island Park Dam on January 18, 1943
2. Snow deep
The Western Regional Climate Center weather stations I scanned say that Alta, Utah’s average total snowfall of 512.7 inches (based on readings from November 16, 1948 through June 30, 2007) is the Rockies’ annual big snow winner. You want more? August is the only month with no recorded snowfall, January has the most snowfall of any month (85 inches on average) and March has the deepest average snow depth at 92 inches. Of course, even Alta had to delay its opening day and manufacture snow this fall.
Record low temperature: -69 at Peter’s Sink on February 1, 1985
3. Hot fun in the wintertime
Okay, so maybe you’re a lightweight completely fed up with winter. “Bring on global warming,” you say. “Screw the cold.”
I have two words for you: Cabeza Prieta.
There is no shortage of reasons to go there – desert tortoise, sidewinders, bighorn sheep to name just three –but here’s one more: January temperatures average between 40 and 65 degrees.
Record low temperature: ‑40 degrees at Hawley Lake on January 7, 1971
4. “I’m dreaming of a …”
Forecasters are predicting New Mexico will be warm and dry this winter. That’s not just a bummer for snow lovers and lift operators. It sucks for farmers, water managers, cities, endangered fish, rivers and basically everyone and everything in the state.
So, let’s just reminisce about the good old days, like last winter when the state got nailed with a huge storm around the holidays. The New Year’s Day storm – which prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency – dumped 26 inches of snow in Santa Fe within a 24-hour period, knocked out electricity in parts of Albuquerque, and closed highways and schools.
I’m absolutely not kidding when I say that I have been good all year so that Santa will bring me another big snowstorm. Apparently, I slipped up somewhere: The NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s weekly update at the end of November showed a pretty bleak forecast for the Southwest’s winter, thanks to the development of La Niña conditions in the Pacific.
Record low temperature: -50 degrees at Gavilan on February 1, 1951
5. Mardy Murie, always a badass, may she rest in peace
I asked a friend of mine, Ellen Dornan, who grew up in Wyoming, to share some memories of January in the Tetons. In addition to reminiscing over hayrides at the elk refuge, hanging onto her mom’s snowshoe-bound leg as a toddler, skis and wet boots lining the cloakroom of her school and her dad cutting stairs into the ice so everyone could climb out of the cabin, she had this: “Helene Whittmer (Witty to all), who was Mardy [Murie] and my grandmother’s contemporary…owning the first snowmobile, and being the first certified snowmobile mechanic in Jackson Hole. She seemed so brave and daring and wonderful on her snow machine! How I wished my parents would get one!”
Record low temperature: -66 degrees at Riverside on February 9, 1933
6. Fair time
Even though it is wintertime – and long past county fair season – do you still find yourself hankering for stock dog contests, quilting competitions and model farm equipment shows? Well, you’re in luck. Jump on over to the Fergus County Fairgrounds in Lewistown for the Montana Winter Fair from January 22 through 27. There’s even a fiddler contest on Saturday, the 26th.
Record low temperature: -70 degrees at Rogers Pass on January 20, 1954
7. White death
According to the website for the Boulder-based Colorado Avalanche Information Center, about 2,300 avalanches are reported in the state each year. The center estimates that ten times that number actually occur, but go unreported. Last winter, 2,386 avalanches were reported, 68 people were caught in avalanches, and five people were killed.
Like learning about avalanches? Or think you have valuable observations to lend from your part of the state? Email caic@qwest.net.
Record low temperature: -61 degrees at Maybell on February 1, 1985
