SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.—And now the water roars, as the giant snowpack of winter—augmented by an uncommonly cold and wet spring—begins to melt.
Parts of California got up to 400 per cent of average snowfall in "Mayuary."
"That monster snowpack is about to come melting down the slopes thorough rivers and streams with ferocity, pushing an already fast water flow into a furious rage," said the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
In Colorado, where snow still blankets the San Juan Mountains, the Durango Telegraph has proclaimed El Niño as the winner of this year's Hardrock Hundred. The race was scheduled for mid-July.
Organizers cancelled the 100-miler (161 kilometres) foot race among the peaks of the San Juans around Silverton owing to "unprecedented avalanche debris, unstable snow bridges and high water" that compromised 64 kms of the race course.
It was the third time in 27 years that the race had been cancelled, the first being in 1995 because of too much snow and then in 2002 because of forest fires.
At the California Weather Blog, meteorologist Daniel Swain suggests a big view of weather extremes across North America: floods in Nebraska, tornadoes in Oklahoma, a massive forest fire in Canada, and record heat in the Arctic. They're all connected, he points out.
Emerging evidence suggests that such weather extremes may be occurring with greater frequency and intensity as the Arctic continues to warm faster than the rest of the planet.
"Interestingly, though, this doesn't necessarily mean that the impacts we experienced in 2019 will be exactly the same the next time this pattern repeats," Swain explained on his blog. Every iteration of the "wavy jet stream" produces new patterns of warmth versus coolness and very wet versus very dry.
Lively competition in utility board election
EDWARDS, Colo.—Larissa Read's election to the board of directors of Holy Cross Energy was unusual in that she had to top three other candidates. The Vail Daily reported she got 39 per cent of the votes compared to 27 per cent for the first runner up.
Elections of directors for Holy Cross and other rural electrical co-operatives have traditionally attracted little notice. This one was no exception in that only 6.9 per cent of members voted. In co-ops, members are also customers.
But often there is no more than one candidate, and rarely more than two for any spot. The difference may lie in the emerging prominence of Holy Cross in its concerted effort to decarbonize the electricity that it delivers to the Vail, Aspen, and other areas along Interstate 70 in western Colorado.
Adam Palmer, a director who has been on the board since 2009, suggested the greater awareness of the role of greenhouse gas emissions in causing climatic changes had a role in the number of candidates.
Too, a wildfire last summer at Basalt raised questions about resilience of delivery of electricity. The fire took out three transmission lines and very nearly eliminated a fourth transmission line. Had it done so, portions of Aspen and all of Snowmass would have been without power on the 4th of July weekend last year.
The co-op is also pushing ahead in the broader "beneficial electrification," to replace fossil fuels in transportation and ultimately in heating of buildings.
Read, a consultant who provides planning, facilitation, and project management services to environmental, non-profit, and governmental organizations, helped facilitate creation of the Climate Action Plan for Eagle County.
In response to questions from the Vail Daily, Read said she wanted to continue her service role and "help guide a leading regional utility into a low-carbon future."
Crusaders mascot likely to be replaced
CANMORE, Alta.—It appears that the Crusaders, as a mascot, will soon be replaced at Canmore Collegiate High School. A student group has settled on Coyotes, Wolverines, and Cyclones as candidates for the replacement.
This was triggered by a letter to students in March from the school principal, Chris Rogers. His letter talked about the need to "ensure an inclusive, safe and caring school for all."
The name crusaders, like many other words, has several shades. The broader meaning is that of a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change. The more narrow meaning refers to those who participated in religious wars sanctioned by the Latin church in the Medieval Period.
One person who had come up with the name Crusaders 40 years ago told the Rocky Mountain Outlook that it was the first, broader meaning that was intended. What, then, to make of the shield and sword that are part of the mascot? They're a clear allusion to the religious soldiers dispatched to the Middle East.
Ruth Suffield, a teacher who is overseeing the student committee, told the Outlook she was confused by the name herself.
"I just recently spent quite a bit of time studying Islam, understanding that religion better, and the tensions that exist between our countries and Islamic countries, so I can't not notice the historical references of Crusaders to the Christian Crusaders in the past," she said.
"I think it's true that lots of student and perhaps people in the valley didn't associate Crusaders as necessarily negative," the teacher added. But it was useful to have the discussions about how the mascot might be perceived by others, such that they might not feel very welcome.
Also under the heading of inclusivity, the municipality of Canmore will be working with students from the high school to find a prominent location for a rainbow sidewalk, the symbol of acceptance for varying kinds of sexuality.
Vail Resorts mum about plans for Crested Butte expansion
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo.—Crested Butte Mountain Resort has the final approval it needs for a major expansion of ski terrain. The Forest Service OK'd the addition of 500 acres plus three new lifts to service intermediate and advanced terrain. The Crested Butte News reported that Vail Resorts, the ski area owner, has not yet disclosed what it intends to do with this expansion, which had been initiated by the previous owners.
Uranium mining unlikely
TELLURIDE, Colo.—About an hour and a half west of Telluride, where the San Juan Mountains give away to sandstone canyons, uranium mining occurred in the 1950s and 1960s.Then, it went away, leaving a number of messes.
It does not look to resume again any time soon. There had been considerable worry among environmental groups in Telluride, and the town itself, about potential for resumption of uranium mining and processing. The most significant worry was about creation of a new Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill, with the possibility for radioactive dust to blow into the town's watershed.
The Telluride Daily Planet pointed to a paradox. A federal judge recently issued a decision that ends a seven-year ban on uranium mining in the Naturita-Paradox Valley west of Telluride. But this also means that the Department of Energy can get to work on stalled-out reclamation plans in the area.
Energy Fuels, the proponent of the Piñon Ridge mill, has shifted its focus to other projects and no longer has much stake in its leases from the Department of Energy in the area west of Telluride.
"They are really not in our short- or medium-term plans," said Energy Fuels spokesman Curtis Moore. "There are some resources out there, and a lot of those are former mines operated in the 1950s and 1960s. The mines could still operate, but it would take a lot of work to bring them into compliance with modern regulations. It's not a priority for us."
After another narrow miss, concern about worker safety
JACKSON, Wyo.—Recently a dump truck carrying roofing supplies lost its brakes while descending Teton Pass into Jackson Hole. Nobody was hurt, no cars were forced off the road. But it was yet another close call.
But why were the two workers not better trained and equipped? The Jackson Hole News&Guide sees a pattern. Employers need to be more accountable, it declared.
Two men were killed last year in a trench. The developer that ultimately employed them was fined US$19,532 by Wyoming's Occupation Safety and Health Administration.
As for the recent roll-over, the newspaper noted, the employer's punishment might be limited to the lost roofing supplies strewn across the highway and the totalled truck. So far, investigators have been unable to pin down the construction site where the men were working. The truck had Oklahoma plates and was not registered to a business.
"With a hot economy, the construction industry is humming, but at what price?" the newspaper asked in an editorial.
"We're calling on employers—from homeowners to general contractors—to quit cutting corners, recognize the legitimate cost of licensed and bonded subcontractors and keep our workers and community safe."
In Park City, a dump truck's brakes also failed. The 36-year-old driver avoided catastrophe by steering the truck as it speeded down the road onto a runaway truck ramp. This is between Deer Valley and the Old Town portion of Park City. The Park Record said police found that four of the truck's 10 brakes were ineffective.
