Spring in Boulder, Colorado

We're two days away from May, and it's snowing.  Of course, we had small flurries multiple times yesterday, but the forecasters are now saying we'll have a six-inch accumulation by supper tonight.  Besides distemper outbreaks in our local raccoon population, spring also brings thunder snow and lightning.  Late Monday night and/or early Tuesday morning, we had one heck of a rain, hail, and thunder and lightning event.  I thought we were having a downpour of rain, until I looked out the window and saw hail bouncing off the neighbors' roof.  There was one very loud roll of thunder in the middle of the event.  Lightning struck an ash tree six blocks from the house, and blew most of the bark off the tree.

This time of year also means that Boulder starts to see ravenous bears that have just emerged from hibernation.  The first black bear sighting in Boulder happened yesterday, when a youngster was spotted in a yard near Broadway in South Boulder.  It had apparently eaten plenty during the night, and sought refuge in a neighborhood tree for a twelve hour nap.  It left about dusk, after being filmed by all the local television stations and by hundreds of curious adults and children.  (Hey, there's been a bear sighting! Let's go look!)

This photo was released by the Boulder Police Department, who were asking that citizens stay away and give the bear plenty of room....  Did they?  Of course not!

   I did have to laugh at myself last night.  Joel was on-stage, and I was staying with Rosie.  It was 8 p.m., full dark, and with light sleet falling.  Rosie suddenly lifted her head and looked toward the back yard.  I could see what looked like a flashlight beam inside the shed, as the door was, oddly, open.  My first thought was what is a bear doing in the shed?  My second  thought was why the heck would a bear have a flashlight?  My third thought was that the light was at a very high angle...  It finally hit me that Mark, the gardener, had returned after dark to cover the new flowers and tender plants to protect them from the snow.  The "flashlight" was a head-lamp, and Mark was getting wire forms and protective sheets out of the shed.   -  I was mean, I guess.  -  I walked up behind him in the dark, and said, "Mark! This is unexpected!"  He almost went through the roof, he jumped so high.  Then I felt guilty for frightening him.  So I stayed out and helped him cover the plants....   

Huge Storm in Denver

While there was a tremendous storm in Denver yesterday afternoon, right at the height of rush hour traffic, Boulder escaped with clouds, thunder and lightning, and a few drops of rain.  We did have threatening clouds from about 3 p.m. until well after 10, as storms passed overhead and dodged around us.  Nedi spent most of the time curled up inside his closet hidey-hole, while Lovey went back and forth between my lap and the window.  We didn't even have enough rain to dampen the grass thoroughly.
   Denver, on the other hand, had torrential rain, lots of funnel clouds, and lots of hail.  Depending on where a person was located in metropolitan Denver, they got anywhere from .25 inches of rain, to 2.25 inches of rain in less than an hour.  Most of the hail that fell was the size of quarters, while some areas saw hail the size of golf balls.  Multiple funnel clouds were spotted in various neighborhoods, and photos were taken.  Straight-line winds knocked trees down, and/or  broke them in half.  Because of the deluge of sudden rain, there was localized street flooding - and the local creeks and rivers overflowed their banks again.  The hail stripped leaves from trees, and decimated flowers and gardens.
   Yesterday was Bike to Work Day throughout Colorado.  A lot of businesses had set up refreshment tents along bike paths, in parks, and in other open bike-riding areas.  They had served folks on their way in to work in the morning, and most were still set up to offer water and refreshments for the ride back home.  Most of those tents and pavilions were destroyed by the rain, hail, and wind yesterday.  Weather forecasters were begging people to find cover and stay there until the storm was over - and also warning that it might take several hours for traffic to clear enough for people at home to drive into the downtown area to pick up the stranded bicyclists.

Tree toppled in Commerce City

 Leaves, hail and flooding at Williams St and Colorado in Denver

Colorado Blvd in Denver

View from office building near Cherry Creek in Denver yesterday

Wild Weather in Colorado

While I was sitting in the Boulder Justice Center, listening to testimony to the Grand Jury, all hell broke loose around us.  When we stepped outside, after the hearing, we looked up at the clouds above us, and said it smelled like rain.  Got in the car, got home, turned on the news, and gaped.  Several reported tornadoes in and around Berthoud and Simla, over two feet of hail in southwest Denver, and 5 to 8 inches of rain fell around the tornadoes.  A lot of the town of Hygiene is under water, and the Big Thompson River may flood (look out, Lyons).  The Cache le Poudre River is flooding again.  Boulder is under a Flash Flood Warning until 9 o'clock tonight.  Then, early this morning, the road caved in in Sheridan, a suburb of Denver, and swallowed a police officer driving his police department SUV - the hole is more than 15 feet deep, and contains active gas lines.  Yikes!

Hail in Denver this morning

Yesterday's hail next to a golf ball

Yesterday's hail in southwest Denver

The tornado at Simla

Tornado damage near Berthoud

Tornado damage near Berthoud

Tornado that struck Berthoud

Sheridan police SUV slowly sinks into 15 foot deep sinkhole

And today is National Doughnut Day!

Wild Weather

Well, Boulder County is under a Winter Weather Watch for the weekend, with  anywhere from 2 to 28 inches of snow predicted, depending on your altitude.  The higher you are, the more snow you'll get.    -  At least it isn't the tornado outbreak that caught Oklahoma yesterday...  My prayers are with those people.
   South of us, today, Colorado Springs had a hail storm that brought more than 4 inches of the ice, and completely closed down Interstate Highway 25 in the North-bound direction:

This ice has melted and roads are now closing due to localized flooding - but not I-25.

Monarch Pass had snowfall overnight, and is expecting more;

 

And, north of us, near Fort Collins and Greely, the Poudre River is over flowing it's banks, closing parks, walkways, and roads:

Stormy Night

Last night was certainly interesting....  We've been having our Spring thunderstorms since Tuesday afternoon, and they are expected to continue.  Thursday night there was another big blow with rain and hail, and it was pretty yesterday morning.  In late afternoon, things started to get cloudy and the winds picked up.  While walking Lola and Cooper, I remembered my husband telling me that "when the leaves on a tree turn over, and show their backside, you know it's going to rain."  He'd learned that from his mother.  The leaves on the maples, oaks and cottonwoods were all flipped over by the wind yesterday, and when I arrived back at the house with the dogs, I turned on the television to check our local weather.  It was thunderstorm warnings up, and said that in some areas, the rain might fall at a rate of 2 or more inches per hour.
  Now, it's silly, but I checked the channel guide, looking at all of the 700+ channels offered, and I didn't see anything that I wanted to watch.  I started cooking my supper, and I fed, watered and medicated all the critters.  Tipsi didn't want to come inside for dinner, but after I went out with Pounce, he suddenly appeared at my feet and wanted inside.  As soon as I closed the patio door, it began to rain.  Then tremendous flashes of lightning began, followed by window-pane rattling thunder.  My supper had cooked, so turned off all extra appliances, but sat in front of the TV watching a re-run of the movie Van Helsing, with the volume turned way down. (So I could make up my own ridiculous dialog...)
  I was digging into some mashed potatoes when I heard a very disagreeable sound come from the television set.  It was an Emergency Alert from the National Center for Atmospheric Research here in Boulder.  Last week, with the high temperatures, the area was told to be ready for possible flooding from snow melt.  Last night, the warning was that rain was falling at a rate of 4 inches per hour, and that areas along certain creeks were to expect flooding as the rain moved northwest, into the mountains, over the creeks and areas that have been burned by wildfires in the last few years.  The computer-generated voice stated that this was "a life-threatening event" and to expect mud-slides, possible rock slides, and to look out for various burn-damaged debris being pushed along by water.
  One of the creeks named was the creek that runs along my sister and brother-in-law's property on Topaz Drive.  It's the creek that flooded multiple square blocks back in September last year.  Once the announcement was finished - and it was repeated twice, both in English and Spanish, both written on the television screen, and spoken - I called Kathy and Jim.  Jim answered; he was preparing supper in the kitchen, so I asked if he'd heard the warning.  He told me, no, he hadn't heard it, but Kathy was watching TV and should be there to let him know at any minute.  I repeated the warning, and said that it announced to end at 10:30.  Finally, Jim wondered where Kathy was, and found her, sound asleep, on the sofa, with the TV on....  As he'd left the lawn mower with 10 feet of the creek, he thanked me, and said he'd run out and move it, and "keep an eye on the creek level" until he went to bed...
    The lightning and thunder continued almost constantly.  Both dogs became frightened, and the cats wanted comfort, too.  I took everyone upstairs, and I went to bed (reading), and finally fell asleep with two cats and two dogs in bed with me.  I did not need a blanket to stay very warm.
    It's gray and cloudy today, and my kits were very happy to see me.  We've been having a "love-in" at my desk, and I've petted and scratched and rubbed kitty anatomy since I returned home - except when they were eating their special breakfast.  (They don't like lightning and thunder, either; they go under the bed, and I read aloud to them. - That's why they got a special "Momma's sorry" breakfast today.)  The storms are supposed to appear again this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, as well.  At least I don't have to water the flowers and garden twice a day!

Lots of Things

There were 8 tornadoes reported in the Denver area yesterday afternoon and evening, not just 5; and there was a lot of wind and hail damage in the metropolitan area.  We had rain and hail fall in Boulder multiple times during the evening and over night.  It started a little after 5 p.m. and lasted until about 3 this morning - thunder, lightning, wind, rain, and hail.  Luckily, the hail I saw here was the size of, and smaller than, green peas, so it didn't do too much damage.  - In some areas of Denver, between the wind and the hail, some of the soft sidings of buildings looked as though they'd been subjected to gunfire. - I had to close my patio window and door, because the wind was blowing from the east, and the hail was hitting the concrete patio pad, and then ricocheting up to the door and window.  It was an interesting experience.
   There was a slight to-do after the Preakness was won by California Chrome, before he shipped up to Elmont, New York for the Belmont Stakes.  Having won the first two races of the Triple Crown, Art Sherman, the trainer made a comment about racing in the NYRA area.  -  Humans have been wearing "Breathe Right" nasal strips for many years now.  They keep your nasal passages open, so you aren't deprived of oxygen while sleeping or exercising.  Human athletes have been wearing nasal strips almost since the day they were introduced... - The New York Racing Association did not approve of the use of nasal strips on racing thoroughbreds when they were first introduced, saying that there had not been enough study to decide whether the nasal strips were an assistance "offering unfair advantage" to the wearer or not.  Up until Monday, NYRA had declared nasal strips illegal in racing in their state.  California Chrome wears a nasal strip.  He has used a nasal strip in his last six races, and has been undefeated in all of those races.  He has also been ridden in each of those six races by Victor Espinoza.  Any horse, at any race track in the US can (now, with the NYRA's ruling) wear a nasal strip.  Some trainers like them, some don't. In a Sports Illustrated article, a writer stated that since the NYRA has allowed nasal strips, "all of thoroughbred racing suffers from the decision."  He never wrote why, or how, thoroughbred racing suffers from the decision; nasal strips were allowed at all US tracks except in the state of New York prior to the ruling.  Is he stating that New York racing is better than any other states?  Yes, Art Sherman did hint that one of the horse's owners wouldn't be happy if they couldn't use the nasal strip.  But I don't think that would have actually stopped California Chrome's connections from trying to be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 (Florida-bred Affirmed).  Another way to look at the nasal strip "controversy" is to realize that while the nasal strip may help hold the upper nostril passages stay wide open, all the air the horse breathes must then pass through the 'bottle neck' of the horse's trachea, leading to the lungs...  I do not believe that a nasal strip gives a horse an unusual advantage.
   We are heading for Memorial Day Weekend here in Boulder (and, yes, everywhere else in the United States)... In Boulder that means it is time for the Boulder Creek Festival and the running of the Bolder Boulder 10K road race.  Information about the Boulder Creek Festival may be found at:  http://www.bceproductions.com/boulder-creek-festival/    Festivities begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night, 24 May, with a free concert at the Central Park band shell, and will continue until after dark on Monday, 26 May.  On Monday, the Boulder street system, and a lot of the mass transit system, will be shut down for the 10K Bolder Boulder for the morning and part of the early afternoon - beware!  A map of the race course may be found at:  http://media.bolderboulder.com/BBCourseMap.pdf

 

Bears in Boulder; Tornadoes in Denver

There was quite a stir this morning in the area where I regularly walk the dogs in my care - a mother black bear and her two cubs chose to sleep the morning away in a cottonwood tree on Poplar - less than a block from my usual walking paths.  In any event, the Department of Wildlife was notified and, when the bears came down about an hour ago, they were gently "herded" back towards the mountains, and away from town.  The mother slept in the lower branches of the tree, while the cubs went higher....

Doesn't she look comfy?

And there have been reports of five tornadoes touching down throughout the Denver metro area this afternoon - bringing hail and rain, as well....  Boulder reached a high of 70 today, but the current temperature in Denver has dropped to 55 degrees.

Clouds dangling over Interstate 25 in Denver

Hail in a yard at 51st and Tower in Denver

"Icebergs" of hail on 61st Street in Commerce City

Yep....   It's Springtime in the Rockies!

Stormy Afternoon

I'm happy that I don't live in the Aurora area of Denver - after a glorious morning and great early afternoon, four massive storm systems decided to merge over Denver and then scoot off to the northeast.  Tornado sirens blew, schools were locked down, and people were told to seek shelter immediately:

Luckily, while weather watchers saw several funnel clouds form, none of them touched the ground.  There was some wind damage, and, as the rain was falling at the rate of  3.3 inches per hour, there was a lot of unexpected flooding of lower streets and roads.  On a section of Interstate, the drains were clogged with debris, and water was 4 feet deep on the roadway.  Hail fell in many areas, wiping out gardens and flowers, and breaking windows in homes and older-model cars.  In a few areas, it looked as if it had snowed - the hail turned roofs, yards, and streets white - in some cases, snow plows came out and cleared the streets.  It was a wild afternoon.

  A few minutes after four, yesterday afternoon, both of my cats suddenly hunkered down, fuzzed up, and they both ran for their "bolt hole" in the walk-in closet.  They didn't come back out for about 45 minutes.  I'd had the window and patio (back) door open, so I stepped out, thinking there were unknown dogs or people in the back yard.  Nope.   The wind was gusting, and the clouds above us and to the northeast looked like they were boiling.  Other than a few gusts of wind, and later light rain showers, nothing happened here - for which I am very thankful!

   Tomorrow evening I'll be moving into the ABC house - Cooper and Lola are the dogs, Pounce and Tipsi are the cats, and Shirley (who is 95) and her cat Belle.  I'll be there for two weeks, and then move in with Rosie, when her family goes to a wedding in California.  I'll spend every afternoon with the kits, but I will certainly miss them.  And I'll only have internet access when I'm here, at  home, so I'm not sure how frequently I'll be blogging.  I might be loving the kits too much to get online.  I'll just have to see how things go, and how the kits react to the new schedule....

    I do need to visit the library - I'm currently re-reading old favorites from high school days. 

Hail and Miscellany

As I was awaiting the bus, after walking Rosie yesterday morning, small rain drops began to fall.  The bus arrived soon thereafter, and once I in my seat, George, our driver, began singing one of his songs - "a rain song," he said.  It was a hauntingly beautiful song about young love in the country, watching rain fall while sheltering under a willow tree.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The short sprinkle ended before we reached the bus station.
  Once I got home, I started looking at apartments and rooms for lease, trying to help out both Britta (next door, with the service dog, cat, and birds) and Nancy, who has 3 cats.  Neither can afford to pay a lot, and living/renting in Boulder is expensive.  Out of 500 ads, I found 4 that met Nancy's criteria, and 3 that met Britta's.  *Ouch*    The darkness outside kept building, and, finally, there were a couple of peals of thunder - followed by hail and rain.  The hail ran between the size of large peas to almost golf-ball size, and fell for about 10 minutes, mixed with cold, pelting rain.  Quite a few folks playing tennis on the courts behind me actually yelped when the skies opened.  We've had occasional rain since then, and have a 75% chance of showers throughout today and tonight.  We need the precipitation, so I will not complain.
  This morning, I'm going straight to the Credit Union to wire funds to my cousin in Virginia.  She and her husband need a bit of a helping hand at the moment, and, as I have a little cash to spare, I'm sending it to her.  Then I'll go walk Rosie (taking my golf umbrella with me), and then Lucy.  After a stop at the library to pick up two books on hold, I'll come back to my kits.  Then, this evening, I'll be taking care of the Thore critters, and then going over to Rosie's for a couple of hours...  Then home and to bed.
   Some of the colts who raced in the Kentucky Derby came back with a few scratches, nicks, and cuts, but nothing was serious.  California Chrome is on his way to Pimlico for the Preakness.  Commanding Curve, who finished second, will skip the Preakness and aim for the Belmont.  And there are quite a few colts who will be jumping into the Preakness without having contested the Derby.  I'll let you know more, as the dust clears.
   And, finally...  Just who are the Koch brothers?  What do they own?  What's their background?  What is the history of their companies?  How many advertising groups are they behind?  Do they have their own PAC?  What, exactly, do they believe in?   All this, and more, in blogs to come.....

Photos From Yesterday's Storm

Clouds rolling in at Greeley

Hail at Wellington

Hail in Greeley - bet that pool was cool!

Clouds at Strasburg

Hail on patio at Pelican Lakes Golf Club in Windsor

View from Wiggins, Colorado yesterday afternoon

Hail Storm Last Night

Lightning, thunder, rain, and hail.  That's what happened here last night...

Clouds over Fort Collins last night

 Last night's hail in Boulder...

While we had a wild ride last night, it seems that the Opening Night of the Chincoteague Carnival was a nice one, even though a thunderstorm watch was posted.  

  And the West Fork Complex wildfire has grown to over 90,000 acres...  Have not heard of any new fires started by lightning from last night's storm, happily.