Average to middling. That describes the San Juan Mountain snowpack as of March 1 — at least at the higher … More
Tag: Climate
San Juan Mountain water year 2020 starts dry, but is on the upswing
The 2020 water year (which started Oct. 1, 2019) began like a desiccated whimper in the San Juan Mountains of … More
May 1 San Juan snowpack update
Snow levels have presumably peaked in the San Juan Mountains and, as expected, they look pretty darned healthy. That said, … More
San Juan Snowpack 2019: Big, but not the biggest (yet)
Let there be no doubt: It has been a snowy winter in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado, along … More
River of Lost Souls Excerpt: 1911 Flood
Southwest Colorado is wracked by drought, and the Animas River, along with being sullied by ash and mud from debris … More
The 416 Fire and memories of 2002 — and 1879
UPDATE on 6/8/2018: As of the end of day 6/7, the 416 Fire had reached 5,100 acres and as of … More
Homeland, Dryland
For his entire adult life, my grandfather, Herb Billings, was a farmer in the Animas Valley north of Durango, Colorado. … More
New Mexico oil bounty comes with costs
In 2017, New Mexico moved into third place in the nation for oil production, pumping some 16 million barrels from … More
Scarce San Juan snowpack is not unprecedented, but that doesn’t make it “normal”
“For the first time in fourteen years, San Juan County celebrated Christmas and New Year’s days without any snow on … More
Methane Madness: Dataviz of natural gas pipeline incidents
I promised that I was working on a data visualization of natural gas pipeline breaches, and after crunching a bunch … More