Does Weather Vary with Neighborhood? (Denver, Colorado Springs: house, safe area, landlord)

[gokctx]

Hello all,

I am continuing to narrow down my search of cities to relocate to. The short list includes Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Colorado Springs, San Jose, and Hawaii (long shot).

My wife and I are looking for an area that has low air pollution, forests, nature, and not in an urban setting (i.e. 1 acre or larger lots). Colorado Springs seems to fit the bill, but my wife is not excited about snowfall and cold winters.

My question is what neighborhoods are "protected" from snow and cold but still fit our criteria? For example, I found the Woodland Park region to be real nice, but it seems to be get a lot more snow than COS. The black forest seemed nice but does it get substantially more snow/cold weather than COS? I would think that certain neighborhoods (due to elevation or location relative to mountains) would have very different weather.

Any suggestions on negihborhoods that are more immune to harsh winter weather, but that still meet our requirements (low air pollution, nature, not in an urban setting)? Commute time is not an issue.

Thanks for the advice!!!

[tfox]

Yes, there can be considerable variation, but it's complicated.

Elevation is certainly a factor. If you want to avoid heavy snowfall, generally somewhere lower in elevation is going to be drier and less snowy -- for example, Pueblo will get less snow than the Springs for that reason.

Living far out east, on the plains, will expose you to weather that you may not experience in town, even if the elevation is lower.

Another tell-tale sign is to look at the (natural) vegetation around you. Do you see dense ponderosa pine forest? Then that's a good clue that there's a LOT of snow in that vicinity. Does it look brown and lifeless, even in the summer? In that case, it probably doesn't get as much snow. If you see some scrubby evergreens and a bit of tallgrass, that's probably somewhere in-between.

[vfrpilot]

Another tell-tale sign is to look at the (natural) vegetation around you. Do you see dense ponderosa pine forest? Then that's a good clue that there's a LOT of snow in that vicinity.

This seems to be true, at least in the Colorado Springs area. Our house is at 7500' in Monument(north of COS) and we normally get more snow than just about anywhere along the front range. It appears you have to be higher than 6500' to live in a forest. The airfield at the Academy is at 6500' to give you an idea. Personally I think it's worth it to have the trees and the cooler summer temps. Having a flat driveway and our garage facing south has made a HUGE difference when major storms dump a load of snow. Less snow and more sun exposure makes for less work

[COflower]

As stated, it's complicated.

I live in Briargate and can get considerable amount of snow while the south end of town wont get squat. The reason it gets complicated is that it depends on how a low system sets up. Just slightly to the south or just a tad north and the weather can be as different as night and day here.

I am (according to Google Earth) at about 6,800 feet. In 2003 when Denver got slammed with a blizzard, it hit here too but my friend in the Fountain/Security area didn't get hardly 3" of snow. I had about 18" at my house and huge snow drifts while the north end of the county was closer to 24" or more.

The 1997 blizzard greatly affected the Colorado Springs area, pretty much closing the city down. I was living in Denver (off Colorado Blvd and Orchard Rd) at the time and I measured 23" directly outside my house. My brother, on the other hand, lived about 4 blocks north of my current location and had to (seriously) let his dogs out from the second story bedroom so they could go take their pees and poos. Drifts here were incredible. My landlord to this house, he couldn't get out for days after that event. I was able to drive the same day and go get some groceries for my neighbor as she is disabled so her daughter came with me but the streets in the area I lived then were cleared pretty well. I drive a Honda Accord - 1993 to put it into perspective.

As for getting land with an acre or more, within the Colorado Springs area, pretty much you are relegated (sp) to Black Forest or up towards Woodland Park unless you want to move out in the plains region of El Paso County but during the winter, it's pretty barren out there.

Snow isn't a big deal in the area. It really isn't. While we had some back-to-back blizzards last winter, it's unusual to have snow stick around for long around here. Usually it's gone within a day or two. If people are to move to Black Forest (which is an incredible area, my brother is remodeling a huge house up there and hope to move in this winter) you get yourself a beater truck with a snow shovel attached so you can clear your immediate area. But driving here is generally not a problem nor is the cold.

Some of us wacky long-time or like me, born here people, will walk around in shorts or short sleeve shirts when it's 30° and sunny. Granted, you don't want to stand in the shade when it's that chilly but I tell ya, the sun here is something that we enjoy more often than not.

It's even a joke around here that we get S.A.D. after a day or two of clouds. I don't joke because I do get that feeling myself. After two days of clouds I just want to nest and drown my S.A.D. with hot drinks and a fluffy blanket.

I suggest you look more into the C Springs area on the internet. There is a wealth of information that includes the main pages for C Springs on city-data.com. C Springs surprises many people who truly don't know much about our area. I have even written an article for an internet news site about other facets of C Springs, perhaps I should write an article about the weather here. I have a ton of Colorado Springs information in my head. Perhaps too much.

[JASMINE13]

As mentioned by the other replies, yes the snow fall can widely vary depending upon the neighborhood or part of town you are in.

The south side (Near the CS airport, Widefield, Security, & Fountain) do seem to get quite a bit less snow than say anything North of Constitution, one of the main East/West arteries through town. Anything up into the mountains (Woodland Park, Divide, etc.) is almost always going to get a lot more snow. Areas to the East such as Falcon, Peyton, Calhan, etc. usually get more snow & a lot of drifting. Mainly due to higher winds in that area & the flatter landscape. However there are also seem to be more tornadoes out East also.

There is often a huge difference between the weather happening on the North side of town (Briargate, Rockrimmon, Near the Air Force Academy, & Black Forest) & what is going on down South. Just a few weeks ago the North side was hammered by a large hail storm (up to golf ball size). The South side of town didn't get anything, except for a wonderful lightening show from up North.

I am currently living near the CS airport. Admittedly not in what would be considered a very great or safe area of town. However compared to larger cities or even other cities relative in size, this is nothing. Often you will find here small pockets (a few blocks) of what looks like a pretty sketchy neighborhood, but 2 streets over it is a completely different story. So do you research & drive around to check things out yourself.

In mid October 2006 we received a pretty heavy snow fall over the area. I measured 12 inches (heavy, wet snow) on the flat in my yard, it was worse up North, but there were drifts as much as 4 ft deep in areas against fences & such. The snow finished falling by about noon, the sun came out, & by 3-4pm there was a river running along the curb down my street from all the snow melting. By the next day only small patches were left in the grassy areas. That is pretty typical for CS, at least it has been for the last 11 yrs since I have been back here. Snows one day & most if not all of it is gone by the next day. The snow here is usually fine light powdery snow, but we do occasionally get those heavy wet branch breaker type storms as well as the occasional sleet/ice storm. I will say that I was not here during the big blizzards this last winter (end of December 06). I'm am actually kind of sad that I missed all the excitement! I was here during the blizzards of 96 & 97. Lets just say I wouldn't recommend going into work when it's like that, since I was personally stuck at my job for 3 days before I could get home. But it was quite the adventure!

I would recommend looking in the suburbs of Widefield, Security, or Fountain if you are looking for less snow. It usually tends to be slightly warmer there than the North end of town. I have also been hearing of a lot of people who commute to the Springs from the North side of Pueblo, mainly due to the cheaper housing prices.

I hope this helps!

Kelly

[gokctx]

Thanks for all of the excellent answers above. They helped tremendously. I've rated all your posts positively as they are truly outstanding.

I guess now I am now torn between having a house in the "forest" but dealing with the snow every once in a while or picking one of the areas suggested with less snow. For sure I do not want to live to far East out in the front range where it is barren. It also seems like down closer to Pueblo will be more deserty/barren. Next up is to get some tickets to the Springs to check out the region more.

Thanks All!!!