[backcountry]

It was a big year. I remember that footage as well.

If I remember correctly that was the year I swamped a commercial Cataract Canyon trip from Potash to Bullfrog Marina in a day. River was flowing 45kish; can't say I ever want to do that again but having a 40 foot J-rig stall in Froggy Hole on Big Drop III with a 50 hp motor at full throttle is not a moment I'll ever forget. Navigating 5+ miles of logs below Lee's Ferry was also wild as the river had reclaimed itself to just below there. I'm not sure my spine has ever fully recovered from bow riding that inflatable rig across Lake Powell because the banging was so bad it was undoing all the interior lashing.

Crazy to think we boated over 140 miles from ~ 6 am until ~ 1 am the next day 😲. Yay for the mighty Colorado River when she's raging.

 

[middlefork]

I was "lucky" to hit Warm Springs on the Yampa at the highest recorded flow of 33,000 CFS in 1983. Watching 33 ft. pontoon boats standing on end and one flipping was awesome! We launched from the road in Deer Lodge and the ranger told us "well boys, winter rules are in effect. You can camp anywhere you can get out of the river". Every time after that I would look at the high water mark and just shake my head.

 

[backcountry]

Warm Springs has a pucker factor still but it sounds truly bowel moving around then. We hit it high water a while ago but nothing like you did. Seeing the water up into the trees at Deer Lodge was memorable. I think we averaged 5 mph until the confluence and often only had to float 2-3 hours to make camp. I actually remember having to do more midday hikes so we didn't get to camp before lunch time.

I'm definitely grateful to have been on that free flowing river at such levels. But coming up on a rapid like Warm Springs at those levels with no one whose run it before isn't exactly my favorite experience. That and the mosquitoes below the confluence were epic for the West (similar to the upper portions of Deso).

 

[backcountry]

This winter just keeps on giving. So impressive. The snow down here the 3ish days is some of the lightest I've seen in a while.

 

[bowgy]

 

[backcountry]

Bowgy,

How has the wind been out at your place this year? Been bad enough in Cedar where I live. Just got chased off Panguitch by white out conditions for the first time ever in the 5 (?) seasons I've been ice fishing.

 

[Vanilla]

This winter just keeps on giving. So impressive. The snow down here the 3ish days is some of the lightest I've seen in a while.

I read an article late last week that if we did not receive another drop of water the rest of this year we would be almost 95% of "normal," and the year would be considered a "normal" year. Of course, that is compared to the last 30, which have been hampered by a pretty large drought, but by mid-January we are already to "normal" precipitation levels, that's a good thing.

Undoubtedly there are going to be people negatively impacted by the water and that is a tragedy. Unfortunately we have struggled over the years to be able to just perfectly thread that needle where we receive all the water we need without it flooding or causing damage to people, lives, and their property.

I'll be interested to see how this ends up here in a few months, since we are moving into the time that is generally the most wet period of the year.

 

[PBH]

Another storm predicted for next week (Monday / Tuesday). Keep them coming. Regardless of how much precip we've had this winter, I still have not needed to run my snow plow on my driveway. I'd be happy as a pig in mud to wake up and say "looks like I'm going to need to get the tractor warmed up...".

Bring it on.

 

[2filled]

I finally got to use my snowblower the other day. Been able to shovel before.
it’s been nice to get mostly rain in town and lots of snow on the mountain !!

When it snows I have 4 places I have to shovel, so even then I get a pretty good workout.
2 of my neighbors across the street had cancer surgery last month. One is older than I am, and one is about the same age. Neither one is doing well so I do theirs. Both are nice guys.
Then I go do the in-law’s place. So, when I’m done with all that…….I’m DONE myself. 😓

 

[Critter]

Another storm predicted for next week (Monday / Tuesday). Keep them coming. Regardless of how much precip we've had this winter, I still have not needed to run my snow plow on my driveway. I'd be happy as a pig in mud to wake up and say "looks like I'm going to need to get the tractor warmed up...".

Bring it on.

Where I live at here in Colorado at 6500 feet we have had almost a steady stream of storms but the most that we have had as far as snow has been around 6 inches and it was gone the next day. Our temperatures are way above average, we are usually in the minus temperatures at this time but right now it is pushing 30. However the hills around me have a lot of snow on them and our percentage of normal is over 120%.

I don't mind it being dry down here in the valleys as long as the mountains are getting hammered.

 

[bowgy]

Bowgy,

How has the wind been out at your place this year? Been bad enough in Cedar where I live. Just got chased off Panguitch by white out conditions for the first time ever in the 5 (?) seasons I've been ice fishing.

Not a lot different than usual, whatever that is, we have had some bad in the fall but winter hasn't been too bad, went out and disconnected a trailer from one of the trucks I parked Saturday and there was a little drift on the side of the truck so we must of had some wind, some times in January I have woke up to 3 foot drifts in my driveway many days, none this year. Last month I did hear it during the night pretty bad a few times, one night I thought a chopper was hovering over the house but looking outside it was just the trees dancing in the wind.

Living where I am st for over 35 years it's been worse and it's been better. The worst is just when a storm is moving in. But let's just say that the cows haven't fallen over too many times. I guess as much as I hate the wind it is just part of life here.

Isn't that how Cedar became a town? The Pioneers said that they would just camp in Cedar Valley until the wind stopped blowing and then move on.

 

[PBH]

Isn't that how Cedar became a town? The Pioneers said that they would just camp in Cedar Valley until the wind stopped blowing and then move on.

And here I thought that St. George sucked, and Beaver blew. Maybe I have that backwards...



So, living in Cedar for as long as I have, I hate it when I hear people complain about how windy it is in Cedar. Sometimes I'll even pull out some stats. For example:

Cedar City, UT Wind
The average hourly wind speed in Cedar City experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.0 months, from January 30 to June 29, with average wind speeds of more than 7.9 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Cedar City is April, with an average hourly wind speed of 9.2 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 7.0 months, from June 29 to January 30. The calmest month of the year in Cedar City is August, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.6 miles per hour.


St. George, UT Wind
The average hourly wind speed in Saint George experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.8 months, from January 12 to July 4, with average wind speeds of more than 8.0 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Saint George is April, with an average hourly wind speed of 9.1 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.2 months, from July 4 to January 12. The calmest month of the year in Saint George is August, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.9 miles per hour.


(source: Weatherspark.com)

So, if you go by the numbers, St. George is windier than Cedar City.
Anyone care to try to tell those in the land of Dixie that??

 

[Critter]

I'm not saying that the wind blows in Cedar but one day when I was working down there I walked out of a building and fell on my face. That one day out of the 10 months that I worked there the wind had stopped, and the normal lean to the west that I had developed to keep upright wasn't needed.

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[backcountry]

Cedar is definitely the windiest place I've ever lived (unless you count hurricane winds). The first year in the house we bought we lost shingles to 70 mph gusts. (Note to DIYers, nailing patterns really matter when it comes to roofing).

The first building we lived in would get wind from 2 directions: one as storms moved in and another the canyon breathing. That building would sway some nights enough that we couldn't sleep. Not many benefits to owning brick homes in Cedar but sleeping through bad wind storms is one.

I've had bad outdoor experiences with wind so it grates on me. There just isn't much you can do about that force of nature but grin and bear it. I hate the wind.

 

[Critter]

For wind, Cedar can't even come close to Rock Springs Wyoming

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[bowgy]

A big part of my job is a tower rigger all over southern Utah and Nevada, so you know why I hate wind.

 

[bowgy]

You could move a few miles west and live in Windyprise.

 

[2full]

It gets so windy in Cedar in the spring, that the water in the toilet sloshes back and forth. I told a guy that I worked with years ago, and he called bullchit.

That night it blew AGAIN.......(it was spring)
The next day he came to work..... And just said that he could not believe it, it was true.
He'd never noticed it.

 

[backcountry]

I didn't understand the stacks in houses until Cedar. The water in our toilet bowl will drop almost an inch if the wind is really blowing.

But Critter is correct, you couldn't pay me to live anywhere along I-80 through those stretches of Wyoming.

 

[PBH]

See. I provide data, and people still say Cedar is the windy place! Backcountry / 2Full: St. George is windier! So is Enterprise.

I'll admit: there are times in the spring when you really start to wonder if the wind will ever quit. But

Enterprise, UT Wind
The average hourly wind speed in Enterprise experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.1 months, from November 26 to June 30, with average wind speeds of more than 9.0 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year in Enterprise is April, with an average hourly wind speed of 10.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.9 months, from June 30 to November 26. The calmest month of the year in Enterprise is August, with an average hourly wind speed of 7.7 miles per hour.


And the southwest wyoming portion of Utah is even worse!

Rock Springs, WY Wind
The average hourly wind speed at Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 7.4 months, from October 15 to May 29, with average wind speeds of more than 10.1 miles per hour. The windiest month of the year at Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport is March, with an average hourly wind speed of 11.9 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 4.6 months, from May 29 to October 15. The calmest month of the year at Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport is August, with an average hourly wind speed of 8.5 miles per hour.

Cedar City, UT wind graph