What do National Weather Service Advisories Mean?

The National Weather Service will inform you about developing hazardous weather with outlooks, watches, warnings and advisories.      

A Winter Weather Advisory is issued when general snow accumulations are expected
between 4 and 8 inches in 12 hours in the mountains...and between 3 and 6 inches in 12 hours at lower elevations.

When falling snow is accompanied by blowing snow to cause travel problems due to lower visibilities.                              

When wind blown snow will occasionally reduce visibilities and create a hazard for travelers.

For freezing drizzle or a mix of precipitation types...such as snow and sleet...that will impact travel conditions.

A Dense Fog Advisory is issued when widespread fog will reduce visibilities to 1/4 mile or less.

A Wind Chill Advisory is issued when wind and temperature combine to produce wind chill values of minus 18 degrees to minus 24 degrees across the plains and high valleys...and values of minus 25 to minus 35 degrees across the mountains.

A Frost Advisory is issued during the growing season when temperatures are expected to drop to between 32 and 35 degrees on clear calm nights.

A Blowing Dust Advisory is issued when blowing dust reduces visibilities to between a quarter of a mile and a mile. 

You can view the current watches, warnings and advisories for Colorado by visiting: http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/co.php?x=1

www.READYColorado.com. Stay #COwx aware and remain #COReady.

CAMP HALE, Colo. (3/2/14) – Company B, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of the Colorado Army National Guard partnered with Lake County Search and Rescue and elements from Eagle, Summit and Larimer counties in order to conduct an interagency search and rescue exercise March 2.  

 

Simulating a large-scale avalanche, the exercise took place at Camp Hale, 15 miles north of Leadville, Colo.

Rescue teams recovered simulated avalanche victims using beacons and K-9 rescue teams, then rendered medical care and evacuated survivors.  The exercise was conducted as a simulated National Guard civil support mission during the company’s annual training period.

For two days prior to Sunday’s exercise, Lake County Search-and-Rescue personnel instructed the Special Forces Soldiers in avalanche awareness, search techniques, low-angle rescue, casualty evacuation and other critical skills.  This exercise enhanced the interoperability between the Colorado National Guard unit and state search and rescue agencies.  

Company B’s Title 32, Colorado-based mission is to provide all-weather ground search-and-rescue capabilities to civil authorizes when requested. This training is particularly relevant due to historic avalanche conditions in Colorado resulting in eight deaths to date during the winter of 2013-2014.   

As stated by Mike McHargue, the Director for the Office of Emergency Management in Lake County, “Training with the National Guard was very beneficial and timely given the recent avalanche west of Twin Lakes, which resulted in two fatalities and three injuries.”   

Due to the overall success of the exercise, Mr. McHargue went on to say that “We (Lake County) look forward to further developing the relationship with the National Guard as additional training opportunities present themselves.”  

For the Special Forces Soldiers, the training went beyond preparing to assist local authorities.

According to Major M (names of Special Forces operators were removed for operational security), commander of Company B, “this training has increased our survivability in the harsh and unpredictable conditions that Special Forces units typically encounter overseas. When we receive a mission, we must be able to respond regardless of the environment.  By conducting this training in conjunction with local search and rescue, it has also increased our capability to augment local search-and-rescue during a large-scale avalanche event here in the Colorado, as well.” 

Flight for Life was coordinated and planned for the exercise, but was grounded due to weather.

 

More pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conationalguard/sets/72157642357510043/

Media Contact:	Kara Lamb (970) 962-4326 karalamb@usbr.gov
For Release on: February 26, 2014
Restart of Power Plant Might Create Unsafe Ice at Twin Lakes TWIN LAKES, Colo. — Hydro-power generation will restart at the Mt. Elbert Power Plant the first week of March. Water entering the power plant from the Mt. Elbert Forebay and water exiting the plant into Twin Lakes might create unsafe conditions for winter activities like ice-fishing. "Our concern is that once we start operating the power plant, ice in the Forebay up above and ice right below the plant in Twin Lakes might become unstable," said Mt. Elbert Power Plant manager, Scott Wik. Both locations are popular for ice fishing during winter months. Most years, there are open water conditions above and below the power plant throughout the winter season. This year, a combination of sub-zero temperatures and the plant going off-line for maintenance in mid-December made it possible for the water to freeze over. The Mt. Elbert Power Plant is the largest hydro-electric power plant in the state of Colorado. It is located on Twin Lakes, just west of Independence Pass, and is part of the federal Fryingpan-Arkansas water project. For more information about the Mt. Elbert Power Plant, please contact Kara Lamb at (970) 962-4326 or klamb@usbr.gov. # # # Reclamation is the largest wholesale

Here is a non-exhaustive list of snow removal companies:

AllBright  719 486-2087

KW Construction & Restoration   719 486-1615

Leadville Home Pro's 719-293-5737

Stay Dry Roofing Service  719 966-4761

Leadville/Lake County (Leadville, February 12, 2014) --

This is an urgent public safety announcement. Leadville and Lake County have received a large amount of snow this year and more is coming. The office of Emergency Management for Leadville and Lake County recommends that all businesses, homes and public buildings be inspected for heavy snow loads. Consider especially removing cornices and high drifted piles of snow on roofs. Of great concern is that we will be receiving more heavy snow, and that soon it will melt and refreeze causing heavy ice dams that could cause roofs to collapse or leak. When removing snow please also consider where you put it. Best options if you have a building on Harrison Avenue is to put it in the alley way. Snow put on the sidewalks will also need to be moved as soon as possible. Concern is for public safety – that snow not fall on people walking by, and on the roofs that have not received such heavy snowfalls for several years. If you are able, consider assisting your neighbors. If you have a roof rake and can assist others we would welcome that help. If you have a roof rake and would like to make it available to others who do not have one, the Chamber has agreed that well-marked rakes with your name and phone number on it can be left on the porch at the Chamber for others to borrow, use, and return. The City and County will undertake a strong effort to clean the roads on Friday, so we are asking your assistance in cleaning up your own properties prior to that so as much snow as possible can be removed Friday. The current weather report would suggest up to 8” of very moist snow between now and Friday morning.

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