Proof It Really Does Snow In Western Colorado
If you were here last year, you probably thought winters are pretty easy on the Western Slope.
Perhaps recently they have been, but that hasn't always been the case. There have been years here where the snow has fallen so hard and so long, the area was literally shut down.
Let's take a trip back in time to 1919 and the worst winter on record.
The day before Thanksgiving, the snow started falling and when one person went out to measure it the day after Thanksgiving there were 22 inches on the ground, and it was still falling.
According to the weather service, between October 31, 1919, and April 16, 1920, some 65 inches fell in the Grand Valley. Just for reference, that's five feet of snow. In 1919 there was no sophisticated way of removing snow from the roads so many roads were completely shut down.
In the video, large cities are literally snow blocked with 18-23 inches of snow. Granted, that's a lot of snow, but I think they would have given up if they had had 65 inches of snowfall.
The Grand Valley gets its fair share of snow, no doubt. I just hope we never see a storm as they did in 1919.