The greater San Luis Valley is in for a prolonged period of warm weather that should extend through November and possibly into mid-December, according to the National
Weather Service-Pueblo forecast.
A warm and dry November leaves the idea of an early start to a snowy season out of the picture and points to below-normal moisture heading into the winter holidays. La Niña periods such as this typically result in low precipitation and warm winters in the southern Rocky Mountains.
Dry November and Sandhill Crane migration Outdoor Citizen Field Report HERE
The Valley was fortunate to receive high levels of water in its river system from the October storms over the Pacific, which moved through southwestern Colorado. Following a dry summer, the closely-watched unconfined aquifer hit its lowest level ever recorded in September since monitoring began in January 2002, according to Davis Engineering.
Typical are temperatures in the 50s for early November and then 40 degrees by mid-November till the end of the month. Sunday, Nov. 2, hit 67 degrees, one of the record highs for the date, and Monday, Nov. 3, peaked at 66 degrees to tie the record high.
Basking in it all are the Sandhill Cranes, back in the Valley for their fall migration. The cranes come twice a year, at the start of spring in March and again in the fall. On Monday, a field full of the tall birds nested in agricultural fields along the Stanley Road in central Alamosa County, providing a normalcy and reminder of the beauty to the landscape of the high mountain desert.