Weather
Boulder weather from Boulder Channel 1 News : Includes latest up to the minute weather forecasts from Nationals Weather Service in Boulder. Team coverage from Boulder Channel 1 News during Snow, and floods. See our weather on Twitter @BoulderCh1News and FaceBook Boulder Channel one. Be a weather watcher: write Boulder.BoulderChannel1@gmail.com or call News 303-447-8531
Ma Nature to dump on Front Range
Oct 24th
Colorado weather can be unpredictable. Recent warm temperatures are forecasted to change drastically and potentially drop several inches of snow on Wednesday, Oct. 26. The City of Boulder is doing everything it can to prepare for whatever winter might have in store.
Snow removal procedures on city streets
The city’s Public Works Department has snow crews on-call 24-hours a day, seven days a week to respond to changing weather conditions. During snowstorms, there are 16 plow trucks on Boulder streets. Six of them distribute a liquid deicer, four spreader trucks distribute traction materials, and seven can distribute either. Fifteen trucks drive predetermined routes while one “floater” responds to problem areas.
Plows push the snow to the center lane where space is available. If space is not available, the snow is pushed to the side of the street. A liquid deicer is used on both streets and bike paths.
The city also applies deicing agents to streets and bridges for ice and snow control. Streets may be pretreated before a storm to reduce the build-up of snow and ice, depending on weather conditions. The liquid deicer may also be applied throughout a storm to continue melting the snow pack. Spreader trucks put down a crystallized deicer and lightweight, porous rock for traction, where needed.
Snow removal on city streets depends on the amount of snow and length of the storm, time of day, temperature and traffic conditions. Because most snow melts within a day or two in Boulder’s sunny climate and because plowing costs would increase by 200 percent, the City of Boulder does not plow residential streets. Plowing residential streets also blocks driveways and parked cars.
Sidewalk snow removal information
The Boulder Police Department recently took over the enforcement of a number of city code violations from the Public Works Department, including enforcement of the sidewalk snow removal ordinance.
The Boulder Revised Code (8-2-13) states that owners, tenants and landlords must clear their sidewalks within 24 hours after the end of a snowfall. Residents will be responsible for checking with the National Weather Service for specific snow fall completion information. Failure to remove snow before the deadline may result in a summons and/or an abatement process.
Each property will receive only one warning per snow season before the abatement process begins. A warning does not have to be issued in order for a code enforcement officer to issue a summons. Abatement includes the use of a private snow removal contractor to clear the sidewalk; the property owner will be charged a $50 administrative fee along with the contractor’s fee for removing the snow.
If a summons is issued, the maximum fine is $1,000 and 90 days in jail as determined by a municipal judge. The fine for a first-time offense is $100.
For people who are physically unable to clear snow from their sidewalks, the ICEBUSTERS program may be able to pair them with someone who can do the work for them. Volunteers are needed for this program. To volunteer or learn more, please contact the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) at 303-443-1933 or email richardvarnes@rsvp.org.
CU wins solar observatory HQ
Sep 30th
SOLAR OBSERVATORY HEADQUARTERS
The University of Colorado Boulder was selected today to host the headquarters for the National Solar Observatory, the nation’s leading scientific research program in ground-based solar astronomy.
The National Solar Observatory, or NSO, provides scientists access to the world’s largest collection of optical and infrared solar telescopes and auxiliary instruments to observe the sun in detail. NSO scientists conduct theoretical and observational research focused on understanding the underlying causes of solar variability and its impact on the Earth and the Earth’s space environment.
NSO is operated under the auspices of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, on behalf of the National Science Foundation, with key observing facilities in New Mexico and Arizona, and is currently leading the effort to build the 4-meter Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, a technological innovation scheduled to begin observations from Haleakala on Hawaii’s Maui island in 2016.
In April 2011, CU-Boulder was selected as one of two finalists along with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. CU-Boulder partnered with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Hawaii on the winning bid and will implement a collaborative graduate education program that will enhance the role of NSO in research and education on a national level.
“We are delighted to be named host of the National Solar Observatory, which is of great importance to the nation and world in terms of better understanding solar physics and space weather,” said CU-Boulder Provost Russell Moore, who submitted the proposal on behalf of the university. “Landing this vital research center is a testimony to the strength of CU-Boulder’s world-class faculty in space science and solar research, the support of the city of Boulder’s leadership, and the vital assistance and support of Congressmen Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis and U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennett.”
Stein Sture, vice chancellor for research at CU-Boulder, echoed Moore, saying that the NSO’s presence will benefit CU’s research and teaching mission in dynamic ways.
“As one of the world’s leading institutions in solar research, we now will have even greater access to ground-based observing facilities and will be able to continue to provide unrivaled opportunities for our students and research scientists alike,” said Sture.
The NSO’s mission is to advance knowledge of the sun both as an astronomical object and as the dominant external influence on Earth by providing forefront observational opportunities to the research community. The mission includes the operation of cutting-edge facilities and the continued development of advanced instrumentation both in-house and through partnerships, as well as conducting solar research and educational and public outreach, said Moore.
NSO currently has offices and ground-based observing facilities at Kitt Peak, Ariz., and Sacramento Peak, N.M., which will cease operations when the new Advanced Technology Solar Telescope is completed. The new CU-Boulder headquarters for NSO will be the primary science, instrument development and data analysis site for the new solar telescope.
“The educational and collaborative opportunities that will be enabled by the relocation of the NSO headquarters in Boulder are exceptional,” said Associate Professor Mark Rast of CU-Boulder’s Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and leader of the team that wrote the proposal to AURA. “The sun is the only star close enough to allow detailed observations of magnetic and dynamical processes central to many phenomena in the universe. The NSO’s unique capabilities will add to and augment ongoing efforts in Boulder, ranging from stellar astrophysics and the space environments of extra-solar planets to space weather prediction here at Earth. We are very excited by the possibilities, and thrilled that Boulder was chosen as host.”
Several CU-Boulder departments were involved in the NSO headquarters bid: the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, the Department of Physics and the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. The quality of students in these departments was likely a significant consideration in the decision to bring the NSO headquarters to Boulder, and major research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students will accompany the NSO move, particularly once the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope comes on line, Rast said.
“Students will have the opportunity to participate in discovery science using a telescope with about 10 times better spatial resolution than the best current space-borne solar imagers,” Rast said.
In addition to the university, Colorado and Boulder offer a host of national laboratories as potential collaborators with the NSO. Other laboratories and centers in Colorado expected to participate and benefit include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Institute for Standards and Technology.
“This is extremely exciting for the university, the state of Colorado and solar scientists around the world,” said LASP Director Dan Baker, an internationally known expert in space physics and space weather. “CU-Boulder researchers have been studying the sun for more than 50 years. Our continued leadership in this area is a tremendous asset for our students. Solar research represents a branch of science that is crucial for our nation’s future. The sun is a driver of Earth’s weather and climate and its extreme behavior can have immense economic and societal consequences through its impact on the space environment.”
The consolidation of NSO into a single site located on CU-Boulder’s East Campus is expected to result in jobs for up to 70 scientists, engineers and staff with an annual payroll of roughly $20 million. The new facility will bolster an already formidable high-tech and aerospace industry in the state. Colorado is third behind California and Washington, D.C., in aerospace industry presence.
“The NSO is an excellent addition to the dynamic research and entrepreneurial activity in Boulder,” said Boulder City Manager Jane Brautigam. “The federal labs and nationally recognized CU-Boulder, combined with an aggressive environment for financing high-tech startups, have made Boulder a hot spot nationally for its intellectual capital and business environment. We are delighted to welcome the NSO to our vibrant community.”
FACT SHEET
NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY
• The National Solar Observatory is the primary provider of key ground-based facilities to the United States solar science community to probe all aspects of the sun. The NSO is operated by the Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation for the benefit of the astronomical community.
• NSO’s mission is to advance the understanding of the sun both as an astronomical object and the dominant external influence on Earth. The mission includes the operation of cutting-edge facilities and the continued development of advanced instrumentation to conduct solar research, education and outreach.
• NSO goals include understanding the mechanisms generating solar cycles, the relationships between the sun’s interior, surface and outer envelope, and events like coronal heating, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
• NSO currently has offices and observatories in Sunspot and at Sacramento Peak (the Dunn Solar Telescope) in New Mexico and in Tucson and at Kitt Peak (the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope) in Arizona.
• NSO also oversees a community-based research effort called the Global Oscillation Network Group, or GONG, a six-station network that uses helioseismology to continuously observe the sun’s five-minute oscillations from California, Hawaii, Chile, the Canary Islands, India and Australia.
• NSO has begun work on the 4-meter Advanced Technology Solar Telescope that will be placed on the summit of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii, taking the place of the two primary observing facilities in New Mexico and Arizona. The summit of Haleakala is 10,000 feet in altitude — which is above one-third of Earth’s atmosphere — providing great clarity, dryness and air stillness for precise solar observations.
• AURA is a consortium of universities and other research institutions that operates world-class astronomical observatories. There are 38 U.S. institutions and seven international affiliates. In addition to NSO, AURA manages three other centers – the National Optical Astronomy Observatory at Kitt Peak, Ariz., and Cerra Tololo, Chile; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and the AURA Observatory, a complex of Chilean observing facilities.
• The relocation of the NSO headquarters from New Mexico and Arizona to CU-Boulder is not expected to begin until 2016.
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Boulder gets wise to wise to wildfires
Sep 29th
Boulder County, Colo. – October is Wildfire Awareness Month in Boulder County and will feature a full slate of educational programs and events, community mitigation and forestry thinning efforts, and the launch of the Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
A free half-day wildfire mitigation workshop in Nederland on Oct. 1 will help guide county residents through a checklist of modifications they can make to better prepare their homes in defense of a wildfire.
“Nearly half of Boulder County is forested and at high risk for wildfires,” Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Planner Jim Webster said. “Population growth in the forested areas has resulted in an increased risk of wildfire and in more direct impacts to residents, so we want to help people take a role in preventing and preparing for future wildfires.”
Wildfire mitigation measures can help minimize the destructive effects a wildfire has on forested lands and homes in the wildland urban interface and the following Wildfire Awareness Month events were developed to educate residents and promote action to reduce the frequency and severity of future wildfires in Boulder County:
Event
Location
Date/Time
Walker Ranch Fire Ecology Hike
Meyers Homestead Trailhead
Oct. 1, 10 a.m.-noon
Wildfire Preparedness & Planning Workshop
Nederland Community Center
Oct. 1, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
REI Fire Series Presentation: The Effects of Fire on Soils