Kastens Inc. Farms

Winter of 2006-2007

On December 20th, we received 1.05" of rain (ice) and then on the 21st received between 5-7" of snow for a total moisture count of 1.55". The severe ice knocked out electricity for much of the county including the north side of our farm place. Power was restored before Christmas and the roads were cleared enough for everyone to travel (although the non-paved roads were a mess!)

Severe ice on corral fence on north side of farm, looking west --12/29/06

Ice on electric lines (1/2-1") -- 12/29/06

Close-up of ice on electric lines -- 12/29/06

On December 28th and 29th we got our next shot of stormy weather. Snow totals generally were above 15" throughout the area with Atwood getting 20.5". I measured around 18" on the farm (before an additional 2-3" on the 30th), but the high winds prohibited any accurate measure of snow depth. I melted a total of 2.6" of moisture out of my 10cm gauge. For December 2006 we recieved a total of 4.15" of moisture (making it the wettest month of 2006), easily beating the old record of 3.10" for December in 1982 (also an El Nino year). In fact, this past 10 days of weather of set many records and everyone will be talking about the big snow storms of "aught-six" for a long time.

Dug out my front porch and sidewalk, around 18" of snow -- 12/30/06

Henry (4yr) resorts to crawling to get around -- 12/30/06

Eliza (6yr) helps me measure snow depth (tape says 18"). -- 12/30/06

During January 2007, we received another 10" of snow and as of February 11 have seen little of it melt away. We have been 4x4 only on our roads since December 20th. On February 13, 2007, we received another 5" of wet snow along with a lot of wind. With the ditches, fields and pastures already at capacity, there are few areas for this snow to go other than the roads.

Looking east at the intersection where our mail box is. Naturally, it was warm enough the day before we got the snow to make sure we had deep ruts cut in the muddy (now frozen and snow covered) roads. --02/14/07

Looking north at the same intersection . The volume of snow makes it difficult to judge snow depth on and along the road.--02/14/07

Looking west at the same intersection one can see that the ditches are completely full and any snow that falls quickly piles up on the road.--02/14/07

Here is what the farm looks like on February 14, 2007. There is so much snow that it is hard to see the pushed up snow and drifts that are shown in this picture.--02/14/07

Lester's pickup after two days of breaking drifts on the roads to get around. He has already tore off the front air dam/spoiler on this new pickup this winter.--02/14/07

Looking east on the south side of the farm shop (the door on the left goes into the office and the Wildblue dish is shown in the foreground). Notice our propane tank on the right and the 3-4' tall glacier that is forming a few feet away from the building as the snow comes off the roof and never seems to melt away.--02/14/07

As of February 14, 2007, we still have between 12-24" of standing snow on all of our fields, pastures and lawns. We have some significant drifts throughout the area, especially in some of our pastures where in many places (draws) the fence and posts are still completely covered. Along with the snow, our extremely cold temperatures the last 40 days have really made life miserable for the cow-calf guys in the area and we have heard stories about newborns freezing to the ground. The wildlife has also taken a hit this winter and many people are throwing grain out for the peasants. The cottontales are making a living eating the needles from the lower branches of our Austrian Pine windbreaks. We see the mule deer standing on top of snowed-in round bales, eating from the top down. School has been cancelled at least 5 days already this year, plus an additional 2 days for a flu bug that ran rampant through the Rawlins County Grade School during the week of February 5th-9th.