April to May on Flagstaff Mountain

So, the spring snow storm continues here in Colorado. In the Foothills now, it looks more like mid-winter than it does May Day, so there were lots of folks out capturing images with whatever camera they had handy–iPhone, point-and-shoots, DSLRs, even GoPros held out the window of a slow cruising car.

This kind of meteorological instability is really not unusual, though, as March and April can actually be very heavy months for precip in these parts.

The snow line must have been right at 5,430 feet above mean sea level today as the flakes turned to wet rain the minute they hit the streets here in town–but, just a few hundred feet higher, the snow accumulated heavily in the trees, bending their boughs under a very wet, thick, blanket of white.

April snow showers bring May sun and flowers??? We’ll see!

Here are a few images from Flagstaff Mountain this afternoon as we move from April into May…ever closer to summer.

Can you spot the raptor soaring between the Second and Third Flatiron?

Lone Eagle in the Storm. Chautauqua Park, Boulder, Colorado, 2016

Here is a closer view of the raptor, or…? Let me know, ornithologists, if you have a positive I.D. on this gal or guy:

The weight of these spring snows can break tree limbs and down power lines:

A Heavy Spring Snow. Flagstaff, Mountain, Colorado, 2016

One of the many switchbacks that climb the hill, a route popular with local cyclists and rock climbers who specialize in bouldering:

Mountain Curve. Flagstaff Mountain, Boulder, Colorado, 2016

The jagged north profile of the First Flatiron was occasionally visible as the cloud base moved and wreathed up and down:

First Flatiron Window, Spring Storm. Flagstaff Mountain, Boulder, Colorado, 2016