by Buckley Jensen



It started to snow at 7 a.m. on December 7 and snowed almost continuously for the next 24 hours.



When it started, there was 3” of snow with .01” of water at the Snotel measuring station at Camp Jackson on the Abajo Mountains. In 24 hours, there was 29” of snow, containing 2.9” of water, at Camp Jackson, with even heavier accumulations at higher elevations.



Monticello received two feet of snow in the same period. It was an intense 24 hour storm.



After a dry fall, with little snow in the mountains, the storm has jump-started the water year and made the outlook for area farmers and stockmen much brighter.



Snowfall was heavy all over the Four Corners area. National news reported that huge snowfalls inundated areas as far south as Flagstaff, AZ the same day. Even Moab had over a foot of snow.



The huge storm that hit on Monday went on to gain strength and cause huge problems in the Midwest, the Great Lakes area, and northeast United States.



Residents spent Tuesday digging out in order to prepare for another weekend storm. The weekend storm brought another six inches of snow to Camp Jackson and brought the snow pack to higher than normal levels.