Climate

Above, winter in Jamestown. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In seeing my pictures of last evening's downpours, a friend marveled, "Now I understand why trees can make it in such an otherwise arid place."

Which led me to check on the climate of the area. Since Jamestown is 17 miles east of Gallup, New Mexico (and roughly the same elevation), Wikipedia has this to say about Gallup's climate:

Gallup, like most of the interior Mountain West, has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). The summers are hot during the day, but the high altitude and low humidity means that nights remain distinctly cool: as late as July 2 of 1997 the temperature fell to 31 °F (−1 °C). Despite the large diurnal temperature range, most rain falls in the summer from afternoon thunderstorms. Despite the dry atmosphere, hot sun and an average of only 7.4 days with maxima below 32 °F (0 °C), winter nights are so cold snow is common and sometimes heavy: the maximum in a month is 29.10 inches (0.74 m) in December 1992 and the most in a year 65.10 inches (1.65 m) between July 1990 and June 1991. Actual snow cover, with the hot sun at Gallup’s altitude, however, has never exceeded 13.1 inches (0.33 m), and for no day averages over 3.5 inches (0.089 m).

Above, spring in Jamestown. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A neighbor used a GPS elevation device to see what our elevation is, he found that we are at exactly 7,000 feet. Our homes are roughly 300 feet higher than the Flying J down in the valley.

Above, summer in Jamestown. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For more, go here.