BECAUSE YOU ASKED
Q: I went out to shovel snow, but returned to get more cover, as the air is very cold, and to tell my dad of the snow. There is not a lot, but some is dirty or orange. A guess is, other people will notice. What causes the color?
A: What is being called “The Red Snow Event” was an air mass, probably from Arizona, that brought orangish to red dust that colored the snow. The storm was nearly three weeks ago, and 2 to 3 inches fell throughout the Front Range before the snow turned to its usual color.
Researchers and climatologists from CU, the National Snow and Ice Data Center and other groups are studying the phenomenon.
Dust often blows in from Utah, but the particular dust from the February storm has characteristics found in Arizona dust.
The dust could temporarily change alpine ecosystems because it has a unique signature. It might help form alpine soils that later act as buffers against snow, and rain that might have toxins.
It can also create a weak layer in the snowpack that causes avalanches. Several small avalanches were reported at the time of the snow.
Source: Mark Williams, professor at the University of Colorado’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Q: In 1926, my maternal grandmother stopped at a place called Mandalay, somewhere between Arvada and Broomfield. What and where was it?
A: There is still a community or subdivision called Mandalay Gardens in unincorporated Jefferson County along Old Wadsworth Boulevard just south of Broomfield. Katherine and Sarah Church started the subdivision, one of the first in the state, in 1924. It was named for “Mandalay,” a poem by Rudyard Kipling, which later was a song recorded by Frank Sinatra. The original one-room schoolhouse is now a historic building.
Source: Kandi Ruth McKay, Church Ranch
– Bonnie Gilbert
Have you ever wondered how to register your child for school? What a political caucus is and how to get information about one? How many “fourteeners” Colorado has? If you’d like information about something in the state outside Denver, send questions to becauseyouasked@denverpost.com or mail to: Because You Asked, Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202. Include your name, city of residence and phone number.
