Going, Going, …

Published: 12 May 2011

STORMVEX officially ended April 24, and AMF2 began packing up from its maiden voyage on the 25th. While most parts of the country are feeling hints of spring in the air, that’s not the case on the mountains in Colorado. Snow continued falling throughout the entire packup period, and the Ops van is still surrounded by almost eight feet of former “champagne” powder. Most critical components were removed from the mountain by snowmobile or snowcat, but several items including the AMF2 operations and AOS vans, will have to remain until snow melt occurs. With the near-record snowfall this year that may be as late as July for the Thunderhead site.

AMF2 OPS van at Thunderhead site, April 25, 2011

Bill Miesner and Tom Flannery doing their best to transport equipment off the mountain.

A typical day during pack-up consisted of snow on the mountain and a wintry mix in the valley.

The weather improved on Day 3 of packing, allowing for a much more productive day. Bill Miesner and Nicki Hickmon shown packing the MWR3C.

Mud season is mostly what we were dealing with at the Valley site.

Mike Ritsche looking for something useful to do.

Good progress was made during the first week despite the challenging weather (compare with Day 3 above). Shown here on Day 7, most of the Valley site had been dismantled and packing of the transportation containers began.

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The ARM Climate Research Facility is a DOE Office of Science user facility. The ARM Facility is operated by nine DOE national laboratories, including .