MONTE VISTA— Due to rapid melting it may not appear so to a casual observer, but much of the San Luis Valley including Monte Vista experienced heavy snow fall on Tuesday, March 12 and Wednesday, March 13. Monte Vista was plummeted by around a foot of snow on Tuesday morning. 
The situation became dire enough for the Monte Vista School District to cancel classes. This is a very rare occurrence to put the situation caused by the storm in its proper perspective. In an even more critical situation, power was lost by many Xcel Energy customers throughout the city. This caused the closure of many businesses and organizations including Rio Grande Hospital Clinics in Monte Vista and throughout the county. Xcel Energy worked diligently throughout the day and during continued snow flurries to restore power to affected customers. Most clients were restored by early Tuesday evening. 
Public works crews worked quickly on Tuesday to clear snow from essential roads and the business district. For this storm the public works crews also had the residential roads cleared fairly quickly. There did not appear to be any major issues in transportation within the city. Officials such as the code enforcement officer helped people who may have become stuck due to the storm or plowing. 
In fact, much of Colorado was affected by the storm cycle early last week. In the Denver and Front Range area meteorologists termed the storm a “bomb cyclone.” Areas around the state experienced a foot to two feet of snow or more with strong winds causing blizzard conditions. This prompted Governor Jared Polis to declare a state of emergency and to deploy the National Guard to help assist and rescue Coloradans who may have found themselves in dangerous situations. 
Snowfall and precipitation has been higher than average in 2019. Even so, mostly everyone is appreciative of much needed moisture after experiencing drought conditions for several years.