Native: Vegetation 
9 
Daily Range of Temperature .—By daily range of temperature 
is meant the difference between the highest and lowest tempera¬ 
ture which occurs during the day. The daily ranges of tempera¬ 
tures are quite high in Colorado, particularly on the plains and in 
the high and broad mountain parks. One may gain an idea of the 
greatest daily ranges' of temperature at a number of stations in 
Colorado, by examining data for 1915 in the following table: 
TABLE II.—GREATEST DAILY RANGES OF TEMPERATURE (1915). 
Station 
County Altitude 
Jn. 
Fb. 
Mr. 
Ap. 
My. 
Ju. 
Jly. 
Ag. 
Sp. 
Oc. 
Nv. 
Dc. 
Blue Val. Ranch 
. Grand .... 
7150 
• • 
49 
44 
41 
44 
42 
v a 
49 
49 
48 
. # 
• • 
Canon City. . . . 
.Fremont .. 
5343 
48 
48 
48 
46 
41 
43 
44 
, • 
42 
57 
51 
48 
Chey. Wells.... 
.Cheyenne.. 
4279 
43 
45 
44 
41 
42 
43 
36 
38 
37 
56 
46 
37 
Cortez . 
.Montezuma. 
6100 
46 
40 
# , 
• • 
43 
46 
61 
52 
Denver . 
.Denver .. . 
5198 
38 
39 
38 
34 
37 
37 
38 
36 
32 
37 
36 
41 
Durango . 
.La Plata. . 
6534 
40 
46 
38 
43 
44 
46 
45 
43 
42 
51 
41 
37 
Frances . 
. Boulder . . 
9300 
33 
32 
36 
• . 
33 
31 
35 
30 
30 
35 
24 
42 
Garnett . 
.Saguache. . 
7576 
51 
57 
47 
46 
51 
49 
47 
46 
46 
53 
53 
54 
Gd. Junction .. 
.Mesa . 
4602 
31 
31 
36 
33 
34 
36 
35 
36 
33 
38 
33 
27 
Greeley . 
.Weld _ 
4600 
51 
56 
45 
45 
51 
44 
• • 
51 
51 
59 
49 
51 
Gunnison . 
.Gunnison. . 
7670 
58 
53 
48 
48 
52 
53 
49 
50 
50 
54 
52 
39 
Hayden . 
.Routt .... 
7500 
39 
54 
68 
44 
57 
66 
55 
50 
50 
52 
46 
42 
Lamar . 
.Prowers . . 
3592 
54 
53 
49 
45 
48 
38 
41 
46 
45 
59 
53 
50 
Long’s Pk. (nr.).Larimer ., 
8600 
43 
41 
42 
32 
44 
40 
40 
45 
40 
44 
37 
46 
Meeker . 
• Rio Blanco 
6182 
50 
55 
• , 
46 
49 
48 
48 
46 
59 
56 
50 
44 
Pagosa Spgs... 
.Archuleta.. 
7108 
64 
67 
52 
46 
47 
• • 
56 
44 
47 
• • 
69 
53 
Spicer . 
.Jackson . . 
8700 
34 
36 
36 
35 
38 
52 
41 
• • 
• • 
36 
60 
54 
Steamboat Spgs. 
. Routt .... 
6500 
50 
58 
51 
45 
46 
53 
54 
55 
55 
57 
52 
47 
Trinidad . 
. Las Animas 
5994 
48 
45 
38 
38 
38 
40 
42 
37 
. . 
45 
44 
45 
Westcliffe . 
. Custer . . . 
7861 
54 
53 
47 
45 
44 
48 
50 
45 
52 
56 
55 
68 
The maximum daily ranges throughout Colorado are high; but 
the figures given in the above table do not consider sun tempera¬ 
tures, and hence do not represent the extremes of temperature to 
which sun plants are exposed. There is a marked difference be¬ 
tween sun and shade temperatures at high altitudes, and this dif¬ 
ference becomes greater ^as the elevation increases. Temperature 
differences in the sunshine and shade may be judged from the fol¬ 
lowing data taken from Hann’s Handbook of Climatology: 
TABLE III.—SUN AND SHADE TEMPERATURES AT DIFFERENT ALTITUDES. 
Altitude of 
Station (feet) 
Sun 
-Temperatures- 
Shade 
Difference 
150.9 
106.70 
86.00 
20.70 
8431.7 
113.90 
76.10 
37.80 
9481.6 
118.58 
68.18 
50.40 
65.6 
100.04 
89.96 
10.08 
5905.5 
111.20 
79.70 
31.50 
7644.3 
115.52 
66.35 
49.14 
9776.9 
171.10 
42.80 
128.30 
The heating effect of the sun at high altitudes is much greater 
than at low elevations. This means that at high altitudes, objects 
heat up much more quickly during the day than at low altitudes. 
