One aspect of this area that particularly interested me was its weather. A park summary based on eight years of record keeping revealed an average annual precipitation of 21.09 inches at the 5,500 foot base of the mountains, with 14.14 inches of the total occurring in June-September. The highest temperature recorded was 97 in August, with the April maximum 86. The coldest low was a 0 in March. The average high ranges from 83 in June to 51 in December, while the average low varies from 58 in July to 27 in February. Wind speeds occasionally reach 60-80 m.p.h., as I can attest, and a 110 m.p.h. record was set on January 25, 1967.
March 26, 1979
Dear Jon,
I understand that you are chairman of the DPS Mountaineering Committee.. You may recall that I have, in times past, favored revising the DPS peaks list by eliminating some of the lees than outstanding peaks currently on the 1ist.
Given the ever increasing price of gasoline and Club's inability to obtain liability insurance at an affordable price for trips into Mexico. I feel that now might be a propitious time to think of reviewing the peaks list.
I, for one, would favor eliminating all of the Mexican peaks from the list. Some members might consider this a very radical step, especially since Big Picacho is probably the most interesting peak on the list. Should eliminating all Mexican peaks be too radical a move, we could make a modest beginning by eliminating Cerro Pinacate. According to all the reports available to me, Pinnacate is an uninspiring peak in an inaccessible location. Although I would like to see a complete revision of the entire peaks list, I would take some comfort in at least a modest beginning.
Abe Siemens