Both extremes in Colorado in one month

Both extreme temps took place in Colorado within month of February 2011. Beginning of the month was extremely cold with temperatures down to 23 below in the day time, and even 30 below at night. Colorado Springs schools were closed for three days - unthinkable event! But in other Colorado communities such as La Veta, schools were closed even longer - 4-5 days.
Yesterday, February 12, we've had temp of 71 degree during the day. How about it?! It felt like summer.
So, as we know, it's Colorado, and the weather changes fast here.
You can find our daily temps here.

Red-colored earth

That's how the first European explorers referred to the region of "Colorado" when they first came to this land in the late 1500s. This area was ceded to the U.S. in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War  of 1846-48. Located in the Rocky Mountain region of the western United States, the state's abundant and varied natural resources attracted the ancient Pueblo peoples and, later, the Plains Indians. During the Plains Indian Wars (1860s-80s), Colorado's wild frontier was the scene of intense fighting between Native Americans and white settlers. Colorado joined the Union as the 38th state in 1876, today it's America's eighth largest state in terms of land mass. In 1858 gold was discovered in Colorado and that discovery attracted thousands of new settlers.