Severe Winter Winds Often Hit Colorado With A Fury
DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado is prone to seeing severe wind storms, especially during the winter season.
That's because it's the time of year when the difference between temperature and air pressure reaches a maximum over North America and that helps to drive the wind.
These winds are known as the jet stream and are normally found several thousand feet up into the atmosphere.
But sometimes these winds can mix down to the Front Range mountain tops and produce gusts in excess of 70 mph.
Because the winds travel downhill from the mountains to lower elevations, they're referred to as downslope winds.
A good clue to when this happens is the formation of lenticular clouds over the mountains.
The formation of these clouds is a sign that very fast winds are hitting the Continental Divide.
As the strong winds hit the western slopes of the Front Range, the air is forced to rise.
The rising air then cools and condenses to form the wave cloud.
As this is happening, on the east side of the mountains, the winds are forced down toward the ground, sometimes as fast as 70 mph or higher.
These winds can cause severe damage across communities in and along the foothills.
As a rule, when air is forced downward, it warms up and the relative humidity drops.
Because of this, downslope winds often bring warm, dry weather to Denver and the Front Range.
If snow is on the ground it can rapidly melt during a downslope wind event, which is why they're sometimes called Chinook winds, or snow eaters.
Some of the locations along the Front Range most prone to severe downslope wind storms include Boulder and Fort Collins.
