By Chris Spears
DENVER (CBS4) - CBS4 Weather Watcher Mark Bobier captured an awesome day of weather in the Fraser Valley just outside of Winter Park on Wednesday.
It's a great visual for understanding Colorado's daily cycle of thunderstorms and why they most always start in the mountains.
As you watch the following video be sure to look for these cool features...
how clear the skies start off in the morning which allows temperatures to plummet in a high mountain valley
the temperature in the lower left which makes a roughly 40 degree jump in under six hours - very typical of dry air which heats up and cools down quickly
the cycle of daytime convection starting mid-morning as clouds begin to bubble up above the mountains because air begins to rise from the mountaintops as they are heated by the sun
the different directions of wind at different altitudes, which is called shear, as the atmosphere changes throughout the day as various small and large scale weather features move around
how the clouds grow taller and taller as the temperature keeps rising and how they begin to turn darker as rain starts to form inside them
the quick-moving afternoon thunderstorm that looked ominous, but only brought a few large drops of rain to the ground because the air near the surface is so dry
a rainbow that formed opposite of the setting sun as a thundershower moved through
the rising of the moon and how the light was filtered through the remaining clouds
how fast the atmosphere begins to clear up at night as we lose daytime heating and the process of convection ends, which is a dominant driver of Colorado's daily weather cycle during the warm season
Meteorologist Chris Spears writes about stories related to weather and climate in Colorado. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.
