Boulder Foothills Face Dangerous Downslope Winds Wednesday. Patio furniture may become airborne and visit your neighbors. Shingles may fly. Here’s generally what we know.
When the Mountains Exhale: A Front Range Wind Story:
There are days on the Colorado Front Range when the mountains seem to breathe out. Well, more like full blown sneezes. You feel it first as a whisper. Then a shove. Then a sustained push that rattles windows, bends trees, and reminds everyone along the foothills and plains that we live at the edge of something powerful.
Wednesday is shaping up to be one of those days.
This is not an everyday breeze. This is a classic Front Range downslope wind event, the kind locals remember by what blew over, what lost power, or what sounded different in the trees. Here’s what Lafayette might feel like and experience on Wednesday, hour by hour.
How these wind events work:
Strong winds aloft cross the Continental Divide from west to east. When conditions line up just right, that air accelerates downhill, compresses, and pours out of the foothills like water through a narrowing canyon. Meteorologists call it downslope flow. Meteorologists call this downslope technically a katabatic flow. Longtime Front Range residents call it a day to tie everything down and to strap on your hats. The result is a sharp ramp-up in wind late morning, peak gusts in the afternoon, and a slow taper into the evening. Calm mornings can give a false sense of security. By midday, things change quickly…