Quite possibly one of the biggest misconceptions (from out-of-towners) about Colorado is that there is always snow on the ground… umm, naive non-Coloradan say what?! Colorado winter weather is far different than most people who aren’t from Colorado think. Aside from the mountains, most of Colorado’s snow disappears within the week, which I always attributed to our average 300 sunny days per year, but it is actually caused by this fascinating winter phenomenon: Chinook winds. You can see evidence of Chinook winds in Colorado doing their magic every time it snows! During winter in Colorado, the snow comes down and then it magically disappears – fast – thanks to Chinook winds. Read on to learn more about this phenomenon.

Credited for melting Colorado snowfall in record time is that of Chinook winds, meaning "a warming wind from the ocean into the interior regions of the Pacific Northwest of the USA."
Flickr/sirraychen
How does this work in Colorado (which is by no means a Pacific Northwest state)? The winds — also referred to as föhn winds — can happen anywhere near a mountain, as the warm winds are powered by downward moving air.
Wikimedia Commons

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Translating to "ice-eater," Chinook winds were named after the native Chinook people (who lived in the area where the term originated) and are said to be powerful enough to make one foot of snow disappear in as little as one day!
Wikimedia Commons
"Chinook cloud arch over a suburb of Denver in the early morning."
(In addition to the warm winds increasing temperatures, the dry Chinook winds help to evaporate the snow.)
Flickr/YOITABI

Intrigued and want to learn even more about this wintertime phenomenon? Watch this short video by TheGeoScholar:

As you can see, Chinook winds have a huge effect on winter weather in Colorado. Many people assume that Colorado is covered with snow from November to April, but those of us who live at the lower Colorado elevations know better. The snow is gone as quickly as it comes. Now that you know why, you can wow your friends with this interesting scientific tidbit. Have a beautiful, Colorado blue sky winter, everyone!

For even more fascinating natural science, click on The Incredible Natural Phenomenon In Colorado That Happens Just Once A Year.

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Chinook Winds Colorado

Christy Articola | November 25, 2022

What other states experience Chinook winds? 

Actually, Colorado is perhaps the most southernmost place that they occur in the United States. Other places that experience Chinook winds include:

 

What other weather phenomena does Colorado experience? 

That's an interesting question because most people automatically think of snow when they think of Colorado, but that's not even that big a deal in most parts of the state. Snow is most intense in the mountains and lesser so on on the Eastern Plains, on the Front Range, and on the Western Slope. However, these areas do have problems of their own.

Colorado has a lot of issues with drought and it often leads to wildfires. There have been some very bad wildfires in Colorado in recent years.

The biggest wildfires in Colorado history were:

  • The 2020 Cameron Peak Wildfire (208,913 acres)
  • The East Troublesome Fire of 2020 (193,812 acres)
  • The Pine Gulch Wildfire in 2020 (139,007 acres)
  • The 2002 Hayman Fire (137,760 acres)
  • The Spring Creek Fire of 2018 (108,045 acres).

 

Tornadoes can also be a problem in parts of Colorado, especially on the Eastern Plains.

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