My regular trips between Missouri and Colorado are usually a bit tiring but today's journey was especially difficult. After leaving Columbia in a balmy haze this morning, I encountered a southwest wind in eastern Kansas which strengthened with every mile to the west, all the way to the Front Range. Though the skies were mostly sunny and I had neither supercells nor snow to complicate my travel, nine hours of bone-jarring turbulence was more than enough.
While the strong wind was my sole problem through eastern and central Kansas, dust plumes and tumbleweed armies posed additional distractions across the dry landscape of the High Plains. Fortunately, no trucks were overturned by the winds and few RV's ventured across the Great Plains today, a wise response to the high wind advisory. Though strong winds are common across this region, today's wind field is especially widespread and is posing a major fire threat from New Mexico and West Texas to Nebraska. Gusty winds along the Front Range have enveloped Denver in a pall of dust and a large wildfire is currently burning in northeast Colorado.
Today's strong winds are the product of a potent low over Wyoming (attached to a deep trough over the western U.S.) and a massive area of high pressure over the eastern States. Counterclockwise winds around the low are combining with clockwise winds at the edge of the high pressure dome, leading to a strong south-southwesterly flow over the Great Plains. The leading edge of the trough is forecast to cross the Rockies overnight and, here in Metro Denver, we'll experience cool, showery weather for the next few days. Meanwhile, as the front moves eastward, these strong winds will precede it, raking the Midwest and igniting thunderstorms as Gulf moisture enters the mix.
