Following a period of cool, rainy weather, temperatures are heating up along the Colorado Front Range and so is the severe weather. Indeed, severe thunderstorms and tornados generally peak in this region during the month of June.
While late afternoon thunderstorms are common from May to September, damaging hail and wind coincide with rising mid-day temperatures and a still unsettled jet stream. Seemingly modest thunderstorms, drifting eastward from the mountains, suddenly explode into powerful monsters, ravaging all that lies beneath their path while adjacent areas, bathed in sunshine, go unscathed.
As I drove a friend to the airport this afternoon, a few showers obscured portions of the Front Range. By the time I headed home, some twenty minutes later, most had dissipated; one, however, sitting over western Arapahoe County, had fed on their energy. Characterized by intense rain, high winds and large hail, it was drifting eastward (per the radio warning) and I changed my course to avoid its wrath. One would be foolish to drive into that atmospheric maelstrom!
While late afternoon thunderstorms are common from May to September, damaging hail and wind coincide with rising mid-day temperatures and a still unsettled jet stream. Seemingly modest thunderstorms, drifting eastward from the mountains, suddenly explode into powerful monsters, ravaging all that lies beneath their path while adjacent areas, bathed in sunshine, go unscathed.
As I drove a friend to the airport this afternoon, a few showers obscured portions of the Front Range. By the time I headed home, some twenty minutes later, most had dissipated; one, however, sitting over western Arapahoe County, had fed on their energy. Characterized by intense rain, high winds and large hail, it was drifting eastward (per the radio warning) and I changed my course to avoid its wrath. One would be foolish to drive into that atmospheric maelstrom!
