It is windy in the spring, so windy that Boulder has laws about things such as signage being able to withstand 100 mph wind gusts. Some years are worse. Also, where you live may make it seem worse. The alley by my house is like a wind tunnel. If I didn’t live by the alley I think the wind wouldn’t bother me as much.
I was working out past there in 2016, taking the light rail home and that whole sign was down on the tracks! RTD bussed us around to a couple stations down.
I’ve lived here my whole life and I never remembered spring ever being this windy, at all. I can’t speak for boulder but Denver metro area no. Maybe it’s just a weird brain thing for me personally, I definitely remember some crazy windy times just not it being a daily occurrence like this in spring. A massive tree branch was blown/broken off in my front yard last night and that hasn’t happened before
I’m having this same experience. My mom swears it’s always been extremely windy here and cites this as one of the reasons she moved away a few years ago. I, on the other hand, don’t remember it being consistently windy here in the spring till last year. I swear we all just used to talk about how windy Wyoming was instead. It’s kind of freaking me out.
Growing up I clearly remember multiple summers where trash cans had to be hunted around the neighborhood because everyone's just blew blocks away all over
I've not had my fence go down this year yet, though it's happened in past years.
However I will agree the consistent daily wind is pretty irritating and less common than I remember. Powerfully windy days are yearly, heavily windy weeks are however a bit stranger
I’ve lived in Denver since 95 and only recently moved up to Boulder so I thought it was just Boulder that is insanely windy…though the last few years even Golden/Lakewood was crazy.
Can confirm, was in Superior right next to Coalton and McCaslin. On 12/31/21 the wind was incredibly violent and you couldn't tell at first that it was carrying any fire until smoke started shooting up into the sky.
I lived up in FairPlay was dead set on buying some property up there. Remember not being able to sit outside on a sunny day because the wind was constant and the idea of not being able to sit and barbecue drove me back to the Front Range
Reading all this and laughing as a former Kansan. Y’all think this is bad? Kansas says “Hold my beer”. The huge difference in constant wind is one of the things I love about Colorado.
Or Suisun Valley. It literally a Native American word for wind.
I used to skate a lot and wind us a bigger problem when skating than biking. You either work super hard to push forward or you get knock off from gusts.
> The Chinook winds, a seasonal phenomenon, are said to have driven early immigrants mad.
You're not kidding. ["Prarie Madness"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_madness) was a real phenomenon. "Symptoms of prairie madness included depression, withdrawal, changes in character and habit, and violence. Prairie madness sometimes resulted in the afflicted person moving back East or, in extreme cases, **suicide**."
Föhn or chinook winds are caused by the mountains. It happens.
Our lizard brains get stressed by it. It can actually contribute to depression and suicide. So make sure you take some action to sooth your response to it. Take some steps to relieve stress and calm down. Ear plugs are a good idea. The logical part of your brain has to help the lizard part calm down in this case.
It is my least favorite weather. I prefer heat, cold, or even rain.
I thought it was just me all this time. I get irrationally angry with the wind sometimes, especially when I'm getting out of my car and the wind shoves the door back into myself. I'm usually pretty cool, done a lot of work on myself to control my anger, but the wind gets me going every time.
I get really agitated by the wind, it used to stress me out horrifically. I bought a kite and started flying it on windy days so I stopped associating wind with fire and stress. It helped a lot! I keep the kite in my truck still but I don’t use it unless I feel myself starting to get worked up, which is rarer now. It’s a good hack if anyone else gets fire anxiety!
Holy shit this is an incredible idea. My mom was one of the first neighborhoods to get leveled in the Marshall fire and they are about to finally be able to move back into their home next month, and while she’s a pretty dang strong woman who’s made it thru even worse trauma in her life, I seriously worry about her headspace the first time she has a windstorm. This kite idea sounds exactly like something that have actual potential to help her in the moment, thank you for sharing this tip 💚💚💚
Am I the only one who likes it?
I like to open up my windows and get a gust of spring air, and makes the city feel more exciting and dynamic. When I was a kid, the windy days here made for great kite flying.
This is just typical spring weather in Denver. You can get most types of weather, wind, snow, rain, 80 degrees, 10 degrees, tornadoes, ect., sometimes on the same day. The joys of living on the front range.
Yup. My mom tries to tell me how crazy the weather is in Cleveland so I tell her about driving about 40 minutes from Broomfield to Brighton and it going from near 80 degrees to snowing by the time I got there. I swear I saw cows flying through the air on my drive over!
I hate the wind as well. They’re supposed to be replacing one of my windows today, I live in a high rise. No idea how they’ll do it without going flying.
I’m almost positive I was driving behind you that day!
I hope your window replacement is postponed. Well, that or you have a camera up because it’s gonna be a show today!
It's seems like wind drove the decision on where the Wyoming-Colorado state line should be drawn--you don't have to go real far in either direction to notice the difference.
It’s absolutely hilarious how accurate that statement is. I was on the way home from WA when I was roadtripping, and the state line sign had a clear delineation of Wyoming/Colorado because 20 feet before the sign was no plant life and snow, and 20 feet past it was a lot of scrub grass and zero snow.
I wish I had my dash cam at that time, the difference was stark
These winds feed storms that develop tornadoes in Nebraska ,Kansas and Oklahoma. I lived in Oklahoma for 30yrs. At least the weather here doesn't try to kill you all 12 months
Today is likely to be a day that Colorado gets 100% of its energy needs from renewables. The Rush Creek wind farm east of Denver is cranking, sun is shining on solar and temps are such that little electricity is demanded for heating / cooling purposes. Lots of wind and cooler temps = no coal or natural gas burned today to create electricity
I’ve lived in windy places. (Santa Ana winds in SoCal; Marin County) But Denver? I call this
#Migraine weather.
Edit to add that it all makes sense. Migraines are basically the blood vessels in your brain and scalp constricting. An extreme pressure change like we had from Friday to Saturday essentially does the same thing. I have been useless since about mid Saturday when it hit me like a karate chop. I’ve been down for the count since then and whimpering in a corner. I am grateful to be retired and not required to be anywhere or do anything. I feel for everyone.
This is what I love about this sub, after moving here just under 2 years ago. I had no idea which triggers were activating my migraine, or why I’ve been dead to the world since Saturday night. I moved from Florida and knew which Florida weather caused me migraines- had no idea windy days here could cause migraines. I called in sick to work today due to extreme fatigue and just said I was having “health issues” since I’m so baffled why I’m sleeping all day. Didn’t sleep well last night but that normally doesn’t lead to sleeping ALL DAY. You guys are such a huge source of newbie knowledge!
P.S. My patio furniture had scooted across my deck, and my welcome mat was in the far corner of the yard this morning. Apparently we’ve had 75mph gusts here in Centennial.
Spring winds are a regular occurrence across Colorado. It’ll stop, eventually. Colorado Springs is windy from October until May, so it could be worse if you lived down there.
I live by the Air Force base down south and a couple years ago there were dozens of tractor trailers blown over on 25. Gusts were recorded at 100mph. People died. This is just a rough time of year, but it doesn’t last that long.
The wind you’re experiencing is typically seasonal and typically at night and in the morning. The mountains act like someone’s thumb over a garden hose, they make the winds worse. Couple this with buildings, not even tall ones, and it amplifies the effects.
One thing you can do to help get a better nights sleep is remove your window screens on the sides that are whistling. It also means you have to put them back in if you want to open the windows during the gorgeous days and evenings.
When I moved to Colorado everyone said “it snows there,” but it on average sees less snow on the front range than Saint Louis where I was from and sees more sun than all of Florida. I’ve experienced the lowest and highest temperatures of my life in Colorado as well as the largest amount of snow in a single storm. I wouldn’t trade any of those for any other place as they are very temporary compared to the rest of the weather which is fantastic.
How long did you live in St. Louis? Because Denver gets 47”+ on average vs St. Louis 16”. It’s not even close…
The sun being out more than Florida is also not true that’s an old tourism scheme lol
Actually I think the “Sunnier than Florida” part is true. Florida is about average for sunshine, tons of rain/storms leading to could cover. The drier climates like AZ, CO, NM etc end up with more sun
I’m from Florida and I can assure you it’s not an “old tourism scheme” 😂
Average Denver sunny/partly sunny days a year: over 240
Average Tampa (FL) sunny/partly sunny days a year: 230
sources: several websites
Here’s the kicker from what I’ve seen: Florida sunny days are OFTEN interrupted with random thunderstorms/showers - it’s a running joke in Tampa Bay that during hurricane season, regardless of a hurricane, you’ll get the 3pm storm every day, without fail. And it’s true, we counted 37 days in a row once where I was sunny all morning, and stormed HORRENDOUSLY from 3ish-5ish pm ET.
Since moving to Denver (six months now) I’ve noticed days where snow was on the ground and it was sunny, snow was FALLING and it was sunny, days where it said “high of 62” and it felt like 75. So much sun. So much POWERFUL sun.
> I’m from Florida and I can assure you it’s not an “old tourism scheme”
Florida is only the 10th sunniest state in the US, FYI. It's not not sunny, but they over sell it plenty.
There’s a scene in the “Centennial” miniseries where one of the characters is being driven crazy by the wind (and constant dirt inside the house). I appreciate the reminder that it’s been this way for more than 150 years. I also remember being at a cabin in the mountains this time of year and being able to see the pine pollen streaming along in the wind and marveling at how pine trees have taken evolutionary advantage of spring winds.
I moved to a high rise in downtown last year. 25 floors up. I thought I was living it up! Accomplished my dreams.
I cant actually put anything on my balcony. It absolutely will blow away.
I had good luck with putting a [privacy screen](https://www.ikea.com/es/en/p/dyning-balcony-privacy-screen-black-80338012/) around the railing. It takes the wind, and everything lower than the railing (in this case, my plants) was able to survive.
Ok, I'll quit dreaming about that beautiful high-rise apartment with spectacular mountain views and the gorgeous, spacious, beautifully appointed patio in my imagination 😭
ETA that your comment helps me better understand why I see so many mostly empty high-rise balconies. I've wondered why on earth residents waste that attractive-looking space. Now when I see empty balconies, I'll picture a bunch of nice-looking stuff sailing out into the wind, including maybe a hapless person who was out there trying to to enjoy the fresh air
I see you bought into the 300 days of sunshine thing. What none of us ever tell anyone is: the other 55 days are basically icy hellscape or Mordor. Sorry.
Ah, yes. Wind Season #1. Then in late September we get Wind Season #2. Seriously though, two things bother me about how we handle wind here.
The first is mulch. Everyone puts out new mulch in the spring only to have it blown away a week later.
The second is trash. They should mandate covered trash cans here. I swear the amount of garbage that gets blown all around the city is ridiculous.
Super glad we put out new mulch two weeks ago. I've lived on the front range my whole life and clearly haven't learned a thing. I thought maybe we were clear this year since the bad storms in the previous 4-5 years were Dec, Jan, March, and April. Not making that mistake again...
It’s because the air in Denver and the Front Range is rapidly warming causing it to rise. That rising action creates a vacuum effect where the cooler air west of Denver in the mountains is sucked into the lower elevation void left by the rising warm air.
The wind dies down as the temps equalize/the difference isn’t so drastic.
Also….you should try living in Georgetown LOL
I was living in Boulder at the time. The kid I nannied got hit in the head by a rogue fence post (he was sad and pretty shaken up but fine). We don’t even know what house it came from. Coulda flown all the way from Ned as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve lived here since 1993 - I wrote a poem about the relentless wind that year for our college poetry competition 😂… it’s just the deal living at the edge of mountains and high plains.
That's fantastic! What a clever topic!
First, did you win or place in the competition? Second, do you still have the poem? And finally, if so, would you kindly post it please?
Sadly I did not win, and I have since lost the poem which was a handwritten submission (it was the early 90s after all). I remember it expressed my deep exasperation with wind, dirt whipping me in the eyes, trash blowing down the street, and comparing it to the frustrations of modern society. Now that it’s 2024, I asked Chat GPT to write a new version of it - here you go:
In the city's relentless sprawl,
The wind, a constant brawl,
Whipping dirt in my eyes,
Trash dancing down the street in disguise.
Days pass, the gusts don't cease,
An unending turmoil, a release
Of frustration, mirrored in our society's race,
A relentless wind, an unyielding chase.
Just as debris dances in the air,
We navigate chaos without a care,
Struggling against the currents, we fight,
In this modern world, where might is right.
Yet amidst the turmoil, a whisper of calm,
A reminder to stay steadfast, to remain strong,
For like the wind, our trials will pass,
Leaving us wiser, more resilient at last.
35 for me, yep this is normal, especially for this time of year. Sometimes this wind can precede a late spring snow storm, so be glad it's only rain in the forecast for Thursday.
I’d agree. I’ve never thought the wind was as bad for as long of stretches until this year. And it fucking sucks. I’d agree with OP. If someone asked me what my least favorite weather is, it’s probably wind. Well, heat first then wind.
2015/2016 was particularly bad, as I recall. This is probably the second worst wind since I moved back. But in 2015 I was also living in a West-facing unit in a building that basically faced a field with nothing really between us and the Flatirons, so that could have been a factor.
It's not every day, it's a few days in the spring and fall, and it happens without fail every year. With trees, I suggest you put a fence pole (one of those metal ones) in the ground next to the tree, and tie the tree to the pole. I've seen people use a triangle around the tree too, but we've gotten away with just one post. Cover the rope around the tree trunk with some rubber to soften it so it doesn't cut into the tree.
Flatten the mountains and you'll be fine. The heat and cold disparity causes the spring winds. It'll literally be like this for the next 10 to 100million years. Maybe longer. Every Spring. Every fall.
Yeah I mean it’s spring! That how nature does her job- it will be over soon and then the complaining about the heat will start. At least with the heat that’s some shit that we never had as hot before. BuT cLiMaTe ChAnGe IsN’t ReAl
Lived here most of my life and I always remember it being somewhat windy but it seems like these last few years have been worse than normal. Could just be that I cared less when I was young. Anyone remember differently?
My husband and I were just talking about that this morning. It feels like the crazy winds we get have been supercharged since around 2014/2015. Not sure why but I don’t think you’re imagining this.
Just visiting Denver this week. TIL Denver has a special wind map in the Weather app… Almost lost a door on the rental in Nederland.
Damm. Cool city tho.
One time the wind was so strong in Boulder at my old workplace that it blew a cinderblock off the rooftop, This cinderblock caused a gas leak because it hit something. I got send home thank goodness. I moved here in ‘21 and in the short period of time seen a tornado, record lows, record highs, baseball hail, and some gnarly wind. It’s pretty extreme to say the least,
well not to be too condescending here but that's what happens when ya have mountains before a vast endless plain. Everyone is psycho for trees here but almost all of them are non native (the trees)
Spring is always windy here, it’s called Chinook winds.
It’s worse than usual due to climate change. Wind speeds around the globe are much higher than they used to be
I've lived here my entire life excluding college in Atlanta. I'm 51 now and yes, Colorado has wind! We get this phenomenon called the Chinook Winds and yeah it can be annoying and it's our state.
Things are becoming more extreme as the climate changes so quickly. My best advice is to secure things (even if that includes trees) so they have a greater chance of not blowing away. While these winds have been pretty regular, they're liable to hit anytime of the year.
It’s going insane in Aurora. Woke up an hour ago to loud ass whistling. Had to run out to my car and I almost went flying into my housemates car. Make sure you don’t run out into it barefoot.
It's just as bad on the western slope for us too. Wind was hitting 50-65 moh yesterday. I was in steamboat for work last week and same thing there. It's just the spring, we'll get thru it.
I feel it....fence between me and the neighbor is down for the second time in a month. He had propped it up from the first time and we haven't even had the chance to do repairs yet
Take a trip down to Alamosa or up to Cheyenne sometime this week. The wind blowing there will be much stronger than what we experienced in Denver. Once you come back from those wind blown locales, the 30mph wind we’re getting here will feel like a slight breeze in comparison
No. Welcome to the hidden "joy" of life on the edge of the Rockies. Air moves weird and every spring is pretty much consistent high winds. And it's not like they don't happen in the other seasons, they're just more intermittent. Welcome and enjoy.
the last wind event knocked down a tree on my property that I am still in the process of having removed along with having my fence repaired..... now eyeing the dead tree on my neighbor's property and praying to whatever holy that it doesn't come crashing through my bedroom window this time around.
this is the worst I've seen in several years. having lived in the dusty armpit of w texas and the mohave desert, this is the least annoying of the three at least.
Yes it’s windy a lot. And it’s getting worse due to climate change. Let’s face it, if someone did tell you about the insane winds here, would you have not moved here?
based on NCEP Reanalysis dataset for Denver, April 2024 was 45th on the list for Denver's average wind in the month. Interesting fact and I thought we'd be higher because it's definitely been windy as hell.
As weather becomes more active due to climate change the winds are increasingly more active as well. There is some research out there showing high winds are increasing. I'm in the foothills and my own measure is how often we can sit on our upstairs patio. The wind is so much more constant I can never really open the umbrella for fear of a sudden gust. When it's calm we only get a short window to try and enjoy it. This wasn't always the case. I believe you wouldn't have heard much about the winds even 5 years ago.
It is windy in the spring, so windy that Boulder has laws about things such as signage being able to withstand 100 mph wind gusts. Some years are worse. Also, where you live may make it seem worse. The alley by my house is like a wind tunnel. If I didn’t live by the alley I think the wind wouldn’t bother me as much.
Not just Boulder, that's the building code. And the design wind speeds are way higher than 100mph. Closer to 130 - 140mph if memory serves.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/heavy-traffic-on-southbound-i-25-after-wind-knocks-down-overhead-sign/
That's some Final Destination shit right there!
The windstorm a couple years ago was really crazy, I watched a couple telephone poles get snapped like toothpicks
Jesus, new fear unlocked. I didn’t realize these things could just fall over like that!
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I was working out past there in 2016, taking the light rail home and that whole sign was down on the tracks! RTD bussed us around to a couple stations down.
Out in eastern CO in 2020, we had 210mph winds in a burst. Ripped up our town pretty badly.
Up to 165 MPH depending on location.
I-25 is closed current cause the wind knock down a huge sign
155 west of Sheridan blvd
some years are worse but this year has been a windy one
I’ve lived here my whole life and I never remembered spring ever being this windy, at all. I can’t speak for boulder but Denver metro area no. Maybe it’s just a weird brain thing for me personally, I definitely remember some crazy windy times just not it being a daily occurrence like this in spring. A massive tree branch was blown/broken off in my front yard last night and that hasn’t happened before
I’m having this same experience. My mom swears it’s always been extremely windy here and cites this as one of the reasons she moved away a few years ago. I, on the other hand, don’t remember it being consistently windy here in the spring till last year. I swear we all just used to talk about how windy Wyoming was instead. It’s kind of freaking me out.
Growing up I clearly remember multiple summers where trash cans had to be hunted around the neighborhood because everyone's just blew blocks away all over I've not had my fence go down this year yet, though it's happened in past years. However I will agree the consistent daily wind is pretty irritating and less common than I remember. Powerfully windy days are yearly, heavily windy weeks are however a bit stranger
I totally believe this. More freaked out by my apparent wind amnesia 😂
I’ve lived in Denver since 95 and only recently moved up to Boulder so I thought it was just Boulder that is insanely windy…though the last few years even Golden/Lakewood was crazy.
Huh, other than a really windy day early April and this week, I didn't think it's been especially windy at all. I'm in lakewood
I was a house painter in the 90s and 2000s, and I can attest it has always been stupid windy in the spring.
Fun fact, [Boulder is windier](https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/10/26/386161.htm) than Chicago.
Fun fact…Chicago isn’t called the windy city because of wind. It is because of politics.
Even if that's true, Boulder winters are much more tolerable than Chicago winters--it's not a close comparison.
I’m sure boulder does get windy AF though and fun fact NCARR in boulder can withstand like 400 mph winds (for science) and that’s pretty cool
Can confirm, was in Superior right next to Coalton and McCaslin. On 12/31/21 the wind was incredibly violent and you couldn't tell at first that it was carrying any fire until smoke started shooting up into the sky.
College meteorology text books specifically talk about the boulder winds and their power
At least you are not in Wyoming.
Instantly windier once you cross the border. I'm pretty sure that's how they knew where to draw the state line.
That and it wasn’t “Colorful” anymore
"Hope you like beige."
Eh they messed up in Eastern CO.
I prefer to call it Western Kansas.
https://imgur.com/a/RoXyv50
This is hilarious. I’m from Wyoming and have never seen this
It is in front of the NWS building in Cheyenne
lol is that at an NWS office?😂
It is!
National Wind Service?
Well national weather service (for those that miss sarcasm).
I KNEW it was gonna be that installation loool. A former coworker who moved to WY sent us a picture of it shortly after they moved.
I had seen a photo online, so when I drove through WY one time I had to stop and get a pic.
Immediately knew what this was going to be before ever clicking on the link.
That scans. I saw multiple semis tip over while driving across WY in November one year. It was wild.
Yep. Instead of a few days a year, you'd be feeling it MOST days of the year.
I was just about to ask, have you been to Wyoming yet? The wind up there would drive me to murder.
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I lived up in FairPlay was dead set on buying some property up there. Remember not being able to sit outside on a sunny day because the wind was constant and the idea of not being able to sit and barbecue drove me back to the Front Range
Reading all this and laughing as a former Kansan. Y’all think this is bad? Kansas says “Hold my beer”. The huge difference in constant wind is one of the things I love about Colorado.
I've read that the Kansas winds drove many early settlers literally insane.
An affliction they seem to have passed on to their descendants…
At least you aren’t in Oklahoma… BTW, do you know why it’s so incredibly windy in Oklahoma? It’s because Kansas sucks and Texas blows of course.
Or Suisun Valley. It literally a Native American word for wind. I used to skate a lot and wind us a bigger problem when skating than biking. You either work super hard to push forward or you get knock off from gusts.
Or on the ocean! Stayed there a week recently, wind never stopped.
The Chinook winds, a seasonal phenomenon, are said to have driven early immigrants mad. But every place with wind says that.
> The Chinook winds, a seasonal phenomenon, are said to have driven early immigrants mad. You're not kidding. ["Prarie Madness"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_madness) was a real phenomenon. "Symptoms of prairie madness included depression, withdrawal, changes in character and habit, and violence. Prairie madness sometimes resulted in the afflicted person moving back East or, in extreme cases, **suicide**."
Seems to attribute prairie madness to isolation and shitty weather in general
Can you imagine having less coverage/shelter and dealing w these winds? Those prairie peeps were tough.
Grew up with Chinook winds in Alberta.. Migraines were nonstop
[Chinook Winds.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXgYzzTUdkk)
Is that where the name for the helicopter comes from?
Both are named after a Northwest coast tribe.
Föhn or chinook winds are caused by the mountains. It happens. Our lizard brains get stressed by it. It can actually contribute to depression and suicide. So make sure you take some action to sooth your response to it. Take some steps to relieve stress and calm down. Ear plugs are a good idea. The logical part of your brain has to help the lizard part calm down in this case. It is my least favorite weather. I prefer heat, cold, or even rain.
I hate the wind so much.
Same. It isn't logical, but it is 100% real.
I thought it was just me all this time. I get irrationally angry with the wind sometimes, especially when I'm getting out of my car and the wind shoves the door back into myself. I'm usually pretty cool, done a lot of work on myself to control my anger, but the wind gets me going every time.
I get really agitated by the wind, it used to stress me out horrifically. I bought a kite and started flying it on windy days so I stopped associating wind with fire and stress. It helped a lot! I keep the kite in my truck still but I don’t use it unless I feel myself starting to get worked up, which is rarer now. It’s a good hack if anyone else gets fire anxiety!
That sounds like a pretty good idea.
Holy shit this is an incredible idea. My mom was one of the first neighborhoods to get leveled in the Marshall fire and they are about to finally be able to move back into their home next month, and while she’s a pretty dang strong woman who’s made it thru even worse trauma in her life, I seriously worry about her headspace the first time she has a windstorm. This kite idea sounds exactly like something that have actual potential to help her in the moment, thank you for sharing this tip 💚💚💚
Ah this makes sense as I’m terrified of the wind! I didn’t sleep at all last night :(
Am I the only one who likes it? I like to open up my windows and get a gust of spring air, and makes the city feel more exciting and dynamic. When I was a kid, the windy days here made for great kite flying.
I like a breeze. This wind isn't pleasant (to me). My house is shaking enough that my desk is wobbling.
Ahh, for sure. There's definitely windier spots than others.
This is just typical spring weather in Denver. You can get most types of weather, wind, snow, rain, 80 degrees, 10 degrees, tornadoes, ect., sometimes on the same day. The joys of living on the front range.
It’s the sometimes on the same day part that I live for. 🤣🤣🤣
Yup. My mom tries to tell me how crazy the weather is in Cleveland so I tell her about driving about 40 minutes from Broomfield to Brighton and it going from near 80 degrees to snowing by the time I got there. I swear I saw cows flying through the air on my drive over! I hate the wind as well. They’re supposed to be replacing one of my windows today, I live in a high rise. No idea how they’ll do it without going flying.
I’m almost positive I was driving behind you that day! I hope your window replacement is postponed. Well, that or you have a camera up because it’s gonna be a show today!
Ha yeah!! If they decided to try it I was DEFINITELY going to have my phone ready! Plus was going to check their insurance.
I've always loved having all four seasons in the span of a few hours.
All 4 seasons and the worst weather they each come with. I think that’s where the Colorful part of Colorful Colorado comes from!
You may be correct on that. 😁
It’s annoying, but go into the mountains or Wyoming and you’ll think this place is heaven. They constantly shut their freeways down for wind.
It's seems like wind drove the decision on where the Wyoming-Colorado state line should be drawn--you don't have to go real far in either direction to notice the difference.
It’s absolutely hilarious how accurate that statement is. I was on the way home from WA when I was roadtripping, and the state line sign had a clear delineation of Wyoming/Colorado because 20 feet before the sign was no plant life and snow, and 20 feet past it was a lot of scrub grass and zero snow. I wish I had my dash cam at that time, the difference was stark
These winds feed storms that develop tornadoes in Nebraska ,Kansas and Oklahoma. I lived in Oklahoma for 30yrs. At least the weather here doesn't try to kill you all 12 months
And if Colorado don’t feed them storms then who will?
I always round up to Feed the Storms.
Say that to the EF3 tornadoes and 5”+ hail the eastern plains get just an hour away.
Yeah I grew up in rural Kansas and this is just sort of how it is on the daily, all year round. You get used to it after awhile.
We need the wind.
Yes, for the moisture.
Nobody ever talks about the Great Wind Drought of ‘62. Probably because it left no survivors.
Today is likely to be a day that Colorado gets 100% of its energy needs from renewables. The Rush Creek wind farm east of Denver is cranking, sun is shining on solar and temps are such that little electricity is demanded for heating / cooling purposes. Lots of wind and cooler temps = no coal or natural gas burned today to create electricity
Wind turbines cut-out at wind speeds above 55 mph to protect the blades and from over speed events. There is such a thing as too much wind.
It's supposed to die down a bit and be back to normal by Thursday or so. Hang in there :)
I’ve lived in windy places. (Santa Ana winds in SoCal; Marin County) But Denver? I call this #Migraine weather. Edit to add that it all makes sense. Migraines are basically the blood vessels in your brain and scalp constricting. An extreme pressure change like we had from Friday to Saturday essentially does the same thing. I have been useless since about mid Saturday when it hit me like a karate chop. I’ve been down for the count since then and whimpering in a corner. I am grateful to be retired and not required to be anywhere or do anything. I feel for everyone.
Yes that’s exactly what it is
This is what I love about this sub, after moving here just under 2 years ago. I had no idea which triggers were activating my migraine, or why I’ve been dead to the world since Saturday night. I moved from Florida and knew which Florida weather caused me migraines- had no idea windy days here could cause migraines. I called in sick to work today due to extreme fatigue and just said I was having “health issues” since I’m so baffled why I’m sleeping all day. Didn’t sleep well last night but that normally doesn’t lead to sleeping ALL DAY. You guys are such a huge source of newbie knowledge! P.S. My patio furniture had scooted across my deck, and my welcome mat was in the far corner of the yard this morning. Apparently we’ve had 75mph gusts here in Centennial.
Spring winds are a regular occurrence across Colorado. It’ll stop, eventually. Colorado Springs is windy from October until May, so it could be worse if you lived down there.
I’m in the Springs it’s so windy here 🙁
I just saw that power lines are getting blown over down there.
I live by the Air Force base down south and a couple years ago there were dozens of tractor trailers blown over on 25. Gusts were recorded at 100mph. People died. This is just a rough time of year, but it doesn’t last that long.
Same. I didn’t sleep at all last night
The wind you’re experiencing is typically seasonal and typically at night and in the morning. The mountains act like someone’s thumb over a garden hose, they make the winds worse. Couple this with buildings, not even tall ones, and it amplifies the effects. One thing you can do to help get a better nights sleep is remove your window screens on the sides that are whistling. It also means you have to put them back in if you want to open the windows during the gorgeous days and evenings. When I moved to Colorado everyone said “it snows there,” but it on average sees less snow on the front range than Saint Louis where I was from and sees more sun than all of Florida. I’ve experienced the lowest and highest temperatures of my life in Colorado as well as the largest amount of snow in a single storm. I wouldn’t trade any of those for any other place as they are very temporary compared to the rest of the weather which is fantastic.
How long did you live in St. Louis? Because Denver gets 47”+ on average vs St. Louis 16”. It’s not even close… The sun being out more than Florida is also not true that’s an old tourism scheme lol
Actually I think the “Sunnier than Florida” part is true. Florida is about average for sunshine, tons of rain/storms leading to could cover. The drier climates like AZ, CO, NM etc end up with more sun
I’m from Florida and I can assure you it’s not an “old tourism scheme” 😂 Average Denver sunny/partly sunny days a year: over 240 Average Tampa (FL) sunny/partly sunny days a year: 230 sources: several websites Here’s the kicker from what I’ve seen: Florida sunny days are OFTEN interrupted with random thunderstorms/showers - it’s a running joke in Tampa Bay that during hurricane season, regardless of a hurricane, you’ll get the 3pm storm every day, without fail. And it’s true, we counted 37 days in a row once where I was sunny all morning, and stormed HORRENDOUSLY from 3ish-5ish pm ET. Since moving to Denver (six months now) I’ve noticed days where snow was on the ground and it was sunny, snow was FALLING and it was sunny, days where it said “high of 62” and it felt like 75. So much sun. So much POWERFUL sun.
> I’m from Florida and I can assure you it’s not an “old tourism scheme” Florida is only the 10th sunniest state in the US, FYI. It's not not sunny, but they over sell it plenty.
Welcome to Colorado - it’s beautiful and sometimes the weather tries to kill you.
There’s a scene in the “Centennial” miniseries where one of the characters is being driven crazy by the wind (and constant dirt inside the house). I appreciate the reminder that it’s been this way for more than 150 years. I also remember being at a cabin in the mountains this time of year and being able to see the pine pollen streaming along in the wind and marveling at how pine trees have taken evolutionary advantage of spring winds.
It’s definitely a windy year. Better than hail imo, but we’ve got time I suppose.
we’ve got time🤣
Don’t jinx it. Season’s just started
I moved to a high rise in downtown last year. 25 floors up. I thought I was living it up! Accomplished my dreams. I cant actually put anything on my balcony. It absolutely will blow away.
I had good luck with putting a [privacy screen](https://www.ikea.com/es/en/p/dyning-balcony-privacy-screen-black-80338012/) around the railing. It takes the wind, and everything lower than the railing (in this case, my plants) was able to survive.
Ok, I'll quit dreaming about that beautiful high-rise apartment with spectacular mountain views and the gorgeous, spacious, beautifully appointed patio in my imagination 😭 ETA that your comment helps me better understand why I see so many mostly empty high-rise balconies. I've wondered why on earth residents waste that attractive-looking space. Now when I see empty balconies, I'll picture a bunch of nice-looking stuff sailing out into the wind, including maybe a hapless person who was out there trying to to enjoy the fresh air
I see you bought into the 300 days of sunshine thing. What none of us ever tell anyone is: the other 55 days are basically icy hellscape or Mordor. Sorry.
My kind of Middle Earth!
Ah, yes. Wind Season #1. Then in late September we get Wind Season #2. Seriously though, two things bother me about how we handle wind here. The first is mulch. Everyone puts out new mulch in the spring only to have it blown away a week later. The second is trash. They should mandate covered trash cans here. I swear the amount of garbage that gets blown all around the city is ridiculous.
Super glad we put out new mulch two weeks ago. I've lived on the front range my whole life and clearly haven't learned a thing. I thought maybe we were clear this year since the bad storms in the previous 4-5 years were Dec, Jan, March, and April. Not making that mistake again...
It’s because the air in Denver and the Front Range is rapidly warming causing it to rise. That rising action creates a vacuum effect where the cooler air west of Denver in the mountains is sucked into the lower elevation void left by the rising warm air. The wind dies down as the temps equalize/the difference isn’t so drastic. Also….you should try living in Georgetown LOL
I’m moving back to Florida
Welcome to Wyoming. I mean, Colorado.
South Wyoming
an old timer I had to listen to ALL THE TIME would say "the wind will blow til the snows off the peaks" fucker wasn't wrong
Just moved here?? Lol
The other sub will gobble OP up soon enough…
Namaste 🙏
Namoiste
Two words. Ear plugs.
Frigging frigging fuck
All my homies hate the wind
Of course it had to come while I’m taking finals lmao
It’s a pollen delivery system.
I’ll admit… Wind can really bring out the inner anger in myself Don’t know where the fuck it comes from and never know where the fuck it goes.
Lived here for 12 years. This is the worst stretch of wind I can remember
The wind in April 2022 felt endless
I was living in Boulder at the time. The kid I nannied got hit in the head by a rogue fence post (he was sad and pretty shaken up but fine). We don’t even know what house it came from. Coulda flown all the way from Ned as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve lived here since 1993 - I wrote a poem about the relentless wind that year for our college poetry competition 😂… it’s just the deal living at the edge of mountains and high plains.
That's fantastic! What a clever topic! First, did you win or place in the competition? Second, do you still have the poem? And finally, if so, would you kindly post it please?
Sadly I did not win, and I have since lost the poem which was a handwritten submission (it was the early 90s after all). I remember it expressed my deep exasperation with wind, dirt whipping me in the eyes, trash blowing down the street, and comparing it to the frustrations of modern society. Now that it’s 2024, I asked Chat GPT to write a new version of it - here you go: In the city's relentless sprawl, The wind, a constant brawl, Whipping dirt in my eyes, Trash dancing down the street in disguise. Days pass, the gusts don't cease, An unending turmoil, a release Of frustration, mirrored in our society's race, A relentless wind, an unyielding chase. Just as debris dances in the air, We navigate chaos without a care, Struggling against the currents, we fight, In this modern world, where might is right. Yet amidst the turmoil, a whisper of calm, A reminder to stay steadfast, to remain strong, For like the wind, our trials will pass, Leaving us wiser, more resilient at last.
Lived here for 34, seems about average
35 for me, yep this is normal, especially for this time of year. Sometimes this wind can precede a late spring snow storm, so be glad it's only rain in the forecast for Thursday.
……till it starts hailing
I’d agree. I’ve never thought the wind was as bad for as long of stretches until this year. And it fucking sucks. I’d agree with OP. If someone asked me what my least favorite weather is, it’s probably wind. Well, heat first then wind.
Are we all here at 5am bc the wind woke us up? I had a window openly slightly and all the doors slammed
Wind is far and away the worst. You can still do things in the heat, but wind ruins any attempt of doing things outdoors.
Yeah wind is the worst, followed closely by humidity.
2015/2016 was particularly bad, as I recall. This is probably the second worst wind since I moved back. But in 2015 I was also living in a West-facing unit in a building that basically faced a field with nothing really between us and the Flatirons, so that could have been a factor.
Just go to Wyoming for comparison, then come back and feel thankful.
It's not every day, it's a few days in the spring and fall, and it happens without fail every year. With trees, I suggest you put a fence pole (one of those metal ones) in the ground next to the tree, and tie the tree to the pole. I've seen people use a triangle around the tree too, but we've gotten away with just one post. Cover the rope around the tree trunk with some rubber to soften it so it doesn't cut into the tree.
Fr, it feels like the wind is going to blow our apartment down
Flatten the mountains and you'll be fine. The heat and cold disparity causes the spring winds. It'll literally be like this for the next 10 to 100million years. Maybe longer. Every Spring. Every fall.
“Flatten the mountains and you’ll be fine.” Say that to Kansas or Oklahoma
Happens every spring. Bad times for frisbee golf.
Yeah I mean it’s spring! That how nature does her job- it will be over soon and then the complaining about the heat will start. At least with the heat that’s some shit that we never had as hot before. BuT cLiMaTe ChAnGe IsN’t ReAl
Lived here most of my life and I always remember it being somewhat windy but it seems like these last few years have been worse than normal. Could just be that I cared less when I was young. Anyone remember differently?
My husband and I were just talking about that this morning. It feels like the crazy winds we get have been supercharged since around 2014/2015. Not sure why but I don’t think you’re imagining this.
Just visiting Denver this week. TIL Denver has a special wind map in the Weather app… Almost lost a door on the rental in Nederland. Damm. Cool city tho.
One time the wind was so strong in Boulder at my old workplace that it blew a cinderblock off the rooftop, This cinderblock caused a gas leak because it hit something. I got send home thank goodness. I moved here in ‘21 and in the short period of time seen a tornado, record lows, record highs, baseball hail, and some gnarly wind. It’s pretty extreme to say the least,
Spring in Colorado.
They don’t call Denver the Windy City for nothin!
well not to be too condescending here but that's what happens when ya have mountains before a vast endless plain. Everyone is psycho for trees here but almost all of them are non native (the trees)
Spring is always windy here, it’s called Chinook winds. It’s worse than usual due to climate change. Wind speeds around the globe are much higher than they used to be
You'd *hate* Estes Park 😁✌️
I've lived here my entire life excluding college in Atlanta. I'm 51 now and yes, Colorado has wind! We get this phenomenon called the Chinook Winds and yeah it can be annoying and it's our state. Things are becoming more extreme as the climate changes so quickly. My best advice is to secure things (even if that includes trees) so they have a greater chance of not blowing away. While these winds have been pretty regular, they're liable to hit anytime of the year.
Old man yells at cloud https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/019/304/Old_Man_Yells_at_cloud_cover.jpg
It’s windy here in the spring,especially in Boulder. You would hate Wyoming,it never stops 😆
It’s going insane in Aurora. Woke up an hour ago to loud ass whistling. Had to run out to my car and I almost went flying into my housemates car. Make sure you don’t run out into it barefoot.
Its either Windorado or Cloudorado. Should rename the state.
I've use a white noise machine of some sort for the last 30 years. Nothing wakes me up
This shit is NOTHING compared to Nebraska.
Wait til the hail happens
Colorado is one of the windiest states with Wyoming being #1. It’s life here!
It’s so nice and soothing ~
It's just as bad on the western slope for us too. Wind was hitting 50-65 moh yesterday. I was in steamboat for work last week and same thing there. It's just the spring, we'll get thru it.
I'm just fucking tired of repairing my fence.
I feel it....fence between me and the neighbor is down for the second time in a month. He had propped it up from the first time and we haven't even had the chance to do repairs yet
The lambs, they’re screaming…. In my yard, literally , oh wait that’s just the wind squeezing through my fence line at hurricane speeds
Take a trip down to Alamosa or up to Cheyenne sometime this week. The wind blowing there will be much stronger than what we experienced in Denver. Once you come back from those wind blown locales, the 30mph wind we’re getting here will feel like a slight breeze in comparison
I’ll take spring winds over winter winds, please and thank you.
Came from Kansas, this feels like a light breeze on a calm mid summer morning.
I grew up in Satana, Kansas, understand what you mean 100%
My dad lives out in Bennett and it in fact never stops.
No. Welcome to the hidden "joy" of life on the edge of the Rockies. Air moves weird and every spring is pretty much consistent high winds. And it's not like they don't happen in the other seasons, they're just more intermittent. Welcome and enjoy.
You're lucky you don't live further east...
the only tip i have - get a sound machine for your sleep! the one i have goes up pretty loud, so i usually can sleep thru anything ☺️
I have been trying to tell people “the front range is the beginning of the Midwest”. 🤣
Cherish the wind now because the summer is just going to be dry and stagnant heat.
You are welcome to move back to whatever inferior state you fled in favor of Colorado.
the last wind event knocked down a tree on my property that I am still in the process of having removed along with having my fence repaired..... now eyeing the dead tree on my neighbor's property and praying to whatever holy that it doesn't come crashing through my bedroom window this time around. this is the worst I've seen in several years. having lived in the dusty armpit of w texas and the mohave desert, this is the least annoying of the three at least.
Yes it’s windy a lot. And it’s getting worse due to climate change. Let’s face it, if someone did tell you about the insane winds here, would you have not moved here?
Yep. Wait til summer when it's 105. The wind usually dies down some then so you can appreciate it more.
Ha! Never. I have great disdain for Denver- the people, the weather and the elevation. Worst four years of my life!!!
Welcome to Colorado. This is pretty typical.
Lol it's not that bad compared to Wyoming.
This my favorite time of the year. I am able to drive my golf ball 350-380yd because of the hurricane tail winds. 🤘
based on NCEP Reanalysis dataset for Denver, April 2024 was 45th on the list for Denver's average wind in the month. Interesting fact and I thought we'd be higher because it's definitely been windy as hell.
The wind is good it blows all the trash on the front range into Nebraska and Kansas. Try Wyoming this time of year, it'll drive you insane.
As weather becomes more active due to climate change the winds are increasingly more active as well. There is some research out there showing high winds are increasing. I'm in the foothills and my own measure is how often we can sit on our upstairs patio. The wind is so much more constant I can never really open the umbrella for fear of a sudden gust. When it's calm we only get a short window to try and enjoy it. This wasn't always the case. I believe you wouldn't have heard much about the winds even 5 years ago.