Tornado Warning at DIA!
07-28-2014, 03:19 PM
#2
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They had one a couple of years ago, I sat through it at the main terminal under the tee-pee canopy. Made me wonder how strong the tarp material is on the structure. Denver often gets extra storm cells in summer due to thermals created by the city.
07-28-2014, 03:40 PM
#4
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Originally Posted by Cubdriver
Denver often gets extra storm cells in summer due to thermals created by the city.
One of the many "scandalous" things floating around when the airport was being planned was it's geographic location and the potential side affects of meteorological conditions that are unique to the area.
07-31-2014, 04:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Cubdriver
They had one a couple of years ago, I sat through it at the main terminal under the tee-pee canopy. Made me wonder how strong the tarp material is on the structure. Denver often gets extra storm cells in summer due to thermals created by the city.
07-31-2014, 05:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Airhoss
You don't think the being on the front range of the Rocky Mts has anything to do with it?
07-31-2014, 06:45 AM
#8
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Originally Posted by Cubdriver
Probably even more than the thermals the city generates some days, but you can see pop up air mass thunderstorms on the lee side of many large US cities without nearby mountains, so it's probably both of these effects. I'd be interested to hear what the local metereologists say.
Generally speaking and having been living on the front range and having been flying out of DIA for the last 14 years. These big storms are orographic in nature. They start building on the Rockies usually at about 1100 to 1300. at about 1400 to about 1700 they move off the spine of the mountains and head towards the plains.
You've got the worlds longest North South mountain range sitting 30 miles west of DIA. You've got hot desert air that blows over those mountains from the west. Do the math. If the city of Denver has an effect on local weather it is extremely minor and insignificant compared to the mega Colorado weather maker called the rocky mountains.
07-31-2014, 07:12 AM
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Ok, but both effects are there and both are visible in the summer radar feeds. Someone said the airport location is not very good, Stapleton would seem to be better for avoiding the smaller city-derived storm cells.
07-31-2014, 09:37 AM
#10
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Originally Posted by Cubdriver
I'd be interested to hear what the local metereologists say.
As Hoss said, you'd have the EXACT SAME conditions on the plains even if the city wasn't there.
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