FLOOD01363

• County: Statewide
• Title: Colorado High Plains Thunderstorm Systems - A Descriptive Radar-Synoptic Climatology
• Date: 6/1/1974
• Prepared By: CSU
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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Table 4. Relationship of Thundersto~n Initiation to Elevation
No. of Percent No. of Percent R t' TRW (%)
Location Blocks a ~o ,
Area, TRW TRW Area(%) I
-- I
Plains < 5000' 66 52 263 28 0.54
5000 - 9000' 62 48 684 72 1.49
5000 - 7000' 35 27 525 55 2.05
7000 - 9000' 27 21 159 17 0.80
"Hot Spot" 14 11 383 41 3.68
..
TOTAL 128 100 947 100

squares and ,an area weighted number. Since the plains comprise a much

larger area than the mountainous area included in this study, the area

weighted index presents a truer comparison of the echoJ generation capa-

bility of the grid squares. If we use the area weighted index, three

times as many thunderstorm echoes initiate over terrain of over 5000

feet elevation as do over the plains. This point quantified the

significance of orographic stimulation of cumulus convective systems

by terrain over 5000 feet in elevation.

Hot spots are the most significant producers of thunderstorm

echoes using the area weighted index. Genesis of thunderstorms over

these locations is six times that observed over the plains and four

r

times that over the remainder of the elevated topography. The thunder-

storm systems which develop over them should affect both precipitation

and the attendant severe weather experienced on the plains in a signifi-

cant way. However, before exploring this aspect, a physical description

of thei'r characteristics is presented in the next section.

Physical Characteristics of Orogenic Ho~ots

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The importance of hot spots in generating thunderstorms which

later affected the plains was emphasized in Table 4. Their locations