Example 3: Front Range of the Rocky Mountains

Flash floods also occur where cells regenerate and track along the mountains. The Skew-T parameters do not need to exceed the thresholds used for flash floods at lower elevation because orographic lifting becomes very important. When forecasting in areas with significant terrain, examine the lower-tropospheric wind direction relative to the terrain to determine if moisture convergence and lifting will be focused in a small area.

Some Skew-T parameters are not applicable in mountains because the pressure levels at which they are calculated are below ground. For some parameters, calculations are made at different pressure levels. For example, K index is calculated using the temperature at 800 hPa instead of 850 hPa.

Sounding at Denver, CO 0000 UTC 29 Jul 1997

Skew-T parameters:

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