An Atmospheric Water Balance over a Mountain Barrier

Abstract

The flow of moisture through a ?slab? of air, upwind and over the Park Range in northwest Colorado, was estimated from wintertime meteorological measurements. On average, 6?14% of the inflow moisture precipitated onto the barrier (86 to 94% flowed over the barrier). Because such a small amount of the moisture precipitates, snowfall augmentation activities on the upwind Park Range barrier should not significantly affect the moisture reaching the downwind Front Range barrier.