Buena Vista, Colorado - Wind Profile

The wind pattern in this valley, typically under the domination of the Four-Corners high and daily heating, is quite predictable.

The morning air flow is usually light out of the north northwest. It is an early morning drainage wind and because of the funneling effect of the valley, produces a high occurrence of wind from this direction; however the speed is usually quite light.

Following sun up, heating occurs on the face of the Sawatch Range on the west side of the valley and rising air here produces a southeast wind during the first part of the morning.
As the sun rises, general valley heating causes a mixed flow during the mid-day until the hills to the east start to heat and that creates a more westerly flow. Because the in-valley flow comes over the Divide, the air dropping 6,000 feet into the valley enhances the wind speed. If the surface winds are somewhat aligned with the winds aloft, the upper winds will generate further gustiness. Winds gusts are not generally higher than the 40 to 50 knot range.

Because of the extensive gustiness, the wind analysis was done using two methods. The one is using the steady-state wind is referred to as Wind Speed. The second scheme uses the highest wind recorded during the observation and is referred to as High Wind. This was used due to the high frequency of gustiness that would be encountered during a take off and landing period. The Max Wind is the highest wind speed ever recorded during this observation time.

The chart below shows the change in wind speed and direction during the course of the day. Direction is in degrees and wind speed is in knots.