Continental wind patterns associated with Colorado alpine dust deposition: An application of the BLM/USFS RAWS network

The winter and early spring of 2008-2009 brought an unusually high number of alpine dust deposition events to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.The greatest dust accumulations were observed in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.Significant dust accumulation was even observed along the Continental Divide in northern Colorado.The primary source for this dust has previously been identified as the Colorado Plateau.Analysis using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) atmospheric trajectory model along with satellite imagery showed that dust from the 2009 events also originated from the Colorado Plateau, especially from areas in and around northeastern Arizona that were experiencing abnormally dry conditions that spring.The study utilized data from the BLM/USFS Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) network in the southwestern U.S. to identify periods of high winds corresponding to documented Colorado dust events.The RAWS database, once considered to be brief and unsuitable as a climate resource, is quickly approaching 30 years of record and provides a valuable resource for application to various climate questions.Analysis of wind data from these RAWS sites during known dust events show that a minimum threshold wind velocity exists before dust storm generation occurs, and that this threshold velocity occurs from a southwesterly direction.Threshold velocity for the daily mean speed was found to be 15 mph and 44 mph for daily maximum gusts.Wind speeds for the study region were then evaluated for the period January