Feb 13, 2007 4:03 pm US/Mountain
Aguilera Breaks Down Some Colorado Geology Lingo
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Michael Walters of Arvada posed a great question to cbs4denver.com recently about the lingo used to describe areas in Colorado.
We are new to the Denver Metro Area. We watch your station as I like it the best. However, I get confused about what is the Foothills, Flat Range, upper this, lower that. Call me stupid but what seperates the foothills from the flat range? Can you tell me what all of the reference definitions are or, where I may be able to find this on the Web?CBS4 meteorologist Dave Aguilera posted the following entry on the Weather Center Blog:
We have received several questions about different parts of town and different parts of our forecast area. Such as "What area is considered the Foothills?" or, "What is considered the Front Range?" We tend to use a lot of these terms more often in the winter while we are talking about snow amounts.
So, I thought I might outline some of these spots and give you a better idea about where you might live, play or work.
In the winter time we tend to refer to these areas quite a bit when forecasting snow: Metro area, foothills, Palmer Divide, mountains and Eastern Plains.
Mountains: Let's start with the Mountains. When we refer to, "The Mountains", we are talking about areas above 9,000 Feet in elevation. This includes places like Rocky Mountain National Park, Berthoud Pass, Rabbit Ears Pass, Loveland Pass, Gore Pass, Eisenhower Tunnel, Kenosha Pass, Mount Evans, Cameron Pass, and Winter Park, just to name a few.
A few places may be below 9,000 feet and included in a snow forecast for the mountains. Some of these areas for example might be Fraser, Granby, Grand Lake, Dillon, or Silverthorne.
Foothills: This area is between 6,000 and 9,000 feet. The foothills are an increase in hilly spots at the base of mountain ranges. They are typically bigger than hills, but, not as high as nearby mountains. Some of our cities in the foothills include but, are not limited to, Estes Park, Nederland, Red Feather Lakes, Bailey, Conifer, Evergreen, Central City, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, Glendevey, and Westcreek.
Front Range: This geographic term groups the largest cities and the bulk of the population of Colorado. A simple description of the area is the Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains down to the western edge of the Great Plains. The original meaning of the term was just that the mountain range on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Over the years the term Colorado Front Range, has come to include the plains just east of the range and includes Fort Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo.
Palmer Divide: During the winter you might hear us talk about the Palmer Divide. It's a ridge that runs perpendicular to the Rocky Mountains and runs roughly along the county line between Douglas County and El Paso County.
Some folks might refer to the divide as the Monument Ridge as well. It's named after the founder of Colorado Springs, William Jackson Palmer. The weather in this area is similar to foothill locations, its elevation ranges from 6,000 feet to 7,352 feet on Monument Hill. Towns on and around the Palmer Divide include Castle Rock, Franktown, Elizabeth, Kiowa, Monument, Sedalia, and Black Forest.
Eastern Plains: When we refer to the Eastern Plains, we are talking about the area from basically the Interstate 25 cooridor all the way to the eastern part of Colorado. Most of these locations are close to or below 6,000 feet in elevation. Places like Greeley, Bennett, Byers, Limon, La Junta, Lamar, Sterling, Akron, Yuma, Burlington and Springfield are all on the "Eastern Plains."
Denver Metro Area: You probably have heard the term Denver metro area. This is basically Denver and all of its surrounding suburbs. There are eight counties that make up the metropolitain area; those are: Denver, Boulder, Jefferson, Arapahoe, Adams, Broomfield, Douglas and Elbert.
Western Slope: This refers to areas west of the Continental Divide. Typically, when it is used it, it is used to refer to areas below 9,000 feet. Some of the cities and towns in this area are, but, not limited to Craig, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Montrose, Telluride and Durango.
(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
