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| Mountain View on the Way to Nederland - June 18th, 2015. |
A number of people – including myself! – have expressed
surprise at the difference in temperatures between where I live and lower (or
higher) elevations. The answer lies in
Nature’s air conditioning: Adiabatic cooling. Adiabatic cooling takes place when the
pressure on a given volume of a gas is decreased. In aviation, the rule of thumb is that air temperature
drops approximately 3° F for each 1,000 feet of rise in elevation. As you can see from the pictures above and below - taken on June 18th and 19 - the higher elevations are still somewhat snow-covered!
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| Mountain View on the Way to Golden - June 19th, 2015. |
Using this formula, the increase in temperature when I go
from my home to Golden or Boulder – a drop of about 4,000 feet – is about 12° F,
with a corresponding drop in temperature when I return home. In practice, the numbers are different in part because of the time it takes to get from one location to the other...
So spring flowers that are over in most of the US are still
flourishing here. But at least I’ve
finally been able to turn the heat off in the last few days!
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| Lilac Bush in Nederland - June 18th, 2015. |
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