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Mountain wave turbulence over the Front Range of Colorado

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute GOES-19 Visible (0.64 µm) images with plots of Pilot Reports of turbulence, from 1601-2300 UTC on 19 December; Severe Turbulence reports are plotted in red [click to play MP4 animation]

As strong middle-tropospheric west-northwesterly winds continued across Colorado on 19 December 2025, a mountain wave became established over the Front Range. Wind shear associated with this mountain wave resulted in numerous Pilot Reports (PIREPs) of Moderate to Severe turbulence (above).

One notable PIREP mentioned 5 seconds of Severe Turbulence at an altitude of 13800 ft, just NW of Denver (below).

GOES-19 Visible (0.64 µm) image at 2135 UTC on 19 December, with a cursor sample of a Pilot Report of severe turbulence [click to enlarge]

Categories: Aviation, GOES-19