We all need water, even Boulderites!

The Boulder area is very dependant on its water sources and annual precipitation, though the amount that they receive varies greatly every year. Most of Boulders water supply comes from run-offs from various lakes located in the Rocky Mountains primarily Silver Lake. Boulder Creek runs all the way through town to the furthest point in Boulder County located in South Boulder.

*South Boulder Creek

Because of Boulders Subtropical highland climate, they have very well preserved wetlands, wet meadows, and vast grasslands these are mostly located along the Creek. Boulder also has a water source located on in central Boulder called Baseline Lake, though this reservoir contains most of the drinking water for towns located around the Boulder area.

*Boulder Creek Source Water Map 

Boulders well known Flatirons are a prime example of erosion. They consist of conglomerate sandstone of the fountain formation. Since the Flatirons have formed between 35 and 80 million years ago they have experienced a great amount of physical and chemical weathering. Lots of pressure release has occurred leaving large slabs of sandstone at the bottom of the 5 larger rock formations. There are also many large joints throughout the sandstone that has made the physical weathering greatly visible.

*An example of the erosion of the sandstone, slabs being layered one in front of the other

Why is Boulder so Beautiful?

Boulder is the hotspot for great weather in Colorado. With a humid subtropical climate, bordering on a subtropical highland climate we receive over 300 days of sunshine a year! Our weather consists of a high of 65*degrees and a low of 36*degrees year round. 

There is also a unique Orographic lift in the mountains that causes the air coming from the west to dry out, this will cause a shield over the city from precipitation in the winter. This lift leaves Boulder with an average precipitation of about 19.93" and 84.7" of average snowfall every year. 

The snow that falls in Boulder also remains very shallow due to the high elevation. Also the Warm Front we receive called the Chinook Winds brings rapid warm-ups to the city. These are also known as the Pacific Northwest Winds they bring wet and warm coastal air.

Tornado of 1997, located in East Boulder

Though Colorado receives a fair amount of Tornado touchdowns a year Boulder see's very few of them. Since 1953 Colorado has seen 826 Tornadoes, only 10 were located in Boulder County. None of these exceeded an F2 magnitude. The last one on record was in 1997 in East Boulder and that was only an F0 magnitude.