Rain

Rain in Colorado east of the Rockies is always something remarkable. This is due to what is called a "rain shadow" - the mountains to the west, facing the prevailing wind, the jet stream. The clouds drop their rain and snow as the wind pushes them higher in altitude, and as they lower on the lee side of the mountains and face the endess, flat plains of the American heartland, they stop giving up moisture, most of the year. This is why there is desert to the east of the Sierra Nevada, and is why the Colorado, Wyoming and Montana flatlands are drier than one might expect. It's also why, when it DOES rain here on the front range, we sometimes become entranced by water falling from the sky, manna, sitting on the front steps, simply listening to the drops falling.