Question

"The city of east of the Rocky Mountains, Grand Junction, Colorado, receives much less precipitation annually than a city west of it within the Rocky Mountains, Vail, Colorado. Why is a reason this might be?" Orographic Precipitation and Mountain Barriers Elevation Differences Coastal-Continental Location Global Air Currents

Answer 1

Orographic Precipitation and Mountain Barriers.

This is associated with the Mountain affect on precipitation. The city of Vail is situated within the Mountains on Windward Sid of Rocky Mountain. As the winds approach Rockies they start to rise and condense. So most of the moisture is lost on Western side of Vail as precipitation.

By the time winds move to Eastern city of Grand Junction, they have lost their moisture. Also on East winds start to Sink down. So sinking air does not condensate and precipitate. So as a result Grand Junction receives very less amount of Precipitation known as Rain Shadow Effect.

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