Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Here's confirmation in a story from the Associated Press:

Higher-than-average winds buffeting Colorado for the past six weeks have wreaked havoc with everything from window washing to outdoor athletics.

And the National Weather Service says the low-pressure system that is making the spring in Colorado feel more like year-round in Wyoming isn't done messing up our hairdos.

This is typically the windy season, but since the middle of March there have been only a few calm days.

"It's not like it's been a windstorm, then three to five days with not much wind. A lot of days it's been 25 to 35 miles per hour," said Colorado State University weather researcher Nolan Doesken, noting that his daily commute to work by bike has been a battle with crosswinds. "It's plenty annoying."

The unusual weather is the result of a low-pressure system that has persisted across the central Rocky Mountains.

"The same weather pattern that contributes to winds here is what has contributed to the high accumulation of snow in the mountains," he said. "Fast moving disturbances from the Pacific means a heavy load of snow in the northern mountains, leaving us with a bluster of wind."

Doesken just returned from a conference in southern Colorado where the wind was a big topic.

"I don't know how many people came up and asked me, 'Hasn't this been an awfully windy time period?' They were shocked when I told them it wasn't wildly windier than normal, but a steady persistence without much break," he said.

Wind in the sails is usually a happy event for places like Cherry Creek Reservoir in Aurora, but there is a limit.

"There's been too much wind this month, so we've not been able to do as much sailing as we'd like this early in spring," said Brandon Kass, executive director of Community Sailing of Colorado.

Both Community Sailing and Denver Sailing had to cancel most of their April races.