Severe weather in Denver caused 22 planes heading to the Mile High City to divert and land in Colorado Springs on Monday evening.

Winds and turbulence caused significant delays and diversions. Gusts hit 49 miles per hour and winds blew at 30-40 mph, according to Denver meteorologists.

The airplanes diverted to Colorado Springs are operated by Delta, Frontier, Southwest, United and Air Canada, according to an airport spokesperson. Five people were treated for injuries and sickness, according to the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

Of the five, one person was taken to a hospital. The Fire Department said injuries included bumps and bruises as well as nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

High winds along the Front Range are somewhat regular due to the mountains and how they interact with the atmosphere. Passengers onboard airliners typically experience bumps and jolts flying into or out of Denver International Airport, the Colorado Springs Airport and other airports near or within mountains.

But Monday, the winds combined with a cold front, moving into the state from the north, the National Weather Service said. Online, passengers said it was the “worst turbulence” they’d ever experienced, while others found they needed air sickness bags.

“If you look at the whole atmosphere, at the lower levels you have a cold front coming in from the north, but at the upper levels wind flow is still out of the west to northwest,” said NWS Pueblo lead meteorologist Makoto Moore. These “shifting winds” cause disrupted air and eddies in the atmosphere, he said, which is felt by passengers as turbulence.

“Air flows like water,” he said. This analogy was supported by Martin Beylin, the chief flight instructor with the Colorado Springs-based Arapahoe Flight Club.

A boat on smooth water is going to have a smooth ride. But winds and other factors causing choppy conditions are going to make that boat ride bumpy. Boats float across a fluid one can see, Beylin said, while airplanes fly across and through one people cannot.

Turbulence is unlikely to cause serious injury or death, sources say. But in 2024, a Singapore Airlines passenger was killed over Myanmar due to severe turbulence.

In the U.S. between Aug. 1, 2006, and Aug. 5, 2026, no deaths were attributed to turbulence, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency recorded 496 injuries, of which 111 were serious, data shows. On average, 2.9 million people fly every single day, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Turbulence is not as dangerous as it’s made out to be,” Beylin said. He has been flying for more than 30 years and understands that turbulence is an unpleasant experience.

Diversions can be triggered by weather, mechanical failures and onboard emergencies, according to the FAA.

The NTSB has investigated eight instances of turbulence in Colorado since 2006 that have caused 12 injuries. None of the investigations were related to turbulence that occurred in Colorado Springs.

Treating injuries at the airport is not uncommon, said CSFD spokesperson Ashley Franco, adding that they’re usually minor.

“This was not the first time we have had to do something like this,” she said. “It wasn’t a chaotic incident by any means, as the planes didn’t all arrive at the same time, so we were treating patients throughout about a 4-hour period.”

The 22 planes diverted to the airport were also 14 short of the record set in 2025, when 36 planes landed there, a spokesperson with the airport said.

Beylin knows some people are afraid of flying and may turn to substances like alcohol or drugs to calm their nerves. He advises against this, however, as being under the influence can make that person a danger to other passengers and crew members during an emergency. Instead, he suggests a yoga-based, holistic solution.

“The biggest thing that I could recommend is understand what conscious breathing is and work on (it) in a moment of stress or anxiety,” he said. “One of those would be box breathing, where you inhale for five count, you hold for two count, you exhale for five count. That kind of puts you into a meditative state.”