|
All posts by Thornton Weather
Oroville Dam flood danger recedes; state criticized for spending on rail, illegals
|
February 12 to February 18: This Week in Denver Weather History
Denver’s weather is often a story of extremes and even in what is historically a calm period like February, significant events can and do occur. From record-setting Arctic cold that sent temperatures to far below zero to powerful, damaging wind, this week in Denver weather history has been an eventful one.
From the National Weather Service:
10-12
In 1958…heavy snow fell across metro Denver. At Stapleton Airport…where northeast winds gusted to 22 mph…6.7 inches of snowfall were measured.
In 1995…cold arctic air brought heavy snow to the foothills and western Denver suburbs. Golden measured 15 inches of snow with 14 inches in south Boulder. Locations in the foothills recorded between 10 and 15 inches of snow. Only 6.1 inches of snow fell at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusted to 30 mph on the 10th.
10-13
In 1905…an extremely cold arctic air mass moved over the city behind a cold front on the 10th and persisted through the morning of the 13th. North winds were sustained to 25 mph behind the front on the 10th dropping the temperature to a low of 2 degrees below zero…which was also the high reading on the 11th. Light snowfall totaled 3.0 inches overnight of the 10th into the 11th. The low temperature plunged to 19 degrees below zero on the 11th. Records were set on the 12th and 13th. The high temperature of only zero degrees on the 12th was a record low maximum for the date. The low readings of 21 degrees below zero on the 12th and 14 degrees below zero on the 13th were record minimum temperatures for those dates.
11-12
In 1899…the temperature plunged to lows of 20 degrees below zero on both days.
In 1900…northwest winds sustained to 52 mph with gusts to 60 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 58 degrees on the 11th. An apparent cold front overnight produced 3.7 inches of snow and northeast winds gusting to 30 mph. The high temperature on the 12th was only 26 degrees.
In 1994…moist upslope winds and an upper level storm system produced heavy snow over western portions of metro Denver. Snowfall amounts totaled 10 inches in Golden and 8 inches at Strontia Springs Reservoir 15 miles southwest of Denver in the South Platte canyon. Snowfall at Stapleton International Airport totaled only 3.6 inches…but north winds gusting to 35 mph on the 11th produced occasional visibilities as low as 1/4 mile in heavy snowfall and blowing snow.
11-13
In 1903…west to northwest Chinook winds gusting to 34 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 50 degrees on the 11th… Before temperatures rapidly plunged to a low of 14 degrees behind a cold front. Light snow fell through the 13th and totaled 4.2 inches in the city…while temperatures ranged from a high of 14 degrees on the 12th to a low of 5 degrees below zero on the 13th.
12
In 1874…5 inches of snow fell in downtown Denver. Melted snow resulted in 0.31 inch of precipitation.
In 1875…forest fires burned very brightly in the foothills to the west of Denver.
12-13 in 1915…heavy snowfall totaled 7.0 inches over downtown Denver. Northwest winds were sustained to 24 mph on the 13th.
In 1951…heavy snowfall totaled 8.1 inches at Stapleton Airport where northeast winds gusted to 28 mph on the 12th.
In 1968…snowfall totaled 5.6 inches at Stapleton International Airport where northeast winds gusted to 26 mph. Snow fell all day on the 12th and into the morning hours of the 13th.
In 1997…heavy snow fell in the foothills southwest of Denver. Conifer…Evergreen…Morrison…and north turkey creek received 6 to 8 inches of new snow overnight. Only 0.2 inch of snow fell at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport. North-northeast winds gusted to 23 mph at Denver International Airport on the 13th.
13
In 1886…northwest winds were sustained to 40 mph during the early morning hours…but winds were strong and gusty all day.
In 1918…west winds were sustained to 42 mph with a measured extreme velocity to 44 mph. The strong Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a high of 58 degrees.
In 1988…high winds raked metro Denver. Boulder reported a wind gust to 67 mph with 63 mph at Lakewood and 49 mph at Stapleton International Airport. The strong winds toppled a tree onto a car in Aurora. Northwest winds gusting to 49 mph at Stapleton International Airport warmed the temperature to a high of 64 degrees.
In 2010…a peak wind gust to 89 mph was recorded in Boulder. North winds gusted to 28 mph at Denver International Airport.
13-14
In 1895…a cold air mass settled over the city. High temperatures of only 4 degrees on the 13th and 8 degrees on the 14th were record low maximum temperatures for each day. Low temperatures were 6 degrees below zero on the 13th and 5 degrees below zero on the 14th…but were not records. Light snow totaled only 0.4 inch. Winds were light.
In 1960…snowfall totaled 6.1 inches and north-northwest winds gusted to 39 mph at Stapleton Airport.
In 1967…high winds were widespread along the foothills where wind gusts of 60 to 90 mph were common. A wind gust to 108 mph was measured at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Sustained winds of 50 to 55 mph with gusts as high as 70 mph were recorded in downtown Boulder. An estimated 3 thousand dollars in damage occurred to mobile homes in Boulder. Power lines were downed over a wide area. At Stapleton International Airport…west winds gusted to 32 mph on the 13th and southwest winds gusted to 48 mph on the 14th.
In 1972…winds gusted to 67 mph at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder. Wind gusts to 49 mph were measured in downtown Boulder. West winds gusted to 26 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
In 2001…heavy snow fell across metro Denver and in the foothills. Snowfall totals included: 8 inches at Evergreen; 7 inches atop Crow Hill and in Lakewood; 6 inches in Denver…doubleheader…Eldorado Springs… Morrison…and pine junction. Snowfall totaled 4.8 inches at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport. Northeast winds gusted to 33 mph at Denver International Airport on the 13th.
14
In 1918…southwest winds were sustained to 41 mph with a measured extreme velocity to 46 mph.
In 1987…metro Denver received only 3 to 4 inches of snow… But the foothills west of Boulder received up to 11 inches of snow. Snowfall totaled 4.2 inches at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusted to 31 mph.
In 1988…winds gusted to 81 mph at Echo Lake.
In 2002…high winds developed in the Front Range foothills during the early morning hours. Winds gusted to 84 mph… 11 miles north of Central City. West winds gusted to 43 mph at Denver International Airport.
14-15
In 1960…heavy snowfall totaled 6.1 inches at Stapleton Airport.
In 1965…5.4 inches of snow fell at Stapleton International Airport behind a cold front. North-northeast winds gusted to 32 mph. Winds were strong and gusty all day and caused considerable blowing snow…contributing to hazardous driving conditions mainly to the east of Denver.
In 1984…a snow and wind storm howled across eastern Colorado closing I-70 east of Denver. This was the second blizzard in less than 4 days. Only 0.5 inch of new snow fell at Stapleton International Airport…but north winds gusted to 51 mph.
Continue reading February 12 to February 18: This Week in Denver Weather History
Denver sets record for warmest temperature reading ever in February
We knew it was going to be warm and windy today and boy was it! Downslope winds kept things warm in the early morning hours and it went up a good ways from there.
At 1:38pm the temperature at Denver International Airport where the Mile High City’s official measurements are taken reached 80 degrees.
This easily bested the record high temperature for this date (71 degrees in 1951). More notably that also is the warmest temperature reading ever in February in Denver. The old warmest February reading of 77 degrees was recorded on February 4, 1890 and February 28, 2006.
Here in Thornton, we were a touch warmer than Denver with a high of 80.5 degrees at 1:22pm.
As for the wind, it kicked into high gear at around 2:00am. Our top gust of 48.3 mph occurred at 8:15am.
Astronaut tweets nighttime image of Colorado Front Range
Only a select few have the privilege of viewing our planet from space so those of us more grounded live vicariously through the images they send back. Astronaut Shane Kimbrough gave us a look at a lit up Front Range from Colorado Springs to Cheyenne in an image he tweeted out.
All the major population centers are clearly visible. The nighttime lights of Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Cheyenne and even Fort Morgan out on the plains are all visible. The Denver / Boulder office of the National Weather Service tweeted out a copy of the image labeled with the cities to provide some context.
Good morning USA! Cheyenne Wyoming and north central Colorado – Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs. #CitiesFromSpace pic.twitter.com/4Z3lS0Wa6Z
— Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) February 9, 2017
Amazing view of the Urban Corridor from Astronaut Shane Kimbrough as the International Space Station passed overhead! City names overlayed. pic.twitter.com/Fdb2Qh5uqm
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) February 10, 2017
Science Journal Has No Plans To Retract A NOAA Study, Despite Data Manipulation Concerns
|
Washington Times editorial: An inconvenient stretcher
|
Lake Michigan Meteor Lights Up Sky In Several States
|
Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano Firehose Lava Flow Finally Cut Off
|
January 2017 weather recap: Colder, wetter than normal weather for second month in a row
The month of December brought colder and wetter than normal conditions to Thornton and in January we continued that trend with more of the same and our first month of the season with above average snowfall.
January started out warmer than normal but on the third that changed with a system that sent temperatures plummeting for five days. From the 3rd to the 7th the mercury failed to even climb above freezing and we saw three overnight lows dip to zero or below. The period also brought 7.4 inches over a three day period from the 3rd to the 5th.
Once that system moved out, we returned to warmer and dry conditions for four days then saw light snow on the 11th and 12th followed by colder temperatures through the 16th. The 16th also brought our last measurable snow for the month.
The last half of the month was relatively uneventful and the final three days saw highs climb over the 60 degree mark.
Thornton saw an average temperature in January of 29.5 degrees. This is a good ways below the long term Denver average for the month of 30.7 degrees. Out at DIA where Denver’s official measurements are kept, it was slightly warmer with an average of 30.0 degrees.
Temperatures in our part of town ranged from a high of 66 degrees on January 31 down to a low of 9.4 degrees below zero on the morning of the 6th. Denver saw its warmest reading of 63 degrees on the 30th and its coldest of 7 below zero on the morning of the 6th.
In terms of precipitation, the Mile High City averages 0.41 inches in January. Both Thornton and Denver came in wetter than that with 0.77 inches and 0.54 inches of liquid precipitation at those locations respectively.
Thornton welcomed a respectable 10.0 inches of snowfall during the month. Out at the airport, their total lagged ours with a reading of 6.3 inches. On average Denver receives 7.0 inches during the month.
Click here to view Thornton’s January 2017 climate report.
From the National Weather Service:
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2017...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2017
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 76 01/27/1888
LOW -29 01/09/1875
HIGHEST 63 01/30 76 -13 65 01/30
LOWEST -7 01/06 -29 22 5 01/10
AVG. MAXIMUM 42.3 44.0 -1.7 43.5
AVG. MINIMUM 17.7 17.4 0.3 20.1
MEAN 30.0 30.7 -0.7 31.8
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 8 5.5 2.5 3
DAYS MIN <= 32 30 29.4 0.6 30
DAYS MIN <= 0 2 1.7 0.3 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 2.35 1883
MINIMUM 0.01 1933
1934
1952
TOTALS 0.54 0.41 0.13 0.50
DAILY AVG. 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02
DAYS >= .01 3 4.1 -1.1 5
DAYS >= .10 3 0.9 2.1 3
DAYS >= .50 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.0 0.0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.34 01/04 TO 01/05
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 6.3 7.0
JANUARY RECORD SNOWFALL
24.3 1992
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 1075 1063 12 1021
SINCE 7/1 3117 3531 -414 3208
COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0
SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
.........................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.0
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 3/223
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 37/280 DATE 01/10
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 53/270 DATE 01/09
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 20
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 6
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 59
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 0
LIGHT RAIN 0 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 2
LIGHT SNOW 9 SLEET 0
FOG 11 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 2
HAZE 7
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.