This week in Denver weather history is very interesting for a couple of reasons.  First is the two year anniversary of the holiday snow storms of 2006 as it was from December 27th to the 28th that the second major storm in a week buried the city even further in a blanket of snow.  Second, we see many occurrences of high winds, some damaging, which reminds us that the winds we have been experiencing and will continued to experience this week aren’t all that unusual. 

25-31

IN 1980…TEMPERATURES WERE UNUSUALLY WARM DURING THE WEEK BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR`S.  HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK RANGED FROM THE MID-50`S TO THE MID-70`S.  FOUR TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET.  RECORD HIGHS OCCURRED ON THE 26TH WITH 68 DEGREES…THE 27TH WITH 75 DEGREES…AND THE 30TH WITH 71 DEGREES.  A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 41 DEGREES OCCURRED ON THE 27TH.

26-28

IN 1979 A HEAVY SNOW STORM DUMPED 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW OVER THE METRO AREA AND 15 TO 20 INCHES AT BOULDER WITH UP TO 2 FEET IN THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF BOULDER.  HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 6.0 INCHES AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE NORTH WINDS GUSTED TO 21 MPH.  MOST OF THE SNOW… 4.8 INCHES…FELL ON THE 27TH.

27-28

IN 1997…HIGH WINDS COMBINED WITH FRESH SNOW FROM A PREVIOUS STORM CAUSED HIGHWAYS TO BECOME SLICK FROM DRIFTING SNOW AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS IN LOCALIZED GROUND BLIZZARDS. STRONG WINDS BLEW SNOW ACROSS THE RUNWAYS AT CENTENNIAL AIRPORT…WHICH GLAZED OVER AND FORMED AREAS OF ICE.  TWO PLANES WERE DAMAGED WHEN THEY SLID OFF THE RUNWAY WHILE LANDING.  NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED.  NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS ALSO OCCURRED ON I-25 AND I-70 AS ICE FORMED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS.  A ROLLOVER ACCIDENT WHICH INJURED 4 PEOPLE ON STATE HIGHWAY 93 NEAR THE ROCKY FLATS ENVIRONMENTAL TEST FACILITY WAS ALSO ATTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH WINDS.  THE HIGH WINDS CAUSED AN OFFICE BUILDING AND SHOWROOM UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN GOLDEN TO COLLAPSE. THE LARGEST WALL WAS 180 FEET LONG AND 28 FEET HIGH. SOME HIGH WIND REPORTS INCLUDED:  86 MPH AT GOLDEN GATE CANYON…72 MPH NEAR CONIFER…AND 70 MPH AT JEFFERSON COUNTY AIRPORT AND THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH ON THE MESA NEAR BOULDER.  WEST-NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO 53 MPH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 27TH.

Continue reading December 28 to January 3 – This week in Denver weather history →

Our look back in Denver weather history for Christmas week includes a number of very notable events.  One is the two year anniversary of the Holiday Blizzard of 2006.  Most notably though is the 26th anniversary of the Christmas Eve Blizzard of 1982.  More information on these and other significant events is below.  For more on the Christmas Eve Blizzard of 1982, be sure to check out an article we wrote about it.

From the National Weather Service:

17-24

IN 1924…A PROLONGED COLD SPELL OCCURRED AFTER MILD TEMPERATURES DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH.  MOST LOW TEMPERATURES DIPPED BELOW ZERO WITH THE COLDEST READING OF 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO OCCURRING ON THE 24TH. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 5 DEGREES ON THE 18TH WAS A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE.

18-24

IN 1998…A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT WITH NORTH WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 38 MPH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 18TH DROPPED TEMPERATURES FROM A HIGH OF 51 DEGREES TO A LOW OF JUST 6 DEGREES BEFORE MIDNIGHT.  THE ARCTIC AIR MASS THAT SETTLED OVER METRO DENVER PRODUCED INTERMITTENT LIGHT SNOW AND A WEEK-LONG PROTRACTED COLD SPELL THAT CAUSED LOW TEMPERATURES TO PLUNGE WELL BELOW ZERO FOR 6 CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS.  THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE WAS 19 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE MORNING OF THE 22ND.  HIGH TEMPERATURES CLIMBED ONLY INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS ON 4 CONSECUTIVE DAYS…FROM THE 19TH THROUGH THE 22ND.  AT LEAST 15 PEOPLE…MOSTLY HOMELESS… WERE TREATED FOR HYPOTHERMIA AT AREA HOSPITALS.  THE BITTER COLD WEATHER WAS RESPONSIBLE…EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY… FOR AT LEAST 5 FATALITIES.  THREE OF THE VICTIMS DIED DIRECTLY FROM EXPOSURE.  THE COLD WEATHER ALSO CAUSED INTERMITTENT POWER OUTAGES.  FOLLOWING THE COLD SNAP… THAWING WATER PIPES CRACKED AND BURST IN SEVERAL HOMES AND BUSINESSES…CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE.  ONLY ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS SET.  THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 7 DEGREES ON THE 19TH SET A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE.

Continue reading December 21 – 27 – This week in Denver weather history →