Category Archives: Colorado Weather

Colorado Weather, Severe Weather

Colorado Severe Weather Awareness Week highlights weather dangers in the state

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Last year's Windsor tornado highlighted just how dangerous weather in Colorado can be. Are you and your family prepared?
Last year's Windsor tornado highlighted just how dangerous weather in Colorado can be. Are you and your family prepared?

As is customary, the governor has declared this week Severe Weather Awareness Week.  This is an opportunity for the public to get reacquanted with the dangers severe weather presents in Colorado. 

Tornadoes, lightning, hail, severe wind and flooding are very real hazards that Coloradoans face every year during severe weather season.  It is important that you know what to do to protect you and your family. 

In conjunction with the National Weather Service, Examiner.com will be publishing our Severe Weather 101 series.  Each day this week a weather hazard will be discussed in depth and we will outline protective measures you can take to keep yourself and your family safe.  Please be sure to check back every day to read these important message.

From the National Weather Service: 

Thunderstorm hazards around the corner…are you prepared?

Severe thunderstorm season will be soon upon us.  Do you know how to stay safe around tornadoes, flash floods, lightning, hail, and damaging winds?  This is the week to learn.  This week, April 19th to 25th, is Colorado severe weather awareness week.   This is the time to learn more about severe weather in Colorado, develop severe weather preparedness plans, and test vital communications.

Can we learn lessons from the past severe weather events?  Just last year on may 22nd an EF3 tornado raced north through Weld and Larimer counties resulting in one fatality.  Several injuries and destroyed or heavily damaged hundreds of homes.  Two years ago, on March 28, 2007 the town of Holly was heavily damaged by another EF3 tornado that resulted in two fatalities.  Twelve years ago on July 28, 1997 a devastating flash flood occurred in Fort Collins resulting in 5 fatalities and millions of dollars in damage.

Each year for the past 20 years there have been an average of 50 tornadoes in Colorado, 3 people killed by lightning and another 15 injured by lightning.  

The National Weather Service offices which cover Colorado will issue a series of public information statements during the week covering the following topics:

  • Monday…Watches and warnings
  • Tuesday… Tornadoes and tornado safety
  • Wednesday…Flash floods and flash flood safety
  • Thursday…Downburst wind and hail
  • Friday…Lightning and lightning safety
  • Saturday…A review of the week

A time to test your warning reception and communications systems is planned.  Each national weather service office serving Colorado will send test tornado warnings on Tuesday April 21 between the hours of 8 am MDT and 11 am MDT.  These test warnings will be sent to the emergency alert system, the internet, NOAA weather radio and law enforcement communications systems. 

Safety information, watches, warnings, forecasts, past weather and much more information is available at your local National Weather Service web sites:

     www.weather.gov/denver      NWS Denver web site
     www.weather.gov/pueblo      NWS Pueblo web site
     www.weather.gov/goodland    NWS Goodland web site
     www.weather.gov/gjt         NWS Grand Junction web site


Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Four weather records broken in recent days

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Sunny skies on Wednesday, March 4th helped Denver break a 137 year old high temperature record.
Sunny skies on Wednesday, March 4th helped Denver break a 137 year old high temperature record.

Denver officially broke the high temperature record on Wednesday, March 4th.  At 12:40pm the temperature at Denver International Airport reached 76 degrees, breaking the old record of 74 degrees set in 1872.  

This marks the 4th weather record we have broken in just the week. In addition to Wednesday’s mark, we have had:

We are very dry right now and could really use some significant precipitation as snowfall totals are less than half of what they normally are by this time of year.  Is there hope?  We remember back to 2003 when we were in a similar dry condition and two major storms helped to turn things around.  Click here to read about that on Examiner.com.

Are these really records and is it fair to compare these measurements with historical data?  Check out our Examiner.com investigation to see why some say these records should have an asterisk attached to them. 

Climatology, Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Do Denver weather and climate records have an asterisk attached?

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The old Stapleton International Airport site and Denver International Airport are separated by 12 miles. Is it accurate tto compare weather between the two locations?
The old Stapleton International Airport site and Denver International Airport are separated by 12 miles. Is it accurate to compare weather between the two locations?

February 2009 is Denver’s least snowiest February on record.  A new record high temperature is recorded on January 21, 2009.  Record low temperatures are recorded on December 14th and 15th of last year. 

These announcements are common and we all take notice when we hear them and they make for great water cooler chat topics but are these claims accurate? 

In 1995 Denver finally opened its new airport, Denver International Airport, out on the plains east of the city.  This new facility, 12 miles as the crow flies northeast of the old Stapleton International Airport, moved the airport from an urban environment to a rural one and more than 19 miles from the center of Denver.  Following that move, the National Weather Service (NWS) began taking some of its official measurements at the glistening new airport.  In doing so, some say Denver’s climate records have forever been altered and as such any weather record should have an asterisk attached to it. 

On Examiner.com we have launched a three part investigative series on this topic.  It is a fascinating read – click here to read the rest of the story.

For all the details, read the rest of this story on our Denver Weather Examiner page. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather
Climatology, Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Denver and Thornton’s March 2009 climatological preview

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Denver and Thornton's March 2009 climatological preview
Denver and Thornton's March 2009 climatological preview

March in Denver typically means frequent and rapid weather changes. The days grow longer and we start enjoying more sunshine and sometimes summer-like weather. However, on occasion arctic air masses can still force their way south into Colorado dropping temperatures quickly and markedly.

These changes are due to Marches “in between” status – elements during the month have much in common with winter and spring. In addition to arctic fronts, Pacific storms frequently move across Colorado from the west and warm moist air streams up from the Gulf of Mexico northeastward into the state. When these cold fronts collide with the warmer air masses the result can be some crazy weather.

Get all the details in our March 2009 climatological preview here.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

The weather is nice but what Denver needs is moisture

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The Denver weather has been nice but we are extremely dry and in need of some moisture.
The Denver weather has been nice but we are extremely dry and in need of some moisture.

This week we have had some extraordinarily nice weather and it has been great.  The mountains are certainly having a great year for snow with all of the major basins exceeding 100% of average for snowpack.  However, here along the Front Range and the plains, we are bone dry and well below normal for snowfall. 

As of today, Denver has received only half of its normal amount of snow for this point in the snow season which runs from July through June.  By the first of February, we normally should have received 33.3 inches.  To date for the 2008 – 2009 season we have received a mere 16.9 inches of snow as measured at Denver International Airport.  Closer to the central part of the city, Stapleton has been even drier with only 13.1 inches of the white stuff to date. 

For a complete look at how bleak the moisture has been along the Front Range, check out the details in our Examiner.com story.

For all the details, read the rest of this story on our Denver Weather Examiner page. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather
Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather, Weather History

Denver officially breaks high temperature record for this date

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Denver officially broke the record high temperature for January 21st, reaching 71 degrees.
Denver officially broke the record high temperature for January 21st, reaching 71 degrees.

It’s official. As reported earlier this morning on our Examiner.com pages, we had a decent shot at breaking the all time record high temperature for this date and we have done it.  At 1:28pm today the temperature at Denver International Airport reached 71 degrees, breaking the old record of 70 degrees set in 1950.  Here in Thoronton we didn’t get quite that warm, “only” reaching a high of 69 degrees.

Thursday we will be a bit cooler and “only” reach 65 degrees – still 20 degrees above normal though.  Enjoy the next 36 hours or so though as Friday bring change – see our Examiner.com morning forecast here for details.

Get more local news and weather information on Examiner.com.

This article and many more are posted to the Denver Weather Examiner site.

  

Visit Examiner.com for more local Denver news and weather.
Colorado Weather, Natural Disasters

Top weather story of 2008 – The Windsor tornado

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This amazing image of the Windsor tornado was taken from a backyard webcam. Image courtesy MyWindsorWeather.com.
This amazing image of the Windsor tornado was taken from a backyard webcam. Image courtesy MyWindsorWeather.com.

May 22, 2008 started like most other spring days in Colorado.  That Thursday morning had dawned with relatively mild temperatures and a touch of humidity in the air.  That moisture in the air was a warning sign as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico was entering the state and a signal of the potential for severe storms.  No one knew though just what was in store for a small town in northeastern Colorado.

As temperatures rose in the morning, the moist air near the ground mixed with fast moving dry air aloft and created conditions ideal for supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes.  Hail began to fall around 11:20am near Platteville, a harbinger of things to come.  As the weather situation became much more excited and confused, reports of a twister on the ground near Gilcrest at 11:29 rolled in.

A classic wedge tornado had formed and was moving to the north-northwest at a leisurely 30 mph wreaking havoc and destruction all along its path.  Examiner.com soon posted a special report at 11:30 warning of the twister and showing its expected path.  It narrowly missed the town of Milliken, dumping baseball sized hail on it instead.  The twister was now a full mile wide with winds in excess of 136 mph and at 11:57am, the storm struck Windsor, home to 16,000 Coloradoans.  By the time it was done with the town, it had claimed one life, destroyed 80 homes and damaged nearly 770 others.

For a total of nearly 45 minutes the storm carved a 35 mile long path of devastation and all along its path it left the evidence – houses with nothing but a foundation left, power poles snapped like matchsticks, semi-trailers overturned like toy cars, mangled pieces of metal and shards of wood.

Tornadoes in Colorado are not uncommon with an average of 60 per year, although most do occur on the eastern plains in more rural areas.  The storm was only the second deadly tornado in Colorado in the last 10 years (the Holly tornado in 2007 being the other) but it served to highlight that the Front Range is on the western edge of Tornado Alley.  Weld County is in fact Colorado’s own tornado capital having had more twisters than any other county since 1950.

When it was over, Coloradoans showed their sense of community in helping the affected areas.  The Red Cross immediately went into action as did the state government in calling out the National Guard to help.  Donations poured in and other relief agencies provided food and shelter to those left homeless.  While the Windsor Tornado was an example of the worst of Mother Nature, the storm also showed us the best of mankind.  No other weather event comes close to being Colorado’s biggest weather story of 2008.

Below is some amazing raw video from 9News of the tornado as it moved north.

Colorado Weather, National Weather

White Christmas for half the country as travel woes continue

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Old Man Winter brought a white Christmas to much of the northern half of the United States which may be a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view.  Images released by the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center  show that many areas that wouldn’t normally expect snow are covered in a blanket of white this Christmas.

Much of the country west of the Continental Divide will have snow or rain Christmas Day.  Areas of the Sierra Nevada and southwestern Colorado will be measuring the snow in feet.  Salt Lake City is expecting 4 to 8 inches while here in Denver we remain dry and will actually have a pretty mild day. 

In the northeast they will have a cold and blustery holiday.  Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will generate some lake-effect snows from Pennsylvania through New York and into northern New England. 

The latest cold blast to hit the nation has caused travel woes across much of it.  In Chicago, 500 flights were canceled on Tuesday stranding many travelers, some of whom won’t be able to reach their destination until today.  100 flights were canceled at O’Hare Wednesday but delays improved as the day went on.  Sadly the weather did have a more serious toll as between Tuesday and Wednesday at least 30 people were killed in crashes on rain- and ice-slickened roads across the nation’s midsection. 

Out west in Washington and Oregon, residents and government officials were wishing for a return to their normal rainy weather as they were unprepared for the snow that has fallen in recent days.  In Portland, Oregon many side streets were impassable without chains or four wheel drive.  Wednesday more snow fell followed by rain which most likely will add to the problems when it freezes tonight.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire declared a statewide winter storm emergency saying, “A number of counties and cities are struggling to meet the problems posed by this month’s onslaught of snow and winter weather.  Snowfall has reached record or near-record level in 30 of the state’s 39 counties.”  Her proclamation will allow state agencies to support local operations including the activation of the National Guard. 

Active weather watches and warnings on Christmas Day.Here in Colorado, much of the western slope is under various types of winter weather advisories.  A Winter Storm Warning covers the western half of the state and Blizzard and Avalanche Warnings cover some areas south of I-70.  Needless to say, Christmas Day travel in the high country will be greatly impeded by these storms.  

Good weather along the eastern part of Colorado has allowed Denver International Airport to operate normally for the most part.  However, some delays were experienced for flights heading to other parts of the nation affected by the winter weather. 

Colorado Weather, National Weather, Thornton Weather

Weather gifts for the weather geek in your life

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ThorntonWeather.com has some great ideas for Santa Claus for the weather enthusiasts he may be bringing gifts to.
ThorntonWeather.com has some great ideas for Santa Claus for the weather enthusiasts he may be bringing gifts to.

Is there someone on your shopping list that looks out at a blizzard with glee on his or her face?  Someone who jumps and runs to the window at hearing thunder or seeing the flash of lightning?  Maybe a person for whom the weather warning beep on the TV or radio is music to their ears?  Well then this posting is for you.  Here are some great gift ideas for the weather geek on your list.  If you have any questions about any of these, leave a comment and we will answer them.  Also be sure to check out our list of great places to shop for weather gifts.

Books – There are books about every type of weather condition out there.  We recently wrote about some of our top picks for weather related books for grownups and adults.  Click here for some specific ideas. 

  • Cost:  $10.00 and up
  • Where to buy:  Amazon.com

Storm Chasing and Weather Clothing – Any proud weather geek will be happy to not only tell someone about their hobby but also to wear it!  Shirts and clothing with tornadoes, hurricanes or even ones that proclaim the wearer as a “Weather Geek” or “Weather Diva” are a big hit.  Kids love the stuff too.

Weather Radios – You don’t have to be a weather enthusiast to appreciate or need a weather radio – these are great gifts for anyone.  These radios are relatively inexpensive and allow you to listen to and monitor the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) system. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, and forecasts as well as other hazard information like earthquakes, avalanches, chemical spills, and even AMBER alerts.  Be sure to get one with SAME coding so it automatically turns on when something is happening in your area.

Emergency Kits – Most folks interested in severe weather are also quite likely a bit survivalist by nature.  They know the dangers that the weather presents and want to be prepared for it.  An emergency kit for the house or car are not only practical but potentially life saving. 

GPS Systems – Handheld GPS systems like those from Garmin and Magellan are a must have for any storm chaser.  Models can be had for less than $100 for a basic unit to $600 for ones with 3D mapping capability.  Spend the extra money to get one with at least basic, non-3D mapping capability. 

  • Cost:  $100 and up.  Look to spend between $200 and $300 to get a good one with mapping. 
  • Where to buy:  NewEgg or GPS City

Binoculars – Low tech but effective.  You don’t want to get too close to the action and binoculars are a great way to see things from a distance.  You’ll want to look for ones that allow plenty of light in but also aren’t so big the user can’t make a run for it if needed.

Personal Weather Stations (PWS) – Amateur meteorology is a surprisingly popular hobby as you will learn if you take a look.  A basic $50 station will provide outdoor temperature and humidity.  Stepping up a notch to one for around $200 will get you all that plus wind and the ability to hook it up to a computer to archive statistics and create your own weather website like ThorntonWeather.com.  $450+ gets a Davis Instruments weather station which is considered about the best an amateur can buy.

Digital Cameras and Camcorders – Pictures and video help to capture the weather conditions as they happen and make for lasting memories.  With either of them, ones with powerful zoom lenses are a must in order to capture far away action (you don’t want to get too close to a tornado!).  Don’t skimp on quality.

  • Cost:  $400+ for a good one.
  • Where to buy:  NewEgg or Amazon

Storm Chasing Vacation – For a weather geek, what could be better than spending a week on the Great Plains hunting down hail storms, supercell thunderstorms and of course tornadoes!  Storm chasing as a hobby is growing by leaps and bounds and there are many tour operators that seek to fulfill the dreams of those that want to see extreme weather. This is the ultimate gift!  Are you listening to me, Santa?

For more info: Do you have any questions about specific items your weather enthusiast might want or questions about any of the above ideas?  Post a comment and we’ll do our best to answer!

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Snow finally comes to the Front Range

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An early morning image from the ThorntonWeather.com east webcam. Click for larger view.
An early morning image from the ThorntonWeather.com east webcam. Click for larger view.

With only two days to go in the month, things were pretty bleak and we were dangerously close to joining the “top 10” for the least snowiest Novembers in Denver.  That changed in pretty short order last night.  Forecasters were expecting about an inch of snow but the local storm reports indicate most areas exceeded that handily. 

Here in Thornton we started with a touch of rain in the evening which changed to snow as time went on and the temperature dropped.  In the end we recorded 4.1″ of the white stuff, most of which fell between 10:00pm and midnight. 

The National Weather Service in Denver is officially showing 2.4″ of snow at the old Stapleton International Airport site.  At Denver International Airport they recorded 1.6″. 

Some of the other snow reports that have come in (Updated @ 11:15am):

  • Arvada – 2.4″
  • Brighton – 1.5″
  • Conifer – 2.5″
  • Denver (north) – 1.5″
  • Denver (Stapleton) – 3.2″
  • Denver (DIA) – 1.7″
  • Elizabeth – 3.2″
  • Evergreen – 3.2″
  • Erie – 4.5″
  • Highlands Ranch – 3.0″
  • Henderson – 3.0″
  • Highlands Ranch – 4.5″
  • Lakewood – 3.8″
  • Lone Tree – 3.2″
  • Parker – 1.8″
  • Thornton – 4.1″
  • Westminster – 2.2″

For other totals, please see our local storm reports page.