Category Archives: Site News

Site News, Thornton Weather

ThorntonWeather.com enters its 20th year of operation

ThorntonWeather.com enters its 20th year of operation. (AI image generated with CoPilot)
ThorntonWeather.com enters its 20th year of operation. (AI image generated with CoPilot)

From a random anniversary gift to becoming Colorado’s longest running independent source for weather news and data. Crazy, eh?

It was 19 years ago on October 25, 2006, that ThorntonWeather.com went live and the first bits of live weather data from our weather station were fed to the Internet.

My wife had gotten me a home weather station for our anniversary a few months earlier. It was fun to be able to see what the weather conditions were right where we lived in Thornton – not DIA or downtown Denver where conditions can be dramatically different.

It didn’t take long though and I soon desired more. I wanted to be able to monitor that weather station from anywhere and thus, with the help of the home weather station community, created the first version of the website.

  • Did you know ThorntonWeather.com is a completely non-profit venture run by a Thornton resident?  We are self-funded but do occasionally receive help from members of the community, something which allows us to keep things up and running. Learn more about how you can help here.

Word soon got out among residents of the north Denver metro area and traffic to the site boomed. Stories in print media helped spread the word.

We are proud to have become a valuable resource for the community providing real time weather data, forecasts, historical climate information, satellite imagery, webcams and so much more.

We’re just ‘weather geeks’ that love the weather and love our community.  Running ThorntonWeather.com can be a bit expensive and it is time consuming to maintain and operate it but it is worth it.

We’d like to thank all of our visitors for your support in the past and we look forward to continuing to be the best, truly local source for Thornton weather.

Site News, Thornton Weather

Thornton Weather’s weather station is nearing its end of life

The time is coming… Our Davis Instruments VP2+ weather station has served us well for 17+ years. Sadly, despite many parts replacements, it is showing its age and we are going to need to get a new unit soon.

As this is a professional-level weather station to ensure accuracy and reliability, you can imagine it is not cheap. Normally we would not ask this but, in the past, our supporters’ donations have helped us maintain and upgrade the station and we are hoping you might consider helping us keep Thornton’s longest running, most reliable weather station going.

To learn more, please see here.

Site News

Thornton Weather launches major site redesign

Changes to Thornton Weather's home page beginning November 2023. (© ThorntonWeather.com)
Changes to Thornton Weather’s home page beginning November 2023. (© ThorntonWeather.com)

It was October 2006 when ThorntonWeather.com first went online and we are proud to be the city’s longest running, most reliable and most comprehensive weather website (more about us here).

Since then, we have had a few different designs, and we are proud to launch our latest. There is a lot to take in but front and center is our revamped main page.

Among the highlights:

  • See everything essential ‘above the fold’ without scrolling including…
  • Current radar, webcam and the latest news right up top for easy reference
  • Easy to read current conditions so you know exactly what is going on at that moment
  • A much-requested feature, a ‘quick look’ at the weather forecast, up top and easy to see
  • The main menu uses new coding that is much more responsive
  • Scrolling down, the main page dashboard has comprehensive conditions and statistics, enough to satisfy any weather geek

There is much more as you click through the various pages (including new mobile pages!) that we will highlight in the coming days and we do still have more work to do. Until then, hop on and take a look! Go: https://www.thorntonweather.com/

Site News

ThorntonWeather.com celebrates its 10th birthday

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Keeping an eye on the sky since October 2006. ThorntonWeather.com is now beginning its 10th year of operation.
Keeping an eye on the sky since October 2006. ThorntonWeather.com went live on the Internet 10 years ago.

It is hard to believe but it was 10 years ago today on October 25, 2006 that the digital switch was thrown and the first bits of live weather data from our weather station were fed to the Internet.  ThorntonWeather.com was born!

Since that date, we are extremely proud of what the site has become – an indispensable community resource for north Denver metro area residents, businesses and governmental agencies.

On the one year anniversary of the site’s launch, we were receiving on average 750 unique visitors a month.  On the second anniversary that had grown to around 5,000 visitors a month.  For 2016 we are on pace to average well over 25,000 per month!

The response has been absolutely overwhelming to say the least.

We launched the site simply because we wanted to know what was going on with the weather in Thornton and the north Denver metro area.  We don’t live downtown, we don’t live at DIA and the differences in weather between Thornton and those other locations can be considerable.  Apparently many of you agree!

Our site has not only grown in terms of visitors, but perhaps more importantly in terms of the amount of information available.  Certainly we provide the basics of live weather conditions, radar and forecasts.

  • Did you know ThorntonWeather.com is a completely non-profit venture run by a Thornton resident?  We are self-funded but do occasionally receive help from members of the community, something which allows us to keep things up and running. Learn more about how you can help here.

Far more than that, we now have educational information about various weather dangers, historical climate information, satellite imagery, webcams and so much more.  Our news and blog section is continually updated with the latest news and information including items important to the community.

Put simply, there is no other media outlet in the state that provides as much weather news, information and content as we do!

Since our launch we have became very ‘social’ with a growing Facebook page, a Twitter feed and a presence on Google +.  Interacting with our visitors is an integral part of our site and something we enjoy greatly.

  • Stay up to date with Thornton’s weather: Be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles.

We’re just ‘weather geeks’ that love the weather and love our community.  Running ThorntonWeather.com can be a bit expensive and it is time consuming to maintain and operate it but it is worth it.

We’d like to thank all of our visitors for your support in the past and we look forward to continuing to be the best, truly local source for Thornton weather.

Site News

Santa’s journey begins, live tracking online

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ThorntonWeather.com and NORAD offer the Santa TrackerSanta Claus begins his whirlwind trip around the globe tonight to deliver toys to all the good little boys and girls! For more than 50 years the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has tracked Kris Kringle on Christmas Eve and helped to ensure he completes his journey safely.

ThorntonWeather.com is pleased to be able to provide live Santa tracking from NORAD right here on our site!

Click here to check it out and be sure to come back often to see where Kris Kringle is at!

Below is the official 2014 NORAD Tracks Santa trailer.

Site News

Santa Claus begins annual journey – Track him live

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ThorntonWeather.com and NORAD offer the Santa TrackerSanta Claus begins his whirlwind trip around the globe tonight to deliver toys to all the good little boys and girls! For more than 50 years the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has tracked Kris Kringle on Christmas Eve and helped to ensure he completes his journey safely.

ThorntonWeather.com is pleased to be able to provide live Santa tracking from NORAD right here on our site!

Click here to check it out and be sure to come back often to see where Kris Kringle is at!

Below is the official 2014 NORAD Tracks Santa trailer.

Site News

Announcing Tony’s Takes Photography

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Longs Peak on a gorgeous early spring day in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Longs Peak on a gorgeous early spring day in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

I have always been a shutterbug ever since my parents gave me my first SLR one Christmas when I was in high school.  It wasn’t until recent years however that I began to hone the craft and now I have launched Tony’s Takes Photography.

Certainly I have no illusion of becoming a professional photographer or having the skills of one.  This is purely a hobby for me.  However I think I do a pretty passable job and decided I would like to share my images.  Up until now that has been confined to this website and on social media with friends and family.

Over at Tony’s Takes (www.tonystakes.com) I will be sharing the images I capture.  These will usually be focused on the subjects which interest me most – extreme weather, landscapes and wildlife.  Certainly some of these photos will make their way here as always but that will be the primary spot where I post them.

Don’t worry though.  Weather is still a passion of mine andThorntonWeather.com will be staying around as always and remaining your one and only spot for truly local Thornton weather news and information!

You can find Tony’s Takes Photography at any of the links below and I would truly appreciate you spreading on the work:

February 5, 2014 – Bald eagle takes flight in the fog. (© Tony’s Takes)
February 5, 2014 – Bald eagle takes flight in the fog. (© Tony’s Takes)