This was a fun find! I was going through old family photos and came across these images of a famous – and destructive – Denver weather event.
At that time, I was staying with my sister at her house on Fox Street near 96th Ave in Thornton. The weather was clearly getting spicy and where she lived provided clear views to the south and southeast.
We were amazed to watch multiple twisters strike in and around the city, me grabbing pictures with my old 35mm Canon AE-1 Program.
The National Weather Service history for the event describes “several” tornadoes. The most powerful was an F3 that struck in south Denver and was on the ground for 25 minutes. That twister alone damaged 85 buildings and many vehicles. Miraculously, no serious injuries or deaths were reported.
Below see more pictures I took that day and you can read the official account from the NWS and watch some archived news stories from the day.
From the National Weather Service:
In 1988…several tornadoes developed across metro Denver. One tornado touched down just northeast of the rocky mountain arsenal. The twister moved very slowly and did no damage…except to demolish a small electrical substation… Even though it was on the ground for nearly 30 minutes. Later…another tornado was sighted east of Brighton about 2 miles north of Barr Lake. An f2 tornado cut a swath through northeast Denver. The main path went through a thickly wooded area for about 6 blocks and uprooted about 500 city owned trees…many of them large elms 75 to 100 years old. Hundreds of privately owned trees were also sucked from the ground by the slow moving twister…which was filmed by a news team in a helicopter as it uprooted trees. The replacement cost to the city owned trees was estimated at 1.5 million dollars. The twister did little damage to buildings. Some homes suffered roof and chimney damage…a gas main was ruptured…and some cars were damaged by falling trees. The uprooted trees also caused curb and sidewalk damage and cut some electrical wires. The funnel cloud passed close to Stapleton International Airport. Aircraft operations were shut down…and the tower was evacuated. The tornado was on the ground for almost 25 minutes. An f3 tornado cut an erratic path through south Denver for about 25 minutes…causing extensive damage in at least 3 areas. The twister damaged about 85 buildings… 20 severely; the total loss was estimated at 5 to 10 million dollars. Many cars were severely damaged; at least 15 vehicles were overturned. One trailer was lifted onto the top of a building that had just been unroofed; numerous antique cars inside the building were damaged. A Ford Bronco was blown over a church…and landed 100 yards away. A metal storage shed was deposited far above the ground in some power lines. The tornado uprooted many trees on a golf course. No one was seriously hurt…although seven people suffered minor injuries from flying debris. A golfer was thrown 40 feet…but was not hurt; a man clinging to a telephone pole was unscathed…but lost both shoes…a sock…and buttons off his shirt. A woman holding a baby was sucked through a broken convenience store window… But was unhurt. A dog…tethered to the ground by its leash… Was suspended in the air by the twister. Uprooted trees crushed cars and damaged curbs and sidewalks. People in downtown Denver could see three tornadoes occurring simultaneously. Hail as large as 1 3/8 inches in diameter fell in extreme southeast Aurora.
