Category Archives: Thornton Weather

City of Thornton’s WinterFest to enjoy great weather for the festivities

December 10, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

One of many ice sculptures on display at WinterFest. View more images from the first night of the festival below. (ThorntonWeather.com)

The City of Thornton’s annual winter festival is in full swing and after a chilly start Friday, the weather for the rest of the events looks to be much milder.

Santa Claus arrives safely last night and as always, the city has a full slate of events surrounding WinterFest at the Multipurpose Fields at 108th Ave and Colorado Blvd. Residents can ice skate all day long and into the night, the ice carving demonstration is underway and of course Santa’s Village is open.

Get the complete schedule of events on the City of Thornton’s website

Tonight the Thornton Community Band will take to the stage at 7:00pm showcasing our community’s musical talent. After the concert, Thornton will put on a fireworks show at 8:30pm, one of the few in Colorado during the winter and always the best.

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Sunday features the wide variety of fun in Santa’s Village. Tomorrow night the Thornton Community Chorus will raise their voices in celebration of the season.

For the weather, today we’re heading for a high of 45 degrees with just a light wind. It will dip to right around the freezing mark by 7:00pm when the band concert takes place and then down to 28 degrees for the fireworks at 8:30pm.

Tomorrow will be even warmer with plenty of sun above as we head for a high of 48 degrees with light winds. When the chorus takes to the stage at 6:30 it will be around 32 degrees.

Check out some of the photos we took of WinterFest last night below – then head on down and join the fun!

Astronomy, Thornton Weather

Thornton gets front row view of the last lunar eclipse until 2014

December 10, 2011 Thornton Weather 1 Comment

The lunar eclipse gets started in Colorado as the Earth's shadow starts to cover the moon. View more images in the slideshow below. (ThorntonWeather.com)

It was a very cold morning in Thornton as the temperature dropped to 15° but the fog that was forecast never materialized and we had a great view of the lunar eclipse. Just before dawn the Earth’s shadow began to encroach on the moon and just as the eclipse was peaking, the moon set behind the Rocky Mountains.

View images of the lunar eclipse as seen from Barr Lake State Park below

Fog in Denver was feared to be a threat for viewing this morning’s total lunar eclipse but Mother Nature cooperated and provided clear Colorado skies. Not long before dawn the celestial show began and those who were able to witness it saw something that we won’t have an opportunity to see again until 2014.

NASA had called the lunar eclipse a ‘super-sized’ event due to its low placement on the horizon which tricks the mind and eye to thinking the moon is larger than it normally is. With our only natural satellite setting in the west, Coloradoans were able to view the eclipse just as the moon set behind the Rocky Mountains.

The total lunar eclipse was visible across a large swath of the Earth. From east of the Rocky Mountains to Australia and to Asia, nearly half of the globe had a view of the event.

Heightening interest in the eclipse was the fact that it will be the last total lunar eclipse for nearly three years. The next one won’t occur until April 14, 2014. There will be a second one that year on October 8th. In 2015 there will also be two; one on April 4th and another on September 27th.

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Astronomy, Thornton Weather

Early risers Saturday to be treated to ‘super-sized’ total lunar eclipse

December 9, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

The last lunar eclipse until 2014 will be visible along the Colorado Front Range early Saturday morning. (ThorntonWeather.com)

If you can get yourself out of bed early in the morning on Saturday, December 10, 2011 you will be treated to the last total lunar eclipse for nearly three years. For viewers in Thornton and along the Colorado Front Range, the event will be relatively quick but punctuated by a setting moon with the Rocky Mountains in the foreground.

Saturday morning the moon will be passing through the lower half of the Earth’s shadow just before it sets in the west at 7:12am MST Saturday. The low hanging moon will appear much larger than normal bringing what NASA calls a ‘super-sized’ eclipse.

Because the moon will be low on the western horizon, finding a good spot to watch it will be critical. In Thornton, visitors to our Facebook page have suggested near the Thornton Civic Center, Brittany Hill or near the water towers at 112th Ave and I-25. Some higher locations along Colorado Blvd north of 136th Ave might be good places as well.

The December 10th eclipse will begin around 5:46am MST as the first part of Earth’s shadow encroaches on the moon. Totality will be achieved at 7:06am MST.

For watchers along the Colorado Front Range, the low moon with the Rocky Mountains to the west will render some extraordinary images. There is however a catch.

The tall mountains on our western horizon are going to limit the time we are able to see the moon and the eclipse. In the Denver area, we won’t actually be able to see the total eclipse as the moon will have disappeared behind the mountains by then.

It is estimated metro area residents will be able to watch the show until about 6:50am at which point the moon will be below the horizon. Clear skies are in the forecast so clouds should not be a concern.

Examiner.com slideshow: NASA maps and images for the December 10, 2011 total lunar eclipse
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NASA says that astronomers and psychologists don’t know why the human brain sees the moon as larger when it is low on the horizon. “In fact, a low Moon is no wider than any other Moon (cameras prove it) but the human brain insists otherwise. To observers in the western USA, therefore, the eclipse will appear super-sized,” NASA said.

The celestial show should be worth getting out of bed a bit early to see, even if residents of Colorado won’t get to see the entire show.

Atmospheric scientist Richard Keen of the University of Colorado told NASA, “I expect this eclipse to be bright orange, or even copper-colored, with a possible hint of turquoise at the edge.”

Keen explains that the Earth’s stratosphere is currently relatively free of volcanic dust and other particulates. This should allow for a very bright event.

Tomorrow’s eclipse will be the last total lunar eclipse until April 14, 2014. A second will occur that year on October 8th. In 2015 there will also be two; one on April 4th and another on September 27th.

If you get any pictures of the eclipse, be sure to head over to our Facebook page and share them or email them to us at info@thorntonweather.com and we will post them.

Thornton Weather

Second snowstorm in three days hits Thornton, third round on the way

December 3, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

A view of the Flatirons near Boulder on December 3, 2011 following the second snowstorm in three days. (National Weather Service)

The meteorological winter starts on December 1 and Old Man Winter is making sure we know he is around. Two snowstorms have hit Thornton in a three day span and more snow is on the way.

On Thursday the first storm brought 5.1 inches to Thornton. Denver officially recorded 5.7 inches at Denver International Airport (DIA).

Shortly before midnight last night, the snow began falling again and continued through noon. Here in Thornton we recorded 4.9 inches with the latest system.

Remember, when the snow starts flying, stay up to date with ThorntonWeather.com: ‘Like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles

It is interesting to note that this brings our seasonal snowfall total to 24.5 inches. For comparison, we recorded a dismal 21.2 inches during all of the last season! In an average season, December received 61.7 inches.

Yet another storm system is on its way and is expected to arrive tomorrow evening. Right now it isn’t look near as impressive as the last two but Thornton may see another inch or two out of it.

Over the longer term, colder than normal temperatures are expected to last through this week. The first half should be dry but Thursday night into Friday we may see snow again. Long range models looking even further ahead predict colder than normal temperatures to last through the first half of the month.

Below is time lapse video from our webcams capturing last night’s storm. Each take 14 hours and compress them into 30 seconds.

Thornton Weather

November 2011 Thornton weather recap: A cold and snowy start ends warm and dry

December 1, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

When the month of November 2011 began we seemed to be headed toward a very wintry month. Despite that cold start however, the weather soon turned much more moderate.

The first three days of the month yielded 4.5 inches of snow as officially measured at Denver International Airport. That total however was far less than what was seen in the rest of the metro area. For comparison, here in Thornton we recorded 7.9 inches.

Over those same three days the month saw a chilly average temperature of 27.8 degrees which was 16.5 degrees below normal. The low pressure trough and cold front that generated the cold and snow however would soon be gone and nothing but a memory.

From November 4th through the end of the month the weather turned mild and dry. No measurable precipitation was recorded for the balance and by the end of the month the average temperature had climbed to above normal.

The month ended with an average temperature of 39.5 degrees which was 1.2 degrees above normal. Thornton was a touch cooler with an average of 38.8 degrees.

Highs ranged from 69 degrees on the 24th to a low of 10 degrees on the 2nd and the 3rd at DIA. Here in Thornton we were milder with a high of 72.0 degrees and a low of 14.1 degrees.

The early month snowstorms yielded 0.47 inches of precipitation at the airport versus the November average of 0.61 inches. The 4.5 inches of snowfall was well below the normal of 8.7 inches for November.

Click here to view the Thornton climatological summary for November 2011. Below is the official Denver summary from the National Weather Service.

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
645 AM MST THU DEC 1 2011

................................... 

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2011... 

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2011

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................ 
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              80   11/08/2006
 LOW              -18   11/29/1877
HIGHEST            69   11/24        80     -11       77  11/06
LOWEST             10   11/02       -18      28        4  11/25
                        11/03
AVG. MAXIMUM     54.1              52.1     2.0     52.6
AVG. MINIMUM     24.8              24.5     0.3     24.0
MEAN             39.5              38.3     1.2     38.3
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX = .01         2               4.7    -2.7        5
DAYS >= .10         2               1.6     0.4        2
DAYS >= .50         0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.0     0.0        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.47   11/01 TO 11/02           11/16 TO 11/16
                                                          11/08 TO 11/09
                                                          11/09 TO 11/09
 STORM TOTAL       MM                                 MM
 (MM/DD(HH))            MM                    11/16(00) TO 11/16(00)
                                                 11/09(00) TO 11/09(00)9
                                                 11/09(00) TO 11/09(00)9

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL             MM   MM
TOTALS            4.5                MM

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     757               801     -44      793
 SINCE 7/1       1252              1377    -125     1128
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1        964               769     195      870

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST                        10/07
LATEST                          05/05
.......................................................... 

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.9
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/229
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    43/260    DATE  11/12
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    52/260    DATE  11/12

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            7
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             23
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          0

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     45

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       0
LIGHT RAIN                3     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                2     SNOW                       2
LIGHT SNOW                2     SLEET                      0
FOG                       3     FOG W/VIS

Thornton Weather

Thornton snowstorm and news updates

November 30, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

Old Man Winter is staged to arrive in Colorado in a big way. With snow and arctic cold set to arrive, the next 48 hours are going to be interesting and in fact, the cold looks to last through the weekend.

For all the latest with the storm, be sure to check our Winter Weather Briefing page.

We will be providing updates as needed on our Google+ and Facebook pages as well. We realize however that many folks don’t belong to those social networks. You can follow along instead using the embedded Facebook ticker below if that is the case.

Remember, when the snow starts flying, stay up to date with ThorntonWeather.com: ‘Like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles

Thornton Weather

Image of the Day: Earth’s atmosphere and moon

November 26, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

NASA’s Earth Observatory releases some of the most stunning views of the planet taken by satellites and astronauts. It’s ‘Image of the Day’ today is a stunning one showing the Earth’s atmosphere with a crescent moon hovering above.

Taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on July 31, 2011, the image clearly shows the layers of our life giving atmosphere. The moon appears extraordinarily close thanks to the camera’s perspective.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured this stunning image of the atmosphere and the moon. (NASA)

From NASA:

The limb of the Earth is a work of awesome beauty and a gift to science. When observed from space, the palette of gaseous layers of atmosphere reminds us of the fragility and tenuousness of the cocoon that shelters life from cold, harsh space. That same view also allows scientists to detect the gases and particles that make up our the different layers of our atmosphere. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured a bit of both in this digital photograph from July 31, 2011. They threw in the Moon as an extra gift.

Closest to Earth’s surface, the orange-red glow reveals Earth’s troposphere—the lowest, densest layer of the atmosphere, and the one we live within. A brown transitional layer is the upper edge of the troposphere, known as the tropopause. A milky white and gray layer sits above that, likely a slice of the stratosphere with perhaps some noctilucent clouds thrown in. The upper reaches of the atmosphere—the mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere—fade from shades of blue to the blackness of space.

The different colors occur because the dominant gases and particles in each layer act like prisms filtering out certain colors of light. Instruments carried on satellites and on craft such as the space shuttle have allowed scientists to decipher characteristics of the ozone layer and the climate-altering effects of aerosols.

A thin crescent of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun below the horizon of the Earth. Though the Moon is more than 384,400 kilometers (238,855 miles) away, the perspective from the camera makes it appear to be a part of our atmosphere.

Astronaut photograph ISS028-E-020072 was acquired on July 31, 2011, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 400 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 28 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Mike Carlowicz.

Climatology, Thornton Weather

A look ahead at Thornton’s December weather

November 26, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

Thornton's December Weather Preview — December ranks as Denver's coldest and third snowiest month.

As with any month in the Denver area, December can bring a variety of conditions. Certainly we have seen bitter cold and heavy snow but in other years dry and mild conditions prevailed.

Based on the updated 1981 to 2010 averages from the National Weather Service, the month is actually our coldest of the year. It also is our third snowiest behind March and November.

Winter weather is typically what we think of when we think about December and it is indeed prone to winter extremes.

In fact, our coldest month in Denver history was in December 1983. In terms of snow, our snowiest month ever occurred in December 1913. More recently the Christmas Eve Blizzard of 1982 and the storms on December 2006 invoke snow-filled memories.

You can read much more about our historical December weather as well as get a preview of what we can expect in 2012 here in our complete story.

Remember, when the snow starts flying, stay up to date with ThorntonWeather.com: ‘Like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles

Climatology, Thornton Weather

October 2011 Thornton weather recap: Month finishes warmer, snowier and wetter than normal

November 4, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

October offered a bit of everything for everyone from record warmth to heavy snowfall.

October 2011 started out quite warm but then stabilized into a seasonal pattern. As is often the case with Colorado weather though, at one point we went from record high temperatures to snow in a span of two days.

In terms of temperature, Denver finished the month with an overall overage temperature of 52.6 degrees. This was 1.6 degrees above the normal for the month of 50.9 degrees. Temperatures ranged from a high of 87 degrees on the first of the month down to 14 degrees on the 26th and 27th.

Here in Thornton we were slightly cooler with an average temperature of 50.4 degrees. Our highs ranged from a top mark of 86.6 degrees on the first down to a very cold 12.8 degrees on the 27th.

Two record high temperatures were tied or broken during the month. On the 15th, the mercury climbed to 82 degrees which tied the record for the date last set in 1938. On the 24th the temperature hit 80 degrees, breaking the previous record high for the date of 79.

Quite a bit more precipitation was recorded than normal during October 2011. 1.79 inches fell into the rain bucket at DIA which is 0.82 inch above normal. Much of that precipitation fell on October 8th when 1.04 inches was recorded, a record for the date. DIA also recorded a trace of snowfall, the first of the season.

The Mile High City was hit with its first snowstorm on the 25th and 26th when 8.5 inches of the white stuff fell. That also was the snowfall total for the month which far exceeded the normal of 4.2 inches.

Thornton nearly mirrored Denver’s precipitation as we recorded 1.75 inches during the month between rain and snowmelt. Our snowfall fell short of DIAs however as we recorded 6.6 inches during the storm late in the month.

Click here to view Thornton’s climate summary for October 2011.

From the National Weather Service:

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2011... 

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2011

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              90   10/01/1892
 LOW               -2   10/29/1917
HIGHEST            87   10/01        90      -3       85  10/03
LOWEST             14   10/26        -2      16       20  10/28
                        10/27
AVG. MAXIMUM     67.3              65.3     2.0     69.7
AVG. MINIMUM     37.9              36.6     1.3     40.9
MEAN             52.6              50.9     1.7     55.3
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX = .01         4               5.3    -1.3        4
DAYS >= .10         3               2.4     0.6        2
DAYS >= .50         1               0.5     0.5        0
DAYS >= 1.00        1               0.1     0.9        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    1.04   10/08 TO 10/08

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           31.2   1969
TOTALS            8.5                4.2

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     400               438     -38      300
 SINCE 7/1        495               576     -81      335
COOLING TOTAL      23                 5      18        8
 SINCE 1/1        964               769     195      870

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST      10/17             10/07
LATEST                          05/05
................................................... 

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.8
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   4/205
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    49/210    DATE  10/06
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    63/200    DATE  10/06

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.40
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           13
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             15
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          3

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     44

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              1     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       1
LIGHT RAIN                5     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                1     SNOW                       2
LIGHT SNOW                3     SLEET                      0
FOG                       5     FOG W/VIS

Thornton Weather

Thornton gets second snowstorm in a week

November 2, 2011 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

ThorntonWeather.com's east camera captured the storm at its height early Tuesday morning.

After weeks of what some would call boring weather, Thornton saw things change considerably over the past week. Not one, but two snowstorms have hit the city getting us 2/3 of the way to the snow total we had for all of last season.

Here in Thornton we measured 6.6 inches with last week’s snowstorm and today’s added 7.9 inches. That brings us to a seasonal total of 14.5 inches.

For comparison, the last season was absolutely dismal and we only received 21.2 inches over the entire period. On average Denver receives 61.7 inches during a season.

The most recent storm prompted Winter Storm Warnings as the snow fell quickly after dark and lasted into the morning. The ground was much colder this time and aided by wind, it accumulated on roads unlike last week’s storm which saw the snow melt as quick as it fell.

While the morning commute was a mess and slow moving, it was relatively uneventful. Much to the chagrin of local students, most school districts remained open for the day. The sun started making an appearance after noon and by the evening a good bit of blue sky was above.

Below are time lapse videos taken from our two webcams of the storm. They cover the 18 hour period from 6:00pm on November 1 to 12:00pm on November 2.

Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.