This video screen capture shows the stage at the Indianapolis State Fair as it collapsed. Watch the video below. (YouTube / JSilas7)
Winds alone are not normally associated with the loss of life but a sad reminder of the dangers was seen at the Indianapolis State Fair on Saturday. Powerful thunderstorm winds downed a stage killing five people and injuring dozens while officials appeared to ignore warnings of the impending danger.
The Natural Disasters Examiner wrote in a story on Monday that the warning signs for severe weather in central Indiana were readily apparent as early as two days before the storm.
The National Weather Service discussed the thunderstorm and high wind dangers in its Hazardous Weather Outlook multiple times. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued hours before and a Warning 10 minutes before.
Despite this, officials at the fair failed to make a timely decision to cancel the Sugarland concert. When the winds, estimated at 50 to 70mph struck, it only took a matter of seconds for the stage’s rigging to collapse. Five people died and more than 40 were injured due to their failure.
The tragedy should serve as a reminder to everyone to pay attention to changing weather. Do not ignore weather watches and warnings, no matter what others are doing. The life you save may be your own.
The video below captures the event with shocking clarity. It may be disturbing for some so viewer discretion is advised.
Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by the tragedy.
July 2011 was much wetter and slightly warmer than normal. (ThorntonWeather.com)
Historically July is a pretty busy month in terms of weather as thunderstorms are very common. July 2011 lived up to the month’s reputation as the middle of the month saw a seemingly endless stream of heavy, wet thunderstorms. This was followed by a string of 90 degree and warmer days that approached record setting territory.
The big story for the month was the precipitation as there was a lot of it. DIA saw sixteen thunderstorms during July, five more than normal. The official Denver monitoring at the airport recorded 3.41 inches of rain which was well above the normal of 2.16 inches. The measurement fell just shy of making the list of top 10 wettest July’s on record.
The station at DIA however lived up to its reputation as under-reporting rainfall as compared to locations closer to downtown. In fact, a station the old Stapleton site recorded 6.54 inches. Here in Thornton 5.51 inches fell into our rain bucket.
One precipitation record was set during the month when 1.03 inches of rain fell on the 13th. This easily bested the previous 24 hour record for the date of 0.45 inch set in 1993.
Temperatures for the month were considerably above normal but fell short of ‘top 10’ status. The average temperature for the month, as recorded at DIA, was 75.9 degrees. This was 2.5 degrees above the normal of 73.4.
The warmest temperature of the month occurred on the Fourth of July when the mercury climbed to 99 degrees. On the opposite end, 56 degrees on the 1st of the month was the coldest reading.
In all, 20 days saw temperatures at or above 90 degrees during July 2011; five more than normal. July 15th started a string of 18 consecutive days of 90 degree or warmer high temperatures. That streak will go into the books as tying for the second longest in history.
Thornton, like most other places in the metro area, was not near as warm. Our average temperature was 73.8 degrees, right near normal. Our warmest temperature occurred on the 4th as well and matched Denver’s mark of 99 degrees. The mercury dipped to 53.6 degrees on the 1st and was our coldest temperature.
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JULY 2011...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
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 105 07/20/2005
LOW 42 07/04/1903
07/31/1873
HIGHEST 99 07/31 105 -6 102 07/17
07/04
LOWEST 56 07/01 42 14 53 07/09
07/05
07/04
AVG. MAXIMUM 91.1 88.0 3.1 89.3
AVG. MINIMUM 60.7 58.7 2.0 59.5
MEAN 75.9 73.4 2.5 74.4
DAYS MAX >= 90 20 15.0 5.0 18
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 6.41 1965
MINIMUM 0.01 1901
TOTALS 3.41 2.16 1.25 3.70
DAILY AVG. 0.11 0.07 0.04 0.12
DAYS >= .01 11 9.3 1.7 13
DAYS >= .10 7 MM MM 5
DAYS >= .50 2 MM MM 2
DAYS >= 1.00 2 MM MM 2
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.08 07/12 TO 07/13 1.84 07/04/10 TO 07/04/10
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 0.0 NONE EVER RECORDED IN JULY
TOTALS 0.0 0.0
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 0 1 -1 3
SINCE 7/1 0 1 -1 3
COOLING TOTAL 346 261 85 303
SINCE 1/1 481 422 59 482
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
......................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.5 9.1
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 3/181 MM
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 51/210 DATE 07/13 41 07/30/10
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 68/300 DATE 07/14 48 07/30/10
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 22
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 3
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 50
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 4 RAIN 6
LIGHT RAIN 17 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 4
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 5 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 0
HAZE 4
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
Hot or cold: Denver's problematic weather records. (Denver Weather Examiner)
Does a move of 12 miles make a difference in what type of weather is seen in Colorado? Longtime residents know that our weather can vary greatly over short distances and this has many questioning the placement of Denver’s official weather monitoring station.
From 1871 to 1949 Denver’s weather was recorded at the National Weather Service’s office in downtown Denver. In January 1950 a move was made to Stapleton International Airport.
As that facility aged Denver opened Denver International Airport on the plains northeast of Denver in 1995. The weather service followed suit and moved the Mile High City’s official weather station the 12 miles to DIA.
Since that time, many weather watchers have noticed problems – DIA is consistently warmer and drier than the old site at Stapleton. Further, its remote location gives conditions far from where most people in Denver live and thus doesn’t accurately represent what they are experiencing.
Even bigger issues arise when comparing weather data taken today with measurements previously recorded at Stapleton or downtown. The different microclimates of the sites are so different that it becomes much like comparing apples and oranges.
This was recently made evident with the string of 90 degree or warmer days we put together. If you went by the station at DIA, the streak lasted 18 days putting in a three way tie for the second longest streak in Denver history. However, no monitoring station closer to the city was as warm.
Further, while July was certainly a wet month, DIA’s precipitation measurements fell far short of most other locations.
Amid concerns about a warming climate, can we trust the measurements at DIA? How is it possible to compare the weather today with historical weather when there is such a large discrepancy?
We recently tackled this topic on the Denver Weather Examiner and the conclusion is obvious – It simply is impossible to correlate current weather records with Denver’s historical ones. Further, the National Weather Service seems intent on ignoring the issue.
Denver easily broke the 24 hour precipitation record for July 13th.
It is readily apparent that July has thus far been a wet month given that we have seen eight straight days of thunderstorms. Yesterday the storms set a record for precipitation and Denver is on pace to make the month one of the wettest Julys on record.
Out at Denver International Airport yesterday, 1.03” of precipitation was recorded. This set the record for the date easily besting the old record of 0.45” set in 1993.
Here in Thornton we recorded 0.45” yesterday so a good bit less than out at the airport but still a decent shot of precipitation.
This brings Denver’s official total to 3.19” for the month so far. Average for the entire month of July is 2.16” so we are far ahead of that.
Number 10 on the ‘top 10 wettest Julys’ occurred in 1985 with 3.71”. Given the fact that the forecast continues to contain daily thunderstorms for the foreseeable future, there is a good chance we will exceed that before the month is over.
Thornton is ahead of the game in comparison to DIA as we have recorded 4.52” so far this month.
Lightning strikes east of 120th Avenue and Fairfax during Tuesday night's storms. View more images in the slideshow below. (ThorntonWeather.com)
For eight days in a row monsoonal flow fed thunderstorms have struck Thornton and Tuesday night brought arguably the best show yet. Heavy rain, hail, gusty winds and an extraordinary amount of lightning roused residents soon after nightfall.
Storms initially formed in the afternoon and were focused south of Denver in Elbert County. Near Kiowa, Elizabeth and Agate hail up to 1 3/4” in diameter was recorded. The slow-moving storms deposited as much as five inches of rain near Agate. Three twisters were reported in Elbert County but no damage was realized.
It appeared for a time that Thornton was going to escape the intense weather but once the sun went down the picture changed dramatically. Seemingly out of nowhere a storm cell popped up at around 9:20pm and moved across the north Denver metro area.
Heavy rain fell across a large part of the area from downtown northward to Thornton. 1.76 inches of rain was recorded north of downtown Denver at DenverWX.com as the storm passed through.
Street flooding was reported across the surrounding areas causing difficulty for motorists.
Here in Thornton we were pounded with heavy rain and a great deal of pea-sized hail. ThorntonWeather.com recorded its first inch of rain in only 14 minutes and the storm total for the overnight storm was 1.90 inches.
Strong winds also brought down trees and power lines knocking out power to nearly 10,000 Denver area residents including some in Thornton. Xcel Energy reports power has been restored to most areas this morning.
Denver International Airport recorded a thunderstorm wind gust of 66mph shortly before 10:00pm. A ground stop was issued and all flights were temporarily delayed while the storm moved through.
Forecasters had predicted a late and shorter than normal monsoon season due to La Niña’s lasting effect – that however has not proven to be true.
A common scene this past week - thunderstorms develop over the Denver area. Watch video of the recent street flooding in Thornton below. (Twitpic / CodyCrouch)
La Niña is winding down and normally we would expect a drier than normal monsoon. Mother Nature however has other plans as she not only brought the season to Thornton early, it came with a vengeance this week.
In a presentation that just came out at the first of the month, the National Weather Service discussed the coming monsoon. At that time forecasters predicted a drier and shorter than normal monsoon for the Colorado Front Range. Thus far it has been anything but.
This past week copious amounts of moisture have streamed into Colorado. Coupled with daytime heating leading to a good deal of atmospheric instability, thunderstorms have been a daily occurrence. Strong winds and heavy rain have occurred virtually daily.
Over the past five days Denver has recorded 1.78 inches of rain at the city’s official monitoring station at Denver International Airport. Closer to where population actually lives even greater amounts have been seen.
On Friday evening, a slow-moving thunderstorm dumped heavy rain on the southern parts of Thornton. Video footage from storm chaser Tony Laubach (below) shows the end result as streets in the area of I-25 and 84th Avenue were flooded.
Is there an end in sight? Not in the immediate future. For at least the next few days atmospheric moisture will continue to be in abundance and we will continue to see the same general pattern. By mid-week we may see some drying but we can’t entirely eliminate the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.
Thornton’s June 2011 weather was a relatively typical one with average temperatures but also with above normal precipitation. The month also signifies the official end of the 2010 to 2011 snow season which was absolutely dismal.
In terms of temperatures Denver saw an average temperature for the month of 68.2 degrees. This was just a bit above the normal of 67.6 degrees. Temperatures ranged from a high of 96 degrees on the 28th and 29th down to a low of 45 degrees on the 10th. DIA recorded seven days with 90 degrees or higher temperatures which is one above normal. No temperature records were set for the month.
Here in Thornton we came quite close to mirroring Denver’s official temperatures. Our average temperature was 68.1 degrees with the highest mercury reading of 96.4 degrees coming on the 29th. The lowest temperature in Thornton came on the 3rd at 45.4 degrees.
Precipitation for the month was above normal as DIA’s rain bucket recorded 2.43 inches. This was 0.87 inch above the normal of 1.56 inch and the second month in a row with above normal precipitation. In all, eight days had measurable precipitation and DIA reported thunderstorms on 10 days which is average.
One precipitation record was set during the month when 1.05 inches of rain was recorded on the 20th. This beat the old record for the date of 0.50 inch set in 1939.
We were quite a bit drier in Thornton as our precipitation for the month fell below the Denver normals. We recorded 1.14 inches for the month with the majority of that, 0.87 inch, falling on the 20th.
Denver’s snow season runs from July 1 to June 30 and with the end of the 2010 to 2011 season the numbers show just how poorly we faired in terms of snowfall. The Mile High City recorded a mere 22.8 inches of the white stuff at DIA. This is a whopping 38.9 inches below the normal of 61.5 inches. The season will go into the record books as the second least snowiest snow season since Denver began keeping records in 1882.
Here in Thornton we did not fare any better than Denver on the snowfall front. Our season wrapped up with a dismal 21.2 inches.
Denver, Colorado June 2011 Climate Summary
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
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 104 06/26/1994
LOW 30 06/02/1951
HIGHEST 96 06/29 104 -8 99 06/25
06/28
LOWEST 45 06/10 30 15 47 06/23
06/18
06/14
06/12
AVG. MAXIMUM 83.3 82.1 1.2 84.1
AVG. MINIMUM 53.0 53.0 0.0 53.6
MEAN 68.2 67.6 0.6 68.9
DAYS MAX >= 90 7 6.3 0.7 10
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.96 1882
MINIMUM T 1890
TOTALS 2.43 1.56 0.87 1.60
DAILY AVG. 0.08 0.05 0.03 0.05
DAYS >= .01 8 8.7 -0.7 5
DAYS >= .10 4 MM MM 3
DAYS >= .50 2 MM MM 2
DAYS >= 1.00 1 MM MM 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.55 06/19 TO 06/20 1.25 06/11 TO 06/12
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 0.4 1919
TOTALS 0.0 T
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 26 60 -34 38
SINCE 7/1 5707 6128 -421 6441
COOLING TOTAL 126 136 -10 163
SINCE 1/1 135 161 -26 179
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
.................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.4
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 3/148
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 48/190 DATE 06/29
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 72/200 DATE 06/29
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 7
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 21
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 2
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 45
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 3 RAIN 2
LIGHT RAIN 10 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 1
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 4 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 0
HAZE 6
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
Our normally widely varied weather settles into a somewhat standard pattern during the month of July. The mercury climbs each day in what is our hottest month and thunderstorms become very common during the afternoon and evening hours.
The average monthly high temperature for July is 88 degrees and can oftentimes get much higher than that. In fact, the record high temperature for all but seven days during the month are at or above 100 degrees.
Afternoon thunderstorms occur on average every three days during July. These events can be extreme and are known to bring heavy rains and damaging wind and hail.
Yesterday’s thunderstorms brought powerful winds and lightning to the Colorado Front Range and may have been part of the reason for a plane crash in Adams County. The small plane crashed in a field near Thornton killing its pilot.
The single-engine Cessna 182, owned by Jewel Aviation of Marshfield, Wisconsin, went down in a field near 124th Avenue and Quebec Street. The pilot is believed to have been killed instantly when the plane exploded on impact.
The flight had just taken off from Front Range Airport approximately 20 miles away from the crash site. Witnesses described seeing the plane struggling to stay airborne as it approached the field surrounded by residential homes.
Resident Catherine Von Axelson told 9News, “All of a sudden, this great big gust of wind hit. His wing just completely flipped up and he nosedived into the ground and the plane exploded.”
The crash reportedly occurred at 3:25pm. At that same time, ThorntonWeather.com reported gusts approaching 35 mph less than two miles from the crash site. The owner of the station said that the actual gusts were likely much higher but measurements from the wind instrument are inhibited by nearby trees.
Microbursts, powerful straight line winds, often accompany Colorado’s thunderstorms and present a particular hazard to aviation. Soon after the crash Denver International Airport halted takeoffs and landings and the facility reported a gust of 72mph.
The 156th Avenue Weather Station provides local weather conditions. Click the image for a larger view.
ThorntonWeather.com is billed as Thornton’s only truly local source for weather news, forecasts and information. One resident however pointed out a neighboring weather station that while more primitive, provides an alternative look at the weather.
The 156th Avenue Weather Station is located just off of 156th Ave and Colorado Boulevard in unincorporated Adams County surrounded by the City of Thornton. The station is provided by “Mr. Schafer” according to the accompanying sign.
Analog instruments for the time, wind and temperature provide the basics while a hanging rock gives more detailed weather conditions. Residents can easily determine the current weather by glancing at the rock.
If the Rock is Wet…….Raining
If the Rock is Warm……Sunny
If the Rock is Cold……Overcast
If the Rock is White…..Snowing
If the Rock is Swinging…..Windy
If the Rock is Bouncing…..Earthquake
If the Rock is Gone…….Weather Station Closed
We’re glad to see the 156th Avenue Weather Station join the local weather scene. Next time you want to know the current weather, you have an alternative to ThorntonWeather.com. 😉
Hat tip to Thornton resident Dana West for letting us know about the 156th Avenue weather station!
Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.
Thornton’s June 2011 weather was a relatively typical one with average temperatures but also with above normal precipitation. The month also signifies the official end of the 2010 to 2011 snow season which was absolutely dismal.
