With the start of the month of October upon us it appears Mother Nature is set to deliver a healthy dose of fall weather conditions. Not only do short term forecasts indicate cooler temperatures and even a chance for snow, long range forecasts indicate the potential for an extended period of cooler weather. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com.
With the first full month of fall here, October usually brings one of the quietest weather months in the Denver area with plenty of mild, sunny days and clear, cool nights.
October is historically the second sunniest month and conditions are generally calm. However we also will usually see our first taste of winter during the month with the first freeze and first snowfall of the season. Temperatures as well will start to drop and by the end of the month the average nighttime lows are below freezing.
For complete details on our historical October weather and what we can expect in the coming month, read our complete October weather preview here.
Our look back at this week in Denver weather history shows what has historically been a relatively quiet week. However that isn’t to say there aren’t events of note including days with severe thunderstorms, including one date that brought multiple tornadoes.
Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to check out video of one of the tornadoes that struck near Brighton on October 4, 2004.
From the National Weather Service:
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In 1898…south winds were sustained to 41 mph with gusts to 54 mph.
In 1940…a late season thunderstorm in the city caused one lightning death.
In 1944…the month ended with a trace of rain on this date and for the month. A trace of rain also occurred on the 4th…9th…and 10th. There was no measurable precipitation for the month. The total of a trace of precipitation for the month equaled the driest September on record first set in 1892.
In 2009…a trained spotter in Coal Creek Canyon…recorded a peak wind gust to 88 mph.
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In 1959…heavy snowfall totaled 5.9 inches at Stapleton Airport. Winds were light.
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In 1892…the highest temperature ever recorded in October… 90 degrees…occurred. This is also the latest 90 degree reading of the season.
In 1898…southwest winds were sustained to 40 mph with gusts to 49 mph in the city.
In 1927…a trace of snow was the only snow of the month… Ranking the year…amongst several other years…the second least snowiest on record.
In 1971…a wind gust to 90 mph was recorded at Buckley Field in Aurora. The severe winds caused damage in northeast metro Denver. A brick wall of a bowling alley was blown down…the roof was blown off a garage…and some business signs were damaged. A man in the bowling alley was injured by flying glass. Northwest winds gusted to 43 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1994…unusually strong thunderstorms for so late in the season pummeled metro Denver with large hail. The largest hail…2 inches in diameter…fell at Buckley Field. Hail 1 3/4 inches in diameter fell 7 miles northeast of Boulder and at Niwot. Hail 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter fell in Boulder…Arvada…wheat Ridge…Edgewater…capitol hill and northwest Denver…Bennett…and Strasburg. Hail of unknown size damaged a Boeing 737 aircraft and injured both pilots at Stapleton International Airport when the windshield was broken out on takeoff. Half inch diameter hail fell at Stapleton International Airport where northwest winds gusted to 40 mph and rainfall totaled 0.82 inch.
In 2009…strong downslope winds near the foothills produced a peak wind gust to 84 mph at the national wind technology center near Rocky Flats.
Continue reading September 30 to October 6 – This Week in Denver Weather History
September weather in Colorado is typically tranquil and one of the more pleasant months in the state. This week however that wasn’t the case, especially yesterday when severe thunderstorms rumbled across the parts of the state.
Tuesday and Wednesday brought heavy rains to parts of the northern Front Range. The precipitation was welcomed as it provided much-needed relief from the recently dry conditions.
Yesterday in Colorado Springs and La Junta thunderstorms brought hail that accumulated up to 6 inches deep. Mother Nature however held more surprises as she brought tornadoes to other parts of the state.
Three tornadoes were reported in northeastern Colorado – one each in Adams, Douglas, and Weld counties. None of the three caused any damage.
A fourth twister however occurred in southern Colorado near Del Norte in Rio Grande County northwest of Alamosa. Local resident Julie Sauvigne captured amazing video of the tornado as it ripped through her property causing EF0 level damage to her home.
Watch the video below. Notice how the visible funnel is almost directly above Sauvigne while the circulation on the ground was occurring in a field nearly a mile away!
Last week the ice in the Arctic reached its seasonal lowest point with a measurement that made it the lowest since 1979. Today NASA’s Earth Observatory released new imagery showing how the record low mark compares to average levels. Check out the imagery and read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
As Colorado tries to dig itself out of a precipitation deficit for the year, thunderstorms in recent days brought much needed relief. The rain helped to push September into the record books but also caused flooding as well as lightning that injured a Denver man. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
An arguably botched call by replacement referees during Monday night’s football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks is now being parodied by a Titletown television station. The ‘replacement weather guy’ made an appearance during NBC26’s Tuesday morning news taking a jab at the NFL. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com and watch the hilarious video.
In an effort to keep up with new technology and improve warnings to residents, the city of Denver began a much-needed upgrade of its outdoor warning sirens yesterday. The system will feature improved reliability and the ability to target warnings. Read about Denver’s new system on Examiner.com.
What about Thornton? The city that was the site of the most destructive tornado ever in the Denver metro area doesn’t have sirens. The city did however implement an email warning system this past spring – click here to read more.
While the start of 2012 saw a number of deadly tornado outbreaks that seemed to portend a disastrous year to come, the number of tornadoes recorded since then has fallen to record low levels. Data from the Storm Prediction Center today shows the tornado count for the year is 400 twisters below average. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
While typically the last week of September is calm, that isn’t always the case. In our look back at this week in Denver weather history we see damaging wind, dangerous lightning and September’s biggest snowfall on record in the Mile High City.
From the National Weather Service:
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In 1873…north to northwest winds blowing almost a gale spread clouds of dust and sand into the city during the afternoon and evening. From the roof of the weather observer’s building…houses a few hundred yards away were not visible and not even the sky could be seen through the clouds of sand. The wind reached sustained speeds of 35 mph…but only 28 mph was registered for any one hour.
In 1977…wind gusts from 50 to 80 mph were reported along the foothills. A northwest wind gust to 53 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
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In 2000…the first snowstorm of the season brought heavy snow to areas in and near the foothills. While the heaviest snow fell north of metro Denver…6 inches were measured in Boulder…4 inches at both Castle Rock and Morrison…but only 0.2 inch at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport where most of the precipitation fell as rain. At Denver International Airport where drizzle and rain fell on the 23rd… Snowfall during the early morning of the 24th was estimated at 2.1 inches due to melting. The foothills west of Denver received more snow with 10 inches measured at conifer…9 inches 11 miles southwest of Morrison… 8 inches atop Crow Hill…7 inches at Chief Hosa…and 5 inches at Ralston Reservoir.
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In 1901…northwest winds were sustained to 50 mph with gusts as high as 57 mph in the city.
In 1932…thunderstorm rainfall of only 0.11 inch was the only measurable precipitation for the month that year in the city.
In 1986…a very strong wind storm roared across metro Denver. Boulder was hit hardest. Winds peaked to 131 mph at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This is thought to be the highest wind gust ever recorded in Boulder during September. A wind gust to 118 mph was clocked on Davidson Mesa and to 92 mph near Niwot. Gusts of 70 to 80 mph were common over all of Boulder where an estimated 70 to 90 large trees were uprooted. About a dozen of them hit cars. Two walls of a building under construction were toppled and solar panels were blown off a house. Traffic lights and power lines were downed. Damage to power equipment alone was estimated at 100 thousand dollars. Wind gusts to 87 mph at Jefferson County Airport damaged two planes. A woman was seriously injured in Boulder. She suffered a fractured skull when struck by a falling tree limb. Trees were also downed in Louisville and Lafayette. West wind gusts to 45 mph were recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
Continue reading September 23 to September 29 – This Week in Denver Weather History