With wildfires scorching hundreds of thousands of acres across the western United States, the Air Force announced that it would be deploying more of its aircraft in support of the battle against the blazes. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
Colorado’s deadly and dangerous fire season continues to worsen as a new fire burning west of Colorado Springs rages out of control. The Waldo Canyon Fire has grown to more than 2,000 acres in less than 24 hours and forced the evacuation of the entire town of Manitou Springs.
This year the weather in June has been most notable for its heat. That however is far less common than severe weather conditions with lightning, tornadoes and hail. All of these we see in our look back at this week in Denver weather history.
From the National Weather Service:
24
In 1873…there was a great deal of smoke from a fire in the mountains to the southwest of the city during the late afternoon.
In 1875…smoke from forest fires in the mountains to the southwest could plainly be seen from the city.
In 1958…a strong cold front produced a north wind gust to 55 mph at Stapleton Airport where blowing dust briefly reduced the visibility to 1 mile.
In 1982…one inch diameter hail pelted west Denver. A half inch of rain drenched the suburb of Englewood in 10 minutes. Hail piled up to 5 inches deep…snarling rush hour traffic and damaging some stores in a shopping center when the roof started leaking.
In 1988…lightning destroyed the chimney of a house near Evergreen. Another bolt demolished a radio transmitter in the area.
In 1989…golf ball size hail cut a swath 2 1/2 miles wide through open country 14 miles southwest of Bennett. The storm also dropped 1.75 inches of rain on the area. Hail to 3/4 inch in diameter damaged the car of a storm chaser just south of Bennett.
In 1996…a funnel cloud was sighted near Hudson where hail up to 1 3/4 inch diameter fell. Lightning struck a home in Littleton…which sparked a small fire on the roof. Thunderstorm wind gusts to 64 mph were recorded in Castle Rock.
In 2005…severe thunderstorms produced large hail across metro Denver. Hail as large as 1 inch in diameter fell near Castle Rock and Thornton. Hail to 3/4 inch was measured near Northglenn and Fort Lupton.
In 2006…severe thunderstorms raked metro Denver. Hail as large as 2 1/2 inches in diameter shattered automobile windshields in and near Boulder. Hail to 1 3/4 inches pounded areas in and near Lakewood and Morrison. Hail to 1 inch was measured in Wheat Ridge along with 7/8 inch hail in Arvada. Severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated to 69 mph snapped power lines for a distance of one quarter mile near Castle Rock. Severe thunderstorm winds were measured to 60 mph in Sedalia. Hail as large as 1 inch in diameter fell near Evergreen and Castle Rock. Hail to 3/4 inch in diameter was reported in Louviers and near Conifer.
25
In 1873…forest fires produced a great deal of smoke in the mountains to the southwest of the city.
In 1958…an unusually cold day for summer set two temperature records for the date. Under cloudy skies with occasional drizzle…a record low maximum temperature of 55 degrees was established along with a record minimum temperature of 42 degrees.
In 1959…a waitress…working at a kitchen sink…was injured by a bolt of lightning…which struck the rear of a tavern in Denver. She was hospitalized.
In 1971…a tornado touched down briefly at a high school football field in Brighton…but caused no damage.
In 1981…3/4 inch hail pelted wheat ridge and hail to 1 1/4 inches fell in Louisville. A brief funnel cloud was sighted by national weather service personnel 4 miles east of Stapleton International Airport.
In 1982…a bolt of lightning struck a cabin in the foothills west of Denver. The resulting fire totally destroyed the cabin.
In 1987…golf ball size hail fell near Bennett.
In 1988…a tornado touched down 1 mile south of Watkins and was on the ground for 4 minutes. Another tornado was spotted just southeast of Barr Lake and was on the ground for 5 minutes. No damage was reported from either tornado. Lightning struck two rock climbers near Eldorado Springs. A 25-year-old man was killed…and a 21-year-old man suffered extensive injuries. Thunderstorm winds knocked over two elm trees near downtown Denver. One fell on a house destroying most of it. A nearby building was unroofed…and two cars were damaged. A truck that had been severely damaged by one of the Denver tornadoes 10 days before was hit again. Thunderstorm wind gusts to 51 mph were recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1991…the temperature reached a high of 100 degrees… Setting a new record for the date.
In 1997…one inch diameter hail fell in Arvada and 1 1/2 inch hail in Boulder. Hail as large as 3/4 inches fell in Denver…Louisville…Westminster…and near Broomfield.
In 1999…thunderstorm winds gusted to 58 mph near Fort Lupton toppling an oil rig. A 37-year-old man was killed when he fell 55 feet from the derrick of the rig.
In 2001…four golfers and one construction worker received minor injuries from a nearby lightning strike on the Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield.
In 2002…hail to 1 inch in diameter was measured in greenwood village.
In 2005…hail to 3/4 inch in diameter fell near Bennett and Roggen. A thunderstorm wind gust to 61 mph was recorded near Golden.
In 2009…lightning struck the Darlington prismatic electric fountain in City Park’s lake. The damage was estimated to be approximately $25000.
In 2010…wind gusts associated with a dry microburst downed several trees in the vicinity of 14th and federal…and near Bayaud St. and Clarkson St. in Denver. At Denver International Airport…a peak wind gust to 45 mph was observed from the southwest.
Continue reading June 24 to June 30 – This Week in Denver Weather History
Saturday brought another extraordinarily hot day across northeastern Colorado.
In Denver the mercury climbed to 104° at 4:57pm. This broke the record high temperature for June 23rd of 102° set back in 1954.
This also ties the mark for the warmest temperature ever recorded in Denver during the month of June. The only other time 104° was also recorded was on June 26, 1994.
Here in Thornton we reached 102.2° at 4:09pm. This is the highest temperature recorded by ThorntonWeather.com since we came online in October 2006. Our previous highest temperature was 101.6° on July 17, 2010.
The heat wave continues the record-setting heat we have seen this month in the Mile High City. High temperature records have been set on June 4, June 17, June 18, June 22 and now June 23.
A record-setting day in the Mile High City. At 2:57pm today the temperature at DIA climbed to 100 degrees thus breaking the record high for the date. The old record was 99 degrees last set in 1990.
Also, the date will go down in history as having had the record high minimum as the mercury dipped to only 69 degrees at 5:38am. That handily beat the previous record of 66 degrees set in 1940.
Here in Thornton we weren’t quite as warm. Our high temperature topped out at 97.5 degrees at 4:23pm. On the other end, our morning low was considerably cooler as we dropped to 60.3 degrees at 6:08am.
The National Weather Service also points out some interesting information about today’s heat:
“Although official records are not recorded for an average daily temperature…a few interesting statistics have been found for today’s excessive warmth. Today’s average daily temperature was a very warm 84.5 degrees. When we look at the average daily temperatures for this date in history…today was by far the warmest for June 18th. The old warmest average daily high temperature for June 18th was 81.5 degrees set back in 1936.”
“The average daily temperature of 84.5 degrees also ties with June 24th, 1954 as the 2nd warmest daily average ever for the month of June in Denver.
“The warmest daily average temperature for the month of June is 85.5 degrees and it occurred on June 27th, 1990.”
A record breaking Sunday in Denver as the mercury topped out at 98 degrees at 4:25pm. This breaks the high temperature record for the date of 97 degrees set in 2007.
Here in Thornton we were slightly cooler with the high reaching 97.1 degrees at 3:20pm.
More record-setting heat is forecast for Monday as the mercury is expected to soar to 100 degrees. The record for June 18 is 99 degrees set in 1990 and could very well tumble. Get the latest forecast here: http://www.thorntonweather.com/forecast.php
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper today issued an executive order banning all open burning and the use of personal fireworks across the state. As the High Park Fire shows, conditions are tinder dry and while lightning was the cause of that blaze, man is often to blame for wildfires as well.
“We can’t completely eliminate the threat of wildfire because there’s no way to control Mother Nature,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “But we can take steps to reduce the risks of more wildfires starting. This ban is a necessary step to help protect people, property and the beautiful state we live in.”
The ban will put a damper on 4th of July fireworks festivities but is a necessary step to protect life and property. For campers, there will be limitations in unimproved locations but fires in permanent pits within developed campgrounds will still be allowed as long as the local authority allows it.
You can read Gov. Hickenloopers statement here and the full text of the executive order here.
The High Park Fire now ranks as the third largest blaze in Colorado history. In 96 short hours the blaze grew to encompass an area more than 72 square miles and is now only 10% contained and still growing.
Related fire links:
Wildfires are a fact of life in the west burning hundreds of thousands of acres each year causing millions of dollars of damage and oftentimes claiming lives. With nearly half of the state’s land area comprising forest, Colorado…
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Now at 14,000 acres, the High Park Fire continues to grow unabated. Winds had shifted overnight sending the smoke over the metro area and Thornton but this afternoon they moved to the east. Satellite imagery, shown in the video below, clearly shows the smoke plume stretching through Colorado into Wyoming and Nebraska and starting to impact South Dakota.
Be sure to check out our Wildland Fire Activity and News page for the latest.
