Closing out June and entering July our look back at this week in Denver weather history is marked by severe weather and scorching heat.  Damaging hail to dangerous lightning are two common occurrences as is record-setting heat waves.

From the National Weather Service:

21-3 

In 2002…the maximum temperature in Denver equaled or exceeded 90 degrees for 13 consecutive days…equaling the 5th longest such streak on record.  The record of 18 consecutive days was set during the summer of 1901.

26-27

In 1965…wind gusts to 38 mph were recorded in downtown Boulder…causing widespread minor damage.  A microburst wind gust to 41 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.

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In 1873…Pikes Peak was hidden from view by smoke from forest fires in the mountains to the southwest of the city.
 
In 1927…the temperature cooled to a low of only 72 degrees… The all-time record high minimum for the month.
 
In 1980…lightning injured 4 people on a baseball diamond in Broomfield.  The bolt seriously injured the pitcher while also striking (out) the batter…catcher and second baseman.
 
In 1987…a microburst wind gust to 53 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1990…the temperature reached a high of 102 degrees… Setting a new record maximum for the date.
 
In 1993…thunderstorm winds gusted to 60 mph across parts of metro Denver.  A wind gust to 50 mph blew over a 30-foot canvas tent at an amusement park southeast of Denver. Fifteen people…mostly children…were injured.  Microburst wind gusts to 33 mph were recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 2002…heavy rain…up to 3/4 inch…fell across sections of the Hayman burn area near Cheeseman Reservoir.  Several forest service roads were washed out and many culverts were plugged by debris.
 
In 2004…heavy rain producing thunderstorms caused rock and mud slides across the overland fire burn area in Jamestown. An estimated 50 tons of sand…dirt…rock…and ash slid into town…filling a culvert under main street.  The slide covered 150 to 225 feet of Main Street.  The flood was produced by half an inch of rain in 30 minutes.  A deluge of very heavy rainfall from nearly stationary thunderstorms caused flooding and flash flooding problems over parts of Jefferson and Douglas counties.  An automated rain gage in Golden measured 3.60 inches of rainfall in one hour.  Numerous homes were flooded in Golden…including one that was 146 years old. The home was listed as a complete loss.  State Highway 93 had to be closed from the Pine Ridge subdivision to the Golden Gate Canyon Road.   At the height of the storm…about 4 feet of water covered State Highway 93 through Golden… Forcing its temporary closure.  Several intersections were also flooded and impassable.  Rock and mud slides were reported in Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  At the Deer Creek Golf Course at Colorado 470 and Kipling…the greens were completely inundated by floodwaters.  Some backyards near the golf course were partially washed out.  In Douglas County…water up to a foot deep covered the roadways in Roxborough State Park.  The Waterton Canyon Road also had to be closed due to high water.

Continue reading June 27 to July 3 – This week in Denver weather history →

Late June weather is usually relatively calm but when it turns severe, it can do so in spades.  Hail, flooding rains, tornadoes and more are not unusual.  This week in Denver weather history we see plenty of each of those including a hail storm in 1993 that damaged dozens of planes at Denver International Airport. 

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In 1875…smoke from several large forest fires in the mountains was visible from the city on each of these days.

20

In 1888…northwest winds were sustained to 44 mph.
 
In 1956…a microburst caused a brief wind gust to 58 mph at Stapleton Airport.
 
In 1964…hail up to 1 inch in diameter was reported 1 mile north of Stapleton International Airport.  A 3 minute hail storm at both Stapleton International Airport and Lowry Field piled small hail to one half inch deep.
 
In 1967…a strong thunderstorm dumped 1.95 inches of rain in less than an hour at Stapleton International Airport and produced a wind gust to 54 mph.  The storm caused some flooding in east Denver and Aurora.  There was widespread flooding to streets…basements…and store buildings and automobiles.  Hail stones to 3/4 inch in diameter were measured at Buckley Field in Aurora.  A tornado touched down just south of Littleton…damaging a barn and killing several head of cattle.
 
In 1985…a wind gust to 61 mph was reported at Golden Gate Canyon in the foothills west of Denver.
 
In 1986…a man was killed by lightning at Highlands Ranch south of Denver.
 
In 1987…several tornadoes were sighted across metro Denver.  A tornado touched down briefly 5 miles west of Parker.  A tornado was sighted just north of Chatfield Reservoir.  A tornado just northwest of Watkins was on the ground for 15 minutes.  A tornado near Barr Lake was taped by a television news crew.  It had a double vortex and was on the ground for about 10 minutes.  In addition to the 4 tornadoes…severe thunderstorms dumped large hail across metro Denver.  One inch hail was reported in southeast Aurora; 3/4 inch hail fell at the Denver technology center…Buckley Field…and Franktown.
 
In 1992…several short-lived tornadoes occurred in the vicinity of Barr Lake.  No injuries or damages were reported.  A water spout was sighted over the southern end of Barr Lake.  Funnel clouds were also sighted on the grounds of the rocky mountain arsenal by national weather service observers at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1994…hail up to dime size covered I-25 south of Denver and near Sedalia.  Heavy rain caused local flooding on the interstate highway.
 
In 1996…strong thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs in Boulder on the University of Colorado campus.  A stop light in the city was also blown down.
 
In 1999…lightning sparked an oil tank fire near Brighton.
 
In 2001…large hail driven by strong thunderstorm winds raked Denver international and Front Range airports.  Wind gusting to 54 mph along with hail as large 2 inches in diameter punched at least 14 thousand holes and cracks in the flat roofs of several buildings at Denver International Airport. In addition…93 planes and hundreds of cars were damaged. About 100 flights had to be cancelled…stranding 1500 travelers.  The airport was completely shut down for about 20 minutes.  The storm also damaged a ground avoidance radar used to track planes on the ground to prevent collisions. Damage was estimated at 10 million dollars…not counting the damage to the 93 airliners.  The storm moved south and struck Watkins with hail as large as 2 1/2 inches in diameter and winds gusting to 60 mph.  A least 30 private planes at Front Range airport were destroyed.  The radome protecting the national weather service doppler radar…which was tracking the storm…also sustained damage.  The large hail…damaging winds…and heavy rain pummeled a mobile home park near Watkins.  In the park…52 mobile homes…14 recreational vehicles…3 homes…and a commercial building were damaged.  Siding was riddled with holes and windows were broken.  Vehicles sustained extensive damage and car windows were shattered.  A handful of people were treated for minor cuts and bruises.  The strong winds also flipped a tractor trailer along I-70 near Watkins.  The storm caused power outages…which affected about 1200 residents. Excluding the damage at Denver International Airport…damage estimates totaled 49 million dollars…making the storm the costliest in the last 3 years and the 10th costliest since 1984.  A small tornado touched down just east of Brighton… But did no damage.  Hail as large as 2 inches in diameter fell near Fort Lupton with 3/4 inch hail measured in Bennett.  Precipitation from the storm totaled only 0.23 inch at Denver International Airport.
 
Continue reading June 20 to June 26 – This week in Denver weather history →

June typically is a very eventful weather month and looking back at this week in Denver weather history that is clearly seen.  Among the more noteworthy items are the 2002 Hayman Fire, a 1965 flood that damaged dozens of bridges in the Denver area and the infamous tornadoes in 1988 that struck near downtown Denver. 

11-14

In 1999…damage from several hailstorms in and near metro Denver totaled 35 million dollars.  About 17.5 million dollars was from automobile claims with another 17.5 million in homeowner claims.  The areas hardest hit by the storms included Castle Rock…Commerce City…Evergreen… And Golden.

12-17

In 2000…two large wildfires developed in the Front Range foothills as careless campers and very dry conditions proved to be a dangerous combination.  Strong winds gusting in excess of 60 mph on the 13th fanned the flames… Spreading both wildfires out of control.  Winds gusted to 78 mph atop Niwot Ridge near the Continental Divide west of Boulder.  The hi meadows wildfire…about 35 miles southwest of Denver…consumed nearly 11 thousand acres and 80 structures…mostly high priced homes.  The bobcat wildfire…located about 12 miles southwest of Fort Collins… Consumed nearly 11 thousand acres and 22 structures.  Late on the 16th…a strong cold front moved south over the great plains into northeastern Colorado.  Low level upslope conditions developed in the wake of the front…producing 2 to 4 inches of snowfall overnight at elevations above 8 thousand feet.  Firefighters were able to contain both fires shortly thereafter.

13

In 1956…a microburst caused a brief wind gust to 59 mph at Stapleton Airport.
 
In 1957…an unconfirmed tornado appeared to touch the ground in the vicinity of Franktown.  No damage was reported from the twister.
 
In 1968…a violent gust of wind…possibly associated with a thunderstorm…caused 75 hundred dollars damage in Boulder.
 
In 1973…hail…1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter…fell over Lakewood.  Flash flooding occurred in west Denver from the same storm.
 
In 1974…a thunderstorm wind gust to 64 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1977…hail the size of table tennis balls…1 1/2 inches in diameter…was reported in Boulder.
 
In 1981…large hail to golf ball size fell in Denver… Northglenn…and Brighton.  Hail as large as baseballs was reported in Federal Heights.
 
In 1984…one of the worst hailstorms ever experienced in metro Denver struck the northwestern suburbs of Arvada…Wheat Ridge…and Lakewood…but large hail also fell in Golden… Southeast Denver…and Aurora.  Homes and other buildings sustained around 200 million dollars in damage.  Thousands of cars were battered by giant hailstones…and total damage to vehicles was estimated at 150 million dollars.  In some areas…golf ball size hail fell continuously for 30 to 40 minutes.  Some places were pelted with a few stones as large as grapefruits!  Roofs on thousands of structures were severely damaged.  Uncounted car windshields were broken; two-thirds of Arvada’s police cars were rendered inoperable.  Torrential rains…with as much as 4.75 inches in Lakewood clogged drains and caused widespread damage from flooding.  In some places hail was washed into drifts several feet deep.  About 20 people were injured by the giant hailstones.  One couple was hospitalized.  A woman drowned when she was trapped under a trailer by high water. Only pea size hail fell at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1988…2 inch hail fell in Parker.  Soft hail 1 inch in diameter fell at the mouth of turkey creek canyon 5 miles southeast of Morrison.  Hail between 1 inch and 1 3/4 inches fell at both Bennett and Strasburg.  A tornado touched down briefly at Strasburg.  A brief funnel cloud was sighted by national weather service observers 15 miles southwest of Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1991…a Boulder man was injured when struck by lightning while in a tent.  He received only minor burns.
 
In 1997…lightning struck a home in Denver.  The extent of the damage was unknown.  A home in Littleton was also struck.  The house caught fire…but the extent of the damage was not known.
 
In 1998…a strong mountain wave produced a brief period of high winds along the Front Range.  A small building atop squaw pass west of Denver was blown down.  Tree limbs were downed across metro Denver.  Peak wind gusts included:  80 mph on squaw pass…69 mph at Jefferson County Airport near Broomfield…and 60 mph in Westminster and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.  West-northwest winds gusted to 51 mph at Denver International Airport.
 
In 2001…high winds developed briefly in Boulder County. A peak wind gust to 76 mph was recorded at the National Center for Atmospheric Research atop the mesa in Boulder. A wind gust to 72 mph was recorded at southern hills middle school in Boulder.  Lightning started a small fire…which damaged the roof of a house in Greenwood Village.
 
In 2009…severe thunderstorms produced hail up to one inch in diameter near Arvada and byers…as well as 7 miles north-northwest of Front Range airport near watkins.

Continue reading June 13 to June 19 – This week in Denver weather history →