Colorado Weather, Site News, Thornton Weather

The records keep coming & a new website feature

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Denver’s record of consecutive days with 90+ degrees continues as Saturday reached 103 degrees officially at DIA.  Here in Thornton we topped out at 98.6.  The temperature was quickly climbing and we were sure we were going to break 100 but early afternoon brought cloud cover to the Thronton area thus keeping us from reaching triple digits.

From the National Weather Service, four records were broken in the first two days of the month:

  • August 1st:   New record high:  104 degrees   Old record:  100 degrees last set in 1938
  • August 2nd:  New record high:  103 degrees   Old record:  100 degrees last set 130 years ago in 1878
  • August 2nd:  New record high minimum:  70 degrees   Old record  68 degrees  last set in 1938
  • August 2nd:  the consecutive 90 streak record continues with 21 consecutive days tallied.

Quite the start to the month! 

New website feature added today!  You can now view official National Weather Service “Local Storm Reports” directly on our website.  These reports are submitted by NWS personnel, trained spotters, law enforcement as well as other emergency responders.  They are a great way to see what is happening.  This new feature not only displays these reports for the metro area but also for all NWS offices across the country!  Special thanks to Curly at Michiana Weather for sharing the code that allows this to happen.

You can view the storm reports at any time by a new menu item added under the “Live Condtions” menu and the “Forecast” menu on the left.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Record streak official. Heat Advisory and possible record temps to come.

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Denver\'s Record Breaking Heat Wave ContinuesIt is official – we have broken Denver’s 107 year old record of consecutive days with over 90 degree temperatures.  Thursday marked day 19 in the streak, moving past the old record of 18 days set way back in 1901 and 1874. 

At the current time, it looks like the 90+ degree heat will continue until Wednesday at the earliestso the streak could number around 24 days or so by the time it is done.  Thornton’s forecast calls for 101 degrees Friday, 100 Saturday and 98 on Sunday so the weekend will be a hot one for sure.  This gives us the potential to break Denver’s all-time record for August 1st and 2nd of 100 degrees (set in 1938 and 1878 respectively).  Thankfully it doesn’t look like we will break the overall all-time Denver temperature record of 105 so you can consider that a bit of a silver lining.  🙂  Continue reading Record streak official. Heat Advisory and possible record temps to come. →

Thornton Weather

17 and still going – the heat wave continues

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17 days - the 90 degree streak continues.This is beginning to sound like a broken record – pun intended. 🙂 As for Tuesday our streak of consecutive 90 degree days hit 17, moving us into a tie for second place. Assuming today reaches 90 degrees or more – and it almost certainly will – we will then tie the record that has been set twice previously (in 1901 and 1874).

An end in sight? Not yet. High pressure continues to hold over the area and temperatures are most likely going to actually climb to near 100 on Friday and through the weekend. Beyond that it is hard to say but things aren’t looking good to cool down anytime soon.

Certainly this streak is significant but we haven’t reached records for “hottest summer” just yet. Thus far we have had 34 days this year of 90+ degree temperatures. The number 10 slot for most 90+ degree days in a summer is held by 1960 when there were 50 days. The most? 2000 when there were 61.

Click here to view the updated statistics about our current streak and historical streaks.

Thornton Weather

16 days with 90+ degrees, the record certain to be broken

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As on Monday, Denver has seen 16 consecutive days with 90 degrees or higher temperatures.  There was some hope the streak might be broken today but that quickly vaporized as we reached 95 degrees.

The current streak moves into a tie for fourth (with 2000).  The record of 18 days consecutive set in 1901 and 1874 is looking to be sure to be broken before the heat eases.  The next couple of days will see us remain in the mid 90’s and by Thursday and Friday we will be in the upper 90’s (possibly 100).  The weekend shows no relief with temps well into the 90’s as well.  At the current time it looks like we will thouroughly eclipse the 18 day record and there is no end in sight at this time.

Click here to view the updated statistics about our current streak and historical streaks.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

August Preview – Summer coming to an end

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August 2008 Weather PreviewAs summer vacations wind down and families prepare to send kids back to school in August, Colorado weather also starts to settle down.  The chances for severe weather decrease markedly during August and by the end of the month daytime temperatures are dropping quite a bit as well.  For more information on what to expect in August, click here to view our August 2008 Preview.

Editor’s note:  Somehow we forgot to post the July 2008 preview last month and we apologize for our error.  Should you wish to read it, it is posted here.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

12 days and counting – the 90 degree streak continues

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The 90 degree streak continues.As of today, Thursday, we are at 12 consecutive days with 90 plus degrees.  Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight although some coming days may drop just below the 90 degree mark.

Friday we can expect 91 degrees, Saturday 93, and Sunday 94.  Monday is currently looking to be around 90 so maybe the streak will end then – keep your fingers crossed! Continue reading 12 days and counting – the 90 degree streak continues →

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather, Weather Education

What are those zones?

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National Weather ServiceRecently we were asked what are the “zones” that the National Weather Service uses and what is their purpose. This is a very good question.

The National Weather Service in Boulder breaks down Colorado (and other states) into various zones for use when issuing forecasts, watches, warnings, etc. If you look at the text of these, you will see something like this:

SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1125 AM MDT MON JUL 07 2008

COZ040-041-043-045-071930-

Notice the part in bold. That tells you which zones are affected by the warning – in this case, the CO of course means Colorado.  The “Z” part tells you zones 40, 41, 43 and 45 are affected. So what zone do you live in? In general, if you are in the Denver metro area, you are in either zone 39 or zone 40. You can click here for a PDF map of all Colorado zones.

Thornton Weather, Weather History

Sentinel revisits 1981 Thornton tornado

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On June 3, 1981 a tornado struck Thornton in what is the worst twister to have struck the Denver metro area. Image courtesy the City of Thornton archives.

I always tell the story of me being in 6th grade at Hillcrest Elementary in Northglenn on June 3, 1981.  Sitting at our desks the principal comes over the intercom and announces that all students need to get under their desks.  I look outside and see that it is dark as night – at least it seemed to be to a scared 12 year old! 

Not long after, a tornado touched down a few miles away along Washington Street in Thornton destroying 25 homes and injuring 53 people. 

In a recent series on the history of Washington Street, the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel revisited that day and the damage the tornado caused.  It is fascinating reading whether you have lived here long enough to remember it or not. 

Click here to read the article (3MB PDF). 

Thornton Weather

The heat is on, the fire danger is high!

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As we head into the hot days of summer, the lack of moisture begins to drive the fire danger up. Tuesday we are expecting highs temperatures to reach 93 in the Denver metro area before a brief cool down begins but by Saturday those temps will be back up to the mid-90’s.

Much of the western slope once again finds itself under Red Flag Warnings. Frisco in Summit County and Guffey in Park County have recently battled small blazes. With the long holiday weekend approaching, lots of folks will be heading to the high country. More people means there is a greater chance for fire so everyone should be careful.

A grass fire burns near Wiggins, CO.Closer to the Front Range, while we are not currently under any fire related advisories, we are still very dry and the danger exists. Just yesterday a grass fire near Wiggins quickly blew up and consumed 2,500 acres and took six hours to contain.

Please be aware of the danger and leave the fireworks to the pros! Remember that fireworks are illegal in Thornton and can get you a $1,000 fine if you are caught using them.

Thornton Weather

Back from vacation and storms on the plains!

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The storm approaches!Your intrepid Weather Examiner is back from vacation, relaxed, tanned and ready for summer!  What makes a good vacation for a weather geek?  Severe storms of course and I saw a doosy while in northeastern Colorado last week. 

Weatherwise my vacation started out pretty boring with mild days, cool nights and I suppose what most people would consider beautiful weather.  Last Friday started out much the same as the week with a calm, beautiful day on the eastern plains of Colorado but it is after all severe weather season and the chances of something brewing over a week are pretty good. 

By the mid-afternoon, more clouds started to roll in and by late afternoon, I was watching a storm cell with great potential develop to the northwest of me.  Soon the weather radio was beeping warning of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch being issued for my location and that was upgraded to a Warning before too long. 

Now we\'re talking! Getting dark at 5:00 in the afternoon!Soon those clouds started to darken and spots of green were showing – sure signs of something major brewing.  A band of rain was clearly visible and moving our way.  A quick check of the weather radar software on my laptop showed great potential with the cloud tops exploding over 30,000 feet above.  Before long the rain started mixed with a touch of pea sized hail.  That rain got pretty heavy and the wind was getting pretty vicious.

Even a junior weather forecaster can tell there is trouble on the radar!Being in an RV in severe weather is not always the wisest place but I was pretty confident we were okay although we did have a plan to escape to more secure shelter about 75 yards away. After dumping a good inch of rain in less than 20 minutes the storm passes. However, that same storm cell did spawn a tornado 10 miles to the southeast after it passed me. Even more notably, the cell was so powerful, it continued churning out severe weather for an additional 90+ miles before disappating!  
 
After the storm - a beauful sunset on the plains.In the end, having the one day of severe weather while on vacation made it pretty danged fun!  The desire to chase the storm cell was strong but my better half would probably not have approved me leaving the family behind at that point.  🙂

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