Big wind, big snow, a heat wave and Arctic cold all highlight our look back at this week in Denver weather history.

From the National Weather Service:

2-17

IN 1939…MORE THAN 2 WEEKS OF UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER MADE THE MONTH THE 3RD WARMEST ON RECORD.  SEVEN DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET…INCLUDING THE ALL TIME RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF 79 DEGREES ON THE 5TH.  DAYTIME HIGHS WERE BALMY WITH 14 DAYS IN THE 60`S AND 70`S.  LOW TEMPERATURES DIPPED TO FREEZING OR BELOW ON ONLY 5 DAYS.  THE PERIOD WAS DRY WITH ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW ON THE 12TH.

3-15

IN 1972…A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL HELD AN ICY GRIP ON METRO DENVER WHEN MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES NEVER REACHED ABOVE FREEZING FOR 10 CONSECUTIVE DAYS FROM THE 3RD THROUGH THE 12TH AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES DIPPED BELOW ZERO ON ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE DAYS FROM THE 5TH THROUGH THE 15TH. DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET WITH 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 5TH…17 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 6TH… AND 18 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 10TH.  DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM READINGS WERE SET WITH 3 DEGREES ON THE 6TH AND 6 DEGREES ON THE 9TH.  THE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES WERE CAUSED BY 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW COVER AND A CANADIAN AIR MASS.

5-7

IN 1978…A MAJOR STORM DUMPED HEAVY SNOW ACROSS METRO DENVER. AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…SNOWFALL TOTALED 8.5 INCHES…NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTED TO 46 MPH…AND TEMPERATURES PLUNGED FROM A HIGH OF 49 DEGREES ON THE 5TH TO A LOW OF ONLY 6 DEGREES ON THE 6TH.  MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 6 DEGREES ON THE 7TH WAS A NEW DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM READING.  MOST OF THE SNOW…6.7 INCHES…FELL ON THE 5TH.

Continue reading December 7 – 13 – This week in Denver weather history →