Tag Archives: historical weather

January 11 to January 17 – This week in Denver weather history

January 11, 2009 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

January 11 to January 17 - This week in Denver weather history

Damaging wind storms and arctic cold dominate our look back at this week in Denver weather history.

From the 10th to the 11th:

IN 1948…STRONG WINDS WERE REPORTED IN BOULDER AND LAKEWOOD. WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH WERE REPORTED AT VALMONT…JUST EAST OF BOULDER. ONLY MINOR DAMAGE WAS REPORTED.

IN 1980…STRONG WINDS OF 60 TO 95 MPH HOWLED ACROSS METRO DENVER…CAUSING SOME BRIEF POWER OUTAGES AND SOME BROKEN WINDOWS. A WIND GUST TO 111 MPH WAS RECORDED AT WONDERVU. NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO 40 MPH AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 10TH.

IN 1999…HIGH WINDS GUSTING TO 100 MPH BLASTED THE FOOTHILLS. PEAK WIND GUSTS INCLUDED: 100 MPH AT CENTRAL CITY…98 MPH AT WONDERVU…82 MPH AT ASPEN SPRINGS AND GOLDEN GATE CANYON… 81 MPH AT THE NCAR MESA LAB IN BOULDER AND NEAR NEDERLAND… 78 MPH ATOP BLUE MOUNTAIN NEAR COAL CREEK CANYON…AND 72 MPH AT THE ROCKY FLATS ENVIRONMENTAL TEST FACILITY. WEST WINDS GUSTED TO 38 MPH AND WARMED THE TEMPERATURE TO A HIGH OF 63 DEGREES AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 11TH.

From the 10th to the 12th:

IN 1997…HEAVY SNOW FELL OVER THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. A FOOT OF NEW SNOW WAS MEASURED AT BLACKHAWK WITH 7 INCHES RECORDED IN COAL CREEK CANYON. ONLY 3.3 INCHES OF SNOW FELL AT THE SITE OF THE FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. EAST-NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTED TO 18 MPH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 11TH.

Continue reading January 11 to January 17 – This week in Denver weather history →

January 4 to January 10 – This week in Denver weather history

January 4, 2009 Thornton Weather 1 Comment

January 4th to the 10th - This week in Denver weather history.

High winds and arctic cold, the two primary weather conditions we expect to see this time of year, dominate our look back at this week in Denver weather history.

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IN 1973…THE 31ST MARKED THE START OF A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL THAT EXTENDED INTO JANUARY OF 1974 WHEN TEMPERATURES DIPPED BELOW ZERO ON 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. RECORD DAILY MINIMUM READINGS OCCURRED ON THE 3RD AND 5TH WHEN THE TEMPERATURE PLUNGED TO 17 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON BOTH DAYS. A RECORD LOW DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 4 DEGREES OCCURRED ON THE 5TH.

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IN 1941…A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL THROUGH JANUARY 7…1942… PRODUCED BELOW ZERO LOW TEMPERATURES ON 7 OF THE 8 DAYS. A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 2 DEGREES ON THE 3RD PREVENTED A STRING OF 8 DAYS BELOW ZERO. THE COLDEST DAYS DURING THE PERIOD WERE THE 1ST WITH A HIGH OF 2 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 9 DEGREES BELOW ZERO…THE 4TH WITH A HIGH OF 2 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 11 DEGREES BELOW ZERO…AND THE 5TH WITH A HIGH OF 26 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 12 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.

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IN 1940…THE FIRST DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE CHARACTERIZED BY A MIXTURE OF DRIZZLE…LIGHT SNOW…AND FOG. FOG OCCURRED ON EACH DAY. ON THE 4TH AND 5TH CONSIDERABLE GLAZING RESULTED FROM FREEZING DRIZZLE. ALL OBJECTS WERE COATED WITH A GLAZE ON THE WINDWARD SIDE. THIS RESULTED IN VERY SLIPPERY STREETS…WHICH CAUSED SEVERAL MINOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS. THE GLAZE WAS NOT HEAVY ENOUGH TO DAMAGE WIRES AND CABLES.

Continue reading January 4 to January 10 – This week in Denver weather history →

Climatology, Thornton Weather

Snow on Halloween more fact than fiction

October 30, 2008 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

Snow on Halloween? Popular belief is that we seem to have a lot of snow when the trick or treaters are out on the street.

Conventional wisdom in the Denver area is that it always seems to rain or snow on Halloween. I know as a kid it seemed like Mother Nature always put a damper on our trick or treating.

But, is there any truth to this urban legend? Or is this just one of those times where our memory doesn’t serve us quite right?

This year it certainly looks like we have nothing to worry about but the National Weather Service has been kind enough to compile weather statistics just for Halloween. As it turns out, the thought of snow and rain on Octboer 31st isn’t just in our minds!

Click here to read all about Halloween and Denver’s historical chances of snow.

Colorado Weather, Weather History

This week in Denver weather history – October 5th to October 11th

October 5, 2008 Thornton Weather 1 Comment

In our weekly look back at Denver weather history, we see a wide range of weather has occurred in the past. From thunderstorms to rain to big time snowstorms, we can and have seen it all.

3-5   IN 1984…THE REMNANTS OF PACIFIC HURRICANE POLO PRODUCED
        HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHEASTERN COLORADO. MOST LOCATIONS
        RECEIVED BETWEEN 1.00 TO 2.50 INCHES OF RAIN…BUT 3.45
        INCHES FELL IN LITTLETON. RAINFALL TOTALED 1.73 INCHES
        AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…WHERE NORTH WINDS
        GUSTED TO 24 MPH.
4-5   IN 1997…UNUSUALLY WARM WEATHER RESULTED IN TWO TEMPERATURE
        RECORDS. HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 87 DEGREES ON THE 4TH EXCEEDED
        THE OLD RECORD SET IN 1922 BY ONE DEGREE. HIGH TEMPERATURE
        OF 86 DEGREES ON THE 5TH EQUALED THE RECORD SET IN 1990 AND
        PREVIOUS YEARS.

Continue reading This week in Denver weather history – October 5th to October 11th →

Thornton Weather, Weather History

Sentinel revisits 1981 Thornton tornado

July 9, 2008 Thornton Weather 4 Comments

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).

ThorntonWeather.com