Our look back at this week in Denver weather history contains many of the severe weather conditions we would expect to see – high speed winds, arctic cold, big time snowstorms, etc.  Most notable is the coldest February temperature ever recorded – 25 degrees below zero. 

31-8 

IN 1963…WARM WEATHER THAT BEGAN WITH THE STRONG CHINOOK WINDS ON THE 31ST AND 1ST CONTINUED THROUGH THE 8TH. MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD RANGED FROM 52 DEGREES ON THE 2ND TO 76 DEGREES ON THE 5TH…WHICH WAS A NEW RECORD HIGH FOR THAT DATE.

31-12

IN 1899…A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL LASTED ALMOST TWO WEEKS. LOW TEMPERATURES PLUNGED BELOW ZERO ON ALL DAYS BUT FEBRUARY 9TH WITH A READING OF 6 DEGREES.  THE COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE OF 22 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON FEBRUARY 6TH WAS A RECORD LOW FOR THE DATE.  LOW TEMPERATURES OF 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO OCCURRED ON BOTH FEBRUARY 11TH AND 12TH… BUT ONLY THE 11TH REMAINS AS THE RECORD MINIMUM FOR THE DATE.  HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 5 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON FEBRUARY 11TH WAS A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE.  HIGH TEMPERATURES CLIMBED TO ONLY ZERO DEGREES ON BOTH FEBRUARY 2ND AND 3RD…BUT WERE NOT RECORDS.  INTERMITTENT LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES FELL DURING THE PERIOD.  THE MOST SNOWFALL…2.0 INCHES…OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 2ND.

1-9  

IN 1883…A PROTRACTED COLD PERIOD OCCURRED WHEN LOW TEMPERATURES DIPPED BELOW ZERO FOR 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. LOW TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 22 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 4TH TO 2 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 1ST AND 6TH.  HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 10 BELOW ZERO ON THE 3RD TO 23 ON THE 9TH.  SEVERAL TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET THAT STILL STAND TODAY.  RECORD LOWS OF 18 BELOW AND 22 BELOW ZERO OCCURRED ON THE 3RD AND 4TH.  RECORD LOW MAXIMUM READINGS OF 2 BELOW AND 10 BELOW ZERO OCCURRED ON THE 2ND AND 3RD.  THE HIGH OF ONLY 10 BELOW ZERO ON THE 3RD IS THE COLDEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN DENVER.

5-11 

IN 1978…THE 5TH MARKED THE START OF A RECORD 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF DENSE FOG AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.  THE HEAVY FOG REDUCED THE VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME ON EACH OF THESE DAYS.  LIGHT SNOW AND/OR FREEZING DRIZZLE OCCURRED ON MOST DAYS.  FOG REDUCING VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN 7 MILES WAS RECORDED AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON 11 CONSECUTIVE DAYS THROUGH THE 15TH.  DURING THE PERIOD 5-14…THE COLD THICK FOG DEPOSITED HEAVY RIME ICE UP TO 5 INCHES THICK ON POWER LINES AND POLES OVER A WIDE AREA OF EASTERN COLORADO…CAUSING A MAJOR ELECTRICAL POWER OUTAGE DISASTER.

Continue reading February 8 to February 14 – This week in Denver weather history →

A look back at this week in Denver weather history shows the wide variety of weather conditions that we can receive.  Everything from warm spring-like days to high speed damaging winds to protracted bone chilling Arctic cold spells is evident. 

26-1 

IN 1888…A PROTRACTED WARM SPELL LASTED A WEEK.  MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 62 DEGREES ON THE 29TH TO AN ALL TIME RECORD HIGH FOR THE MONTH OF 76 DEGREES ON THE 27TH.  DAILY RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 76…69… AND 71 OCCURRED ON THE 27TH…28TH… AND 30TH RESPECTIVELY. RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES OF 47 AND 34 OCCURRED ON THE 26TH AND 27TH.

30-7 

IN 1985…A COLD FRONT ON THE 29TH PRODUCED A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL AS ARCTIC AIR REMAINED ENTRENCHED ACROSS METRO DENVER. WHILE THE ONLY DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORD SET WAS A LOW MAXIMUM READING OF 2 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 3RD…MINIMUM TEMPERATURES PLUNGED WELL BELOW ZERO ON 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. THE COLDEST READINGS WERE 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON JANUARY 31ST AND 14 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON FEBRUARY 5TH.

31-1 

IN 1963…HIGH WINDS STRUCK METRO DENVER.  THE STRONG CHINOOK WINDS REACHED 101 MPH IN LITTLETON…80 MPH IN DENVER…AND 90 MPH AT ROCKY FLATS.  AMONG THE HARDEST HIT AREAS WERE BOULDER WHERE BUILDINGS UNDER CONSTRUCTION WERE BLOWN DOWN…PORCHES AND ROOFS BLOWN OFF BUILDINGS… AND POWER LINES DAMAGED.  DAMAGE TOTALED 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN BOULDER ALONE.  IN OTHER AREAS…UTILITY LINES WERE DAMAGED AND MANY SIGNS…ANTENNAS… AND ROAD MARKERS WERE BLOWN DOWN.  AT STAPLETON AIRPORT…WEST WINDS GUSTED TO 44 MPH ON THE 31ST AND 66 MPH ON THE 1ST.  THE CHINOOK WINDS WARMED MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES TO 65 DEGREES ON THE 31ST AND TO 70 DEGREES ON THE 1ST.

Continue reading February 1 to February 7 – This week in Denver weather history →

A very eventful week in Denver weather history.  Among the notable items – the longest period of snow on record, the highest wind gust ever in the metro area (147mph) and numerous blizzards that caused a variety of problems.

22-26

IN 1948…THE LONGEST PERIOD OF SNOWFALL ON RECORD (92 HOURS AND 3 MINUTES) OCCURRED IN DOWNTOWN DENVER WHERE A TOTAL OF 13.6 INCHES OF SNOW FELL.  AT STAPLETON AIRPORT…19.0 INCHES OF SNOW FELL…MAKING IT THE HEAVIEST SNOW IN JANUARY AND THE 5TH HEAVIEST SNOW OF RECORD AT THAT TIME.  NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO A VELOCITY OF 23 MPH ON THE 25TH…BUT GENERALLY THE WINDS WERE LIGHT THROUGHOUT THE STORM.  THE SNOW DISRUPTED TRAFFIC…BUT STREET CLEARING WAS BEGUN SOON AFTER IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE SNOW WOULD BE HEAVY.  OVER THE 5 DAYS…TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 48 DEGREES ON THE 22ND TO A LOW OF 1 DEGREE ON THE 26TH.  MOST READINGS WERE IN THE TEENS AND 20`S DURING THE STORM.

24-25

IN 1916…A TRACE OF LIGHT RAIN…RARE IN DENVER FOR JANUARY…  OCCURRED ON BOTH DAYS.
 
IN 1946…HIGH WINDS OCCURRED IN BOULDER AND ALONG THE FOOTHILLS TO THE NORTH.  A WIND GUST TO 72 MPH WAS RECORDED AT VALMONT.
 
IN 1947…STRONG WINDS WERE MEASURED IN BOULDER.  HOURLY WIND GUSTS AVERAGED 72 MPH AT VALMONT EAST OF BOULDER.
 
IN 1950…HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 7.1 INCHES AT STAPLETON AIRPORT AND 6.8 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN DENVER.

Continue reading January 25 to January 31 – This week in Denver weather history →