Category Archives: Site News

ThorntonWeather.com Website News & Change Log

Web Site Change LogOur website is constantly changing as new features are added and old ones are updated. Check here to learn what new features have been added lately.  If you have a suggestion for a new feature or changes you would like to see, please contact us and let us know!

12/24/13

Not directly weather-related but added live video feeds provided by NASA.  Both are available from the Almanac > Astronomy & Space menu on the left.

  • NASA TV live feed – This is NASA’s television channel providing coverage of what the space agency is doing.
  • ISS live feed – Live video from the International Space Station.  Live video of specific tasks being performed by the astronauts is shown or oftentimes live video from the station’s exterior cameras.

9/14/13

  • The map on our Northeastern Colorado River Heights and Flood Status page was not working due to changes in the feed from the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.  The page has now been updated and incorporates an interactive map.  It also displays river heights and flood status for locations across northeastern Colorado.  You can find the page in the Almanac menu at the left.

9/11/13

  • We noticed our Record Weather Event page that is fed from data from the National Weather Service was not working properly.  This was due to some changes by the NWS.  We have fixed this now and you can always check to see what recent record-breaking weather we have experienced by selecting the Denver / Boulder office from the drop down on the page.  The page itself is under the Almanac / National Weather Service menu on the left.

9/1/13

  • Some much-needed behind the scenes work.  The computer that powers all of our weather equipment – the station software, radar, lightning detector, website, etc – was on its last leg.  It served us well for 5 years and it was time to go.  This weekend we replaced the computer with a brand new one with far more computing power.  The upgrade will allow us to continue to bring you the best local weather information and news in Thornton.

8/12/13

  • Due to changes in the way the U.S. Geological Survey formats its data, we updated our earthquake pages.  The new pages now use a Google map to display recent temblors.  We also have two earthquake pages now: One for quakes within a 500 mile radius of Denver, and one for all earthquakes globally.  You can find the pages in the Almanac menu on the left.

7/14/13

  • Changes to our Live Weather Gauges page. Gauges are a bit bigger and easier to read, we added a wind rose, the scrolling text display now shows the forecast and at the bottom you can select different units of measure.

6/27/13

  • We changed our west facing webcam orientation pointing it a bit more vertical.  This will allow a better view of the skies above while still maintaining perspective of nearby trees.

9/2/12

  • We’ve updated our monthly tables for Denver’s “Normals, Means & Extremes” and “”Top 10″ Precipitation & Temp”.  You can find them under the Almanac menu on the left then go to Climatology & Records.  You can also click here.
  • Some time ago we added a WeatherNation TV page that allows you to view broadcasts from the network live on our site.  Now we have added a National & International Video News page with the latest from NDN’s providers including CBS, AP and many more.  It is available under Area Information to the left and then select Video News.

7/3/12

  • The National Weather Service changed their forecast pages and that necessitated changes of our page as well.  While the basics are the same, we took the opportunity to do a bit of an upgrade.  The page will automatically display the forecast for Thornton as always but now there is a dropdown menu that allows you to easily grab the forecast from more than a dozen other cities across Colorado.  Click here to check it out or select ‘NWS 5 day forecast’ from the Forecasts menu on the left.

6/13/12

  • We already have a number of ways to view current weather conditions locally and from across the globe – see the Live Conditions menu at the left.  One new page we added expands on that and provides conditions from Denver area METAR stations.  METARs are permanent weather stations, oftentimes located at airports, that report current conditions in a standardized format (click here for details).  Our METAR page reads data from locations like Denver International Airport, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Buckley Air Force Base and a number of other locations and provides their reported weather conditions in an easy to view format.  You can access it from the Live Conditions menu on the left or by clicking here.

6/12/12

  • Our Lightning Detection Center pages are among our most popular during severe weather season.  We have just added a new page that uses StormVue NGX to display lightning activity.  Using Flash, the display gives you the ability to zoom in and out, set alarms, choose what type of strikes to display and much more.  You can check it out here or find it in the Lightning menu to the left.

6/10/12

For anyone that reads our news section or views or Facebook page, you are well aware of our fondness for satellite imagery.  The ‘eyes in the sky’ can provide an amazing view of weather and disasters.  We have added two new pages that allow you to view some of the most amazing imagery:

Continue reading ThorntonWeather.com Website News & Change Log

ThorntonWeather.com unveils revamped earthquake pages

Earthquakes occur every year in Colorado and of course daily across the globe.  Our new earthquake pages help you keep an eye on the temblors.
Earthquakes occur every year in Colorado and of course daily across the globe. Our new earthquake pages help you keep an eye on the temblors.

While Colorado isn’t often considered a prime location for earthquakes, temblors can and do occur in the state every year.  Many are in less populous locations but can be damaging.  Our revamped earthquake page(s) help you keep tabs on the rumbling earth.

We revamped our main earthquake page to now include an interactive Google map and realtime list of quakes.  This shows quakes of magnitude 2.0 or greater over the past 7 days within a 500 mile radius of Thornton as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Other locations on the globe are certainly more prone to devastating quakes.  To help view these events which occur with startling frequency, we created a global earthquake page.  This shows all magnitude 4.0 temblors within the past 7 days.

Both of these pages are available via the links below or in the almanac menu to the left.

While normally not particularly active, there are approximately 100 potentially active faults in Colorado and more than 400 temblors of magnitude 2.5 have occurred in the state since 1870. The state’s largest quake occurred on November 7, 1882 along the northern Front Range and measured 6.6 on the Richter Scale.

According to the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, the costliest quake was a 5.5 magnitude temblor that occurred on August 9, 1967 and was centered near Commerce City. The quake caused more than $1 million worth of damage and is thought to have been caused by the injection of liquid waste into the earth at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

Longtime Denver area residents well remember the shaking that occurred with regularity from the mid-60s through the early 80s due to the activity at the Arsenal.

ThorntonWeather.com experiences record-setting year in 2012

ThorntonWeather.com's 2012 website statistics.  Traffic to our site grew by more than 20% as we served up over 2,000,000 pages.
ThorntonWeather.com's 2012 website statistics. Traffic to our site grew by more than 20% as we served up over 2,000,000 pages.

We knew people across northern Colorado loved us but now we know just how much!  ThorntonWeather.com experienced record-setting traffic in 2012 with over 2 million pages served.

As arguably the most popular, independent weather source in the Denver area, ThorntonWeather.com has seen tremendous growth since it was first started in October 2006.  Back then the site looked much different and didn’t have near as much information as it does now.

Since our founding we have strived to provide the most accurate, timely weather information for Thornton and its surrounding communities.  ThorntonWeather.com has become the go to source for residents and even local governments and organizations.

The sheer breadth of information on our website surpasses any local broadcast or print media outlet – period.  And while we may not be as flashy as some of the bigger sites on the Internet, we will put up the quality of our weather and climate information against any of them.

In 2012 we didn’t stand still adding more than a dozen new pages and many more features and enhancements.  We continue to field emails with weather related questions continually and pride ourselves on personal replies to each and every one of them.

You, our visitors and our neighbors, paid us back with a banner year.  Nearly one quarter of a million unique visitors came to our site as we served up over 2 million individual pages.  This was about a 20 percent increase over 2011.

What’s ahead for 2013?  You can be certain we won’t be standing still.

We continue to raise funds for high-definition webcams to help give you a better look at what is going on outside.  Remember, we make no money off of ThorntonWeather.com as it is simply run by a resident that is passionate about the weather.  Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.  Click here to learn more about how to help.

Additionally, while we are in the depths of winter right now, severe weather season will be here before you know it and we have a number of enhancements in mind to help you monitor the changing conditions and keep you and your family safe.

We truly are humbled and appreciate that so many of you have make ThorntonWeather.com your source for weather.  Thank you very much and we wish each of you a very prosperous and happy new year!

For all the latest with Thornton’s weather, be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles.

Donations sought: HD webcams next feature to come to ThorntonWeather.com

ThorntonWeather.com - Your only true local source for Thornton, Colorado weather.ThorntonWeather.com is provided as a free service to the community simply because we love the weather!  However the site and the associated hardware are quite expensive to operate and occasionally we seek our vistors’ help in funding improvements.

In the past donations have helped us to replace a faulty temperature sensor.  Today we are seeking help in upgrading one of our most popular features – the webcams.

Our webcams are now 5+ years old and quite frankly not very good quality by today’s standards.  Heading into the winter months we are wanting to upgrade them to allow you to get a better view at the weather outside.

To that end we are asking for donations to fund the purchase of two new high-definition webcams.  We have identified the cameras we would like to purchase and they provide remarkably high quality imagery far exceeding our current cameras.

If you are able, please consider making a contribution to the ‘webcam fund’ – any amount, no matter how big or small is greatly appreciated and will go directly to the purchase of the cameras.  Thank you!

Click here to visit our donation page to contribute today.  

Update, 10/31/12 – We have received $135.00 in donations toward new HD webcams so far.  The cameras will cost $300 so if you are able, please consider contributing.

ThorntonWeather.com weather radio down following hardware failure

NOAA Weather Radio All HazardsOne of our favorite features of our site is the feed from our NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio that provides not only mundane information like forecasts but also crucial life-saving information during severe weather.  Unfortunately the computer sound card that receives the audio feed from our scanner failed two days ago so the audio feed is currently down.

Running our site is a pretty expensive endeavor – The various hardware systems, software and data connections aren’t cheap.  Failures like this add to the cost.  That is why we have asked for donations from time to time to help offset the expenses we incur in running the site.

The replacement part for our weather radio system is on order and we should have it back up and running next week.  It is somewhat “good” timing in that the National Weather Service is performing work on their system at the same time and has warned about outages in their broadcast.

Nevertheless, please learn more about how you can help us.

ThorntonWeather.com gets a credit on CBS4 for grasshopper swarm story

CBS4 meteorologist Dave Aguilera credited ThorntonWeather.com for information on a particularly noteworthy Denver weather event in our history.
CBS4 meteorologist Dave Aguilera credited ThorntonWeather.com for information on a particularly noteworthy Denver weather event in our history.

During Sunday night’s 10:00pm newscast CBS4 meteorologist Dave Aguilera talked about one particularly notable historical weather-related event: massive swarms of grasshoppers over the Mile High City this week in Denver weather history.  The graphic Aguilera displayed during the broadcast had details on the event with a credit to ThorntonWeather.com as the event was one of many in the This Week in Denver Weather History series that we post every week.

This isn’t the first time ThorntonWeather.com has been in the news.  As the most popular local personal weather station website in the Denver metro area, we have also been featured in the Denver Post’s YourHub, the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel and Thornton’s community access station.

It was pretty neat to see us get credit and we thank Dave for the credit – it is much appreciated.  Dave, if you ever want to do a story on personal weather station websites and owners, let us know!  😉

Need a gift for a weather enthusiast on your list? Check out Weather Geek Stuff

Weather Geek Stuff is a great place to shop for gifts for weather enthusiasts, weather geeks and weather lovers.

It takes a different kind of a person to actually get excited about blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes and the other types of extreme weather that Mother Nature throws at us.  These people are often called weather enthusiasts or weather geeks and if you have someone like this on your holiday shopping list, we have just the store for you.

Weather Geek Stuff is an online store that provides a host of clothing items and novelties just for weather buffs.  From the store’s custom ‘Weather Geek’ and ‘Weather Diva’ logoed merchandise to items imprinted with amusing weather warnings signs as well as Skywarn storm spotter logos, there is something there sure to please any weather lover.

Weather Geek Stuff’s merchandise was shown on the Weather Channel as a recommended gift so you know the quality is good.  Stu Ostro, Weather Channel’s Senior Director of Weather Communications even sports a ‘Weather Geek’ t-shirt on his Facebook page!

Kids and dogs aren’t left out of the weather fun either.  There is a wide variety of clothing items sized just right for the little ones from babies to bigger kids.  Canine companions as well can get shirts and bowls emblazoned with a weather-related logo.

The selection goes far beyond clothing too.  Water bottles, clocks, mugs, bags and other novelties are part of the store’s offerings.  For the tech types, cases for iPhones and iPads are available.

Be sure to head over to WeatherGeekStuff.com and get that holiday gift today for your favorite weather geek. 

Support ThorntonWeather .com

Weather Geek Stuff is owned and operated by the same folks that run ThorntonWeather.com.  We provide ThorntonWeather.com as a no-cost service to the community and use the minimal amount of money made from Weather Geek Stuff to support the costs of running this website and the associated equipment.  So remember, if you have a weather buff on your shopping list, by buying from Weather Geek Stuff you are supporting ThorntonWeather.com!

Are you on Google+? Add ThorntonWeather.com to your circles

Weather is a constant topic here in Colorado thanks to the widely varying conditions we can experience – from snow and Arctic cold to tornadoes and scorching heat.  ThorntonWeather.com already works to keep you informed with not only our website but also our Facebook page and via Twitter.

Now we have added a new way to get the latest Thornton weather news and information: Google+.

When Google+ was launched this past summer, it was strictly for individuals and that probably limited its growth.  This week they finally launched pages for businesses and organizations and ThorntonWeather.com is happy to join.

So if you use Google+, be sure to add us to your circles!

ThorntonWeather.com enhances radar system and satellite imagery

ThorntonWeather.com's new satellite imagery allows a close in, bird's eye view of the weather.
ThorntonWeather.com's new satellite imagery allows a close in, bird's eye view of the weather.

For more than four years ThorntonWeather.com has been the one and only source for truly local weather for Thornton, Colorado.  We are continually improving the site to provide more information and now we have greatly enhanced two of our most popular features.

First up and arguably the most exciting is the satellite imagery.  Using imagery provided by NOAA you begin by selecting a region – northeastern Colorado for a look close to home or perhaps a look at the entire United States.  Once you go there, you are given an animated display powered by Adobe Flash. 

Best of all with the new satellite system is a series of overlays that you can select using the boxes above the satellite image.  You can add the county outlines, major highways, and even weather conditions (the selections vary depending on the region).  For each region you can also select an enhancement.  These different color palettes are useful for spotting wildfires, the most significant areas of a storm and more.

You can access the satellite imagery by going to Radar & Maps on the menu on the left then select “Satellite Imagery.”

Last but not least is a revamped radar display system.  The radar is now fully animated like the new satellite which gives you much greater control.  You can speed up the animation, slow it down and pause the display, all of which are useful to seeing where the weather is headed.  You can even zoom in on a spot on the display. 

ThorntonWeather.com Super Doppler RadarTo access the radar go to Radar & Maps on the menu on the left and select “TW Super Doppler Radar.”

These are but two of a number of features added in recent months.  Be sure to check out our website change log for all the details.  For all the latest you can also follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook.

Take a look and if you have any comments, questions or ideas for future enhancements to the site leave them below or contact us.

ThorntonWeather.com featured in YourHub

We recently sat down and talked with YourHub about ThorntonWeather.com. (YourHub)
We recently sat down and talked with YourHub about ThorntonWeather.com. (YourHub)

One thing we at ThorntonWeather.com never get tired of talking about is the weather.  We recently sat down with the Denver Post’s YourHub and talked to them about our experiences with weather and of course ThorntonWeather.com itself.

Journalist Joey Kirchmer and Photojournalist Kristin Morin have done a fine job telling the story about ThorntonWeather.com and we were glad to talk to them. 

As we have always said, we provide ThorntonWeather.com as a service to the community and view it as a means to inform, educate and share our passion for the weather.  Of all the places in the world, Colorado provides one of the most dynamic weather environments and it truly is an interesting place in terms of weather. 

Head on over to YourHub to read more about us. 

You can also learn more about our site and what makes it tick on our About Us page.  If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us.  For all the latest you can also follow us on Twitter and ‘like’ us on Facebook.