Category Archives: Thornton Weather

Thornton Weather

Denver blizzard moves out as the digging out begins

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Thornton begins digging out from the March Blizzard of 2009.
Thornton begins digging out from the March Blizzard of 2009. This image is from our webcam as the storm really began in earnest just before noon.

The sun is already beginning to shine in the wake of Denver’s biggest snowstorm of the 2008 – 2009 winter season.  The storm was also Denver’s biggest since December 2007 when a series of storms dumped more than 30 inches on the city.  While the snow brings much-needed moisture to the parched Front Range, it was a stark contrast to the 70 degree temperatures of just a few days ago. 

Here is Thornton we received 11.4 inches of snow from the storm which increases our season total to 38.1 inches.  While yesterday’s snow helps, that is still barely half of what we average in a season so much more is needed if we want to make up lost ground.

Cold and wind were also part of the story.  Thornton’s high temperature yesterday was 35 degrees but that occurred before 11:00am.  Once the storm arrived, the mercury plummetted 15 degrees and we saw temperatures in the mid-teens.  Winds are what made the storm a blizzard and we had plenty of that with gusts to 33 mph.  The cold temperatures and wind coupled to give us wind chills in the low single digits and Thornton actually recorded a maximum wind chill of 1.3 degrees below zero.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out these two Thornton weather stories from the blizzard:

For a complete recap on Denver’s March Blizzard of 2009, see our story on Examiner.com.

For all the details, read the rest of this story on our Denver Weather Examiner page. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather
Thornton Weather

Thornton’s March Blizzard 2009 – Time lapse videos

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The March Blizzard of 2009 is winding down and it gives us a chance to look at all that happened in the last 36 hours or so.  One of the neat things to look at is the 24 hour time lapse video from yesterday.  Check out the video from our two webcams:

East Webcam Time Lapse – 3/26/09

West Webcam Time Lapse – 3/26/09

Thornton Weather

City of Thornton will plow residential streets in wake of blizzard

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City of ThorntonThe city has annnounced that they will be plowing residential streets in accordance with their snow removal plan.

From the City of Thornton:

City of Thornton officials have rated this a Class 3 storm (potential to last more than 24 hours; accumulations of over nine inches) and are treating it as such. This means that the city is bringing in on-call contractors to supplement the city truck efforts. While City Crews are staying on arterials, contractors have plowed secondary streets and are commencing plowing operations in residential neighborhoods.

For more information from the city, please see their storm update page.

Continue reading City of Thornton will plow residential streets in wake of blizzard →

Thornton Weather

Major snowstorm starts to hit Thornton, Blizzard Warning issued

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A Blizzard Warning is in effect for all of eastern Colorado, including Thornton.
A Blizzard Warning is in effect for all of eastern Colorado, including Thornton.

Thornton and Denver are preparing for what will be its biggest snowstorm of the season today as the National Weather Service has now issued a Blizzard Warning for all of eastern Colorado.  The major storm we had been watching in recent days is now arriving over the Front Range and snow is starting to fall and will become widespread by 7:00am.  Initially the snow will melt as it hits the ground but as it gets heavier, it will begin to accumulate.

March is our snowiest month and this is setting up to be a classic late winter / early spring storm with lots of Pacific moisture and a Canadian cold front dipping down from the north.  Winds are now starting to come out of the east and northeast providing the required upslope conditions that will slow the storm down and hold it over the Front Range.

Between noon and about 9:00pm the snow will be at its heaviest as will the wind which will cause significant drifting and road travel will become treacherous – the afternoon rush hour is almost certainly going to be a big mess.  Road closures are likely to happen at some point later today, particularly south and east.  Areas along the Palmer Divide, the foothills and the south metro area will have the most snow with lower amounts as you move north.  The Denver metro area can look for snowfall totals between 8 and 16 inches while there could be up to two feet of snow in areas south and west.

Remember, a Blizzard Warning means that severe conditions are expected and winds can gust in excess of 35 mph coupled with significant snowfall.  Visibilities may be reduced to a quarter of a mile or less and travel will be extremely dangerous and is discouraged.  Be sure you are prepared if you do travel and should you get stranded, stay with your vehicle – do not head out and seek help!  Going through these storms is always a major task.  We ask that you please be careful if you are on the roads and if you have folks in your area that need a bit of help digging out, lend them a hand.

Since January, Denver has had 15% of its normal precipitation and for the snow season we are at a mere 41%.  While the snow will be troublesome, we are truly in need of moisture so this is a welcome sight in some respects.

Thornton Weather

Major storm continues on path, Denver could get 12+ inches of snow

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A major spring storm could bring more than 12 inches of snow to Denver and Thornton.
A major spring storm could bring more than 12 inches of snow to Denver and Thornton.

The major winter storm we have been tracking for the last couple of days continues on its path toward Denver and the Front Range and before it is over, Denver could see more than a foot of snow.  The latest computer models indicate the storm is coming a bit further north than previously thought which increases the changes for what will be a very significant snow event for us. 

Snow in the mountains tonight will begin to spread to Denver and the Front Range Thursday morning and it will last through Thursday evening and beyond.  Highlighting the significance of the storm, the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning (see below for text of warning) for all of northeastern Colorado including Denver. 

The NWS is forecasting snow totals from 8 to 15 inches for the metro area (see image below) and from 1 to 2 feet along the Palmer Divide.  I think that may be a bit optimistic myself but there is little doubt we are in for our biggest storm of the snow season.  Areas south and west like Highlands Ranch, Parker and Golden will almost certainly experience the most snow in the metro area.  See the image below for potential snow totals.

Continue reading Major storm continues on path, Denver could get 12+ inches of snow →

Thornton Weather

Winter Storm Warning issued in anticipation of major storm

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A major winter storm will hit Denver and the Front Range Thursday morning where some areas will be measuring snow in feet.
A major winter storm will hit Denver and the Front Range Thursday morning where some areas will be measuring snow in feet.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Denver and much of northeastern Colorado in anticipation of a significant storm now approaching the state.  The warning takes the place of the previously issued watch and signifies the increased potential for a major snow event.  The warning goes into effect at 6:00am Thursday morning and runs through 6:00am Friday.

Computer models are beginning to coalesce around solutions that involve snow amounts that could exceed a foot along the Palmer Divide and the foothills.  Snow will begin falling in the foothills in the morning and by midday will encompass the entire Front Range.  By the time the storm ends, much of the metro area will have in excess of six inches of snow.  Tomorrow afternoon’s commute is almost certainly going to be a rough one.

The spring snowstorm could be our biggest storm to date for the 2008 – 2009 winter season.  We are desperately in need of moisture so while it may be troublesome, we really need the precipitation. 

Click here to get all the details on our warning page.

Thornton Weather

March 15 to March 21 – This week in Denver weather history

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March 15 to March 21 - This week in Denver weather history
March 15 to March 21 - This week in Denver weather history

This week is Denver and Thornton weather history is notable for many reasons.  2003 stands out as an extremely eventful year this week in weather history.  From March 17th to the 19th, six years ago, Denver was hit by one of its largest snowstorms in history.  We actually recently wrote about this storm on Examiner.com – click here to see it.  Also, we see our first mention of a tornado for the year, also in 2003, on March 17th.  The twister hit near Strasburg but was short-lived and caused no damage.  These events serve as a reminder that winter is not over and severe weather can strike at any time.

9-19 

IN 1906…AN EXTENDED COLD AND BLUSTERY PERIOD OCCURRED WITH LIGHT SNOW TOTALING 14.4 INCHES OVER 11 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON A SINGLE DAY WAS 4.0 INCHES ON THE 15TH.  ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW FELL ON THE 12TH AND 17TH. HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW FREEZING FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD. THE COLDEST WERE 14 DEGREES ON THE 16TH AND 18 DEGREES ON THE 17TH.  BOTH READINGS WERE RECORD LOW MAXIMUMS FOR THE DATES. LOW TEMPERATURES WERE MOSTLY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS.  THE COLDEST WERE 2 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 16TH AND 5 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 19TH.  NORTHEAST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 22 MPH ON THE 9TH.  NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 36 MPH ON THE 10TH…32 MPH ON THE 13TH… AND 22 MPH ON THE 15TH.

12-16

IN 1880…A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL RESULTED IN 8 TEMPERATURE RECORDS BEING SET.  RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES FOR THE DATE WERE SET WHEN THE TEMPERATURE DIPPED TO 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 13TH AND 14TH…8 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 12TH AND 15TH…AND 4 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON THE 16TH. DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE SET WITH 11 DEGREES ON THE 12TH…12 DEGREES ON THE 13TH… AND 19 DEGREES ON THE 15TH.

13-15

IN 1906…SNOWFALL TOTALED 8.0 INCHES OVER DOWNTOWN DENVER.

14-16

IN 1908…A WARM SPELL RESULTED IN DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES ON 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS:  54 DEGREES ON THE 14TH…52 DEGREES ON THE 15TH…AND 56 DEGREES ON THE 16TH…  ALSO THE ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH MINIMUM FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH.  HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 65 DEGREES ON THE 14TH TO 72 DEGREES ON THE 16TH.

IN 1983…A HEAVY WET SNOWSTORM BURIED METRO DENVER WITH THE FOOTHILLS RECEIVING THE MOST.  CONIFER RECORDED 34 INCHES OF SNOW WITH 4 FEET MEASURED AT COAL CREEK CANYON IN THE FOOTHILLS NORTHWEST OF DENVER.  THE STORM LEFT 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS METRO DENVER.  BOULDER RECEIVED 12 TO 18 INCHES.  FLIGHT OPERATIONS AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WERE LIMITED TO ONE RUNWAY FOR A TIME.  SOME ROADS AND SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED…AND POWER OUTAGES OCCURRED WHEN WET SNOW DOWNED LINES.  SNOWFALL ON THE 15TH AND 16TH TOTALED 7.2 INCHES AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE NORTH WINDS GUSTED TO 30 MPH.  MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTH ON THE GROUND WAS ONLY 6 INCHES DUE TO MELTING.

Continue reading March 15 to March 21 – This week in Denver weather history →

Thornton Weather

Astronaut Harrison Schmitt: Climate change alarmists ‘intentionally mislead’

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Dr. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt as a trained geologist was the first scientist-astronaut and walked on the moon with the Apollo 17 lunar mission.
Dr. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt as a trained geologist was the first scientist-astronaut and walked on the moon with the Apollo 17 lunar mission.

Last month Apollo 17 astronaut and moonwalker Harrison Schmitt added his voice to the growing chorus of scientists speaking out against the anthropogenic [manmade] global warming (AGW) theory.  In strongly worded comments he said the theory was a ‘political tool.’  Now, in a speech at the International Conference on Climate Change he outlined his argument in great detail saying, “the science of climate change and its causes is not settled.”

Schmitt recalled as a child in Silver City, New Mexico helping his father, also a geologist, take rain measurements.  Those early experiments spurred the former astronaut’s interest in earth sciences at an early age.  He recalled how later in life, while on the surface of the moon, he made weather forecasts for the southern hemisphere of the earth. 
 
In wide ranging commentary, Dr. Schmitt made a point by point argument against many of the things that global warming advocates point to in support of the theory.  In a similar vein to his comments last month, he continued to admonish scientists and politicians that have politicized the issue and said those that disagree do have a battle ahead of them. 

Get the rest of this story on Examiner.com.

For all the details, read the rest of this story on our Denver Weather Examiner page. Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weather
Thornton Weather

March 8 to March 14 – This week in Denver weather history

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March 8 to March 14 - This week in Denver weather history
March 8 to March 14 - This week in Denver weather history

Our look back at Denver weather history for the week reminds us that although the calendar says it is March, it is still very much winter.  Numerous mentions of snow, blizzards and related winter conditions are quite prevelant and we are reminded that March after all is our snowiest month. 

6-8  

IN 1932…SNOWFALL TOTALED 6.3 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN DENVER. MOST OF THE SNOW…5.2 INCHES… FELL ON THE 8TH.  NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTED TO 20 MPH ON THE 6TH.

7-8  

IN 1878…SNOW FROM THE EVENING OF THE 7TH UNTIL NOON OF THE 8TH TOTALED ONLY 5 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN DENVER. APPARENT HEAVIER SNOW OVER THE PLAINS ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS DRIFTED THE SNOW INTO HIGH DRIFTS…WHICH DELAYED TRAINS FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND CAUSED A GREAT LOSS OF LIVESTOCK.  MELTING OF THE SNOW CAUSED A RISE IN CHERRY CREEK…WHICH RESULTED IN MUCH DAMAGE.  PRECIPITATION FROM THE STORM TOTALED ONLY 0.50 INCH IN DENVER.
 
IN 2000…HIGH WINDS DEVELOPED IN AND NEAR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS…AS WELL AS PARTS OF THE NORTHEAST COLORADO PLAINS AS ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVED ACROSS THE AREA.  SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED NEAR BLACKHAWK…BOULDER… AND IN COAL CREEK CANYON.  ABOUT 30 HOMES IN THE PINEBROOK HILLS SUBDIVISION IN BOULDER WERE EVACUATED WHEN DOWNED POWER LINES SPARKED A GRASSFIRE.  THE WINDS EVENTUALLY SHIFTED THE FIRE ONTO ITSELF…THUS ALLOWING FIREFIGHTERS TO CONTAIN THE TWO ACRE BLAZE.  SEVERAL ROOFS WERE BLOWN OFF BARNS…SHEDS…  AND GARAGES.  TWO SEMI-TRAILERS WERE BLOWN OVER…ONE ALONG C-470 BETWEEN GOLDEN AND MORRISON AND ANOTHER NORTH OF DENVER ON I-25.  WIND GUSTS REACHED 101 MPH ON ROCKY FLATS…100 MPH AT THE NEARBY NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER…90 MPH AT BLACKHAWK AND ATOP BLUE MOUNTAIN…92 MPH IN SOUTH BOULDER… 73 MPH IN COAL CREEK CANYON…72 MPH IN GOLDEN… AND 70 MPH AT LOUISVILLE. NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO 45 MPH ON THE 7TH AND TO 49 MPH ON THE 8TH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

8    

IN 1878…WINDS STARTED TO INCREASE AT 4:00 AM AND BLEW STEADILY AT SUSTAINED SPEEDS OF 36 TO 40 MPH WITH A MAXIMUM SUSTAINED SPEED OF 60 MPH AROUND 11:00 AM. SNOWFALL OF 5.0 INCHES OCCURRED IN THE CITY…BUT MUCH MORE SNOW FELL ON THE PLAINS…WHICH BLOCKADED TRAINS BOUND FOR THE CITY FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
 
IN 1898…NORTHWEST WINDS SUSTAINED TO 53 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH WARMED THE TEMPERATURE TO A HIGH OF 67 DEGREES.
 
IN 1908…LIGHT SNOWFALL OF 0.8 INCH PRODUCED ONLY 0.01 INCH OF PRECIPITATION.  THIS ALONG WITH THE 0.10 INCH OF PRECIPITATION ON THE 21ST RESULTED IN THE DRIEST MARCH ON RECORD WITH A TOTAL OF 0.11 INCH OF PRECIPITATION.
 
IN 1986…TEMPERATURES CLIMBED FROM A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 45 DEGREES TO A RECORD MAXIMUM OF 72 DEGREES FOR THE DAY.
 
IN 2005…A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT MOVED A WALL OF BLOWING DUST ACROSS METRO DENVER DURING THE MID-MORNING.  AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…NORTH WINDS SUSTAINED TO 48 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 55 MPH…ALONG WITH VERY LIGHT RAIN WHICH CHANGED TO SNOW…BRIEFLY REDUCED THE SURFACE VISIBILITY TO 1 MILE.  A THUNDERSTORM FORMED OVER ARVADA. WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT…THE TEMPERATURE PLUNGED 11 DEGREES IN JUST 16 MINUTES AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE PRECIPITATION WAS ONLY 0.01 INCH ALONG WITH 0.1 INCH OF SNOW.

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

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Four weather records broken in recent days

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Sunny skies on Wednesday, March 4th helped Denver break a 137 year old high temperature record.
Sunny skies on Wednesday, March 4th helped Denver break a 137 year old high temperature record.

Denver officially broke the high temperature record on Wednesday, March 4th.  At 12:40pm the temperature at Denver International Airport reached 76 degrees, breaking the old record of 74 degrees set in 1872.  

This marks the 4th weather record we have broken in just the week. In addition to Wednesday’s mark, we have had:

We are very dry right now and could really use some significant precipitation as snowfall totals are less than half of what they normally are by this time of year.  Is there hope?  We remember back to 2003 when we were in a similar dry condition and two major storms helped to turn things around.  Click here to read about that on Examiner.com.

Are these really records and is it fair to compare these measurements with historical data?  Check out our Examiner.com investigation to see why some say these records should have an asterisk attached to them.