An extremely eventful week in Denver weather history. Most notably for longtime Thornton and Northglenn residents is the 28 year anniversary of the infamous Thornton Tornado which struck on June 3, 1981.
From the National Weather Service:
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In 1995…a cool period with light morning showers and moderate to heavy afternoon showers and thunderstorms pushed rivers already swollen from mountain snow melt over their banks causing minor flooding. Streams and rivers such as the South Platte and Boulder Creek flooded meadowlands…bike paths…roads near streams…and other low lying areas. No significant property damage was reported and crop damage was unknown. Rainfall totaled 1.79 inches at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport and only 1.51 inches at Denver International Airport.
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In 1894…heavy rain combined with snowmelt runoff caused widespread flooding over the South Platte River basin. Rainfall was heaviest in the foothills where 5 to 8 inches were measured over the 4 days. Heavy rainfall west of Boulder flooded mining towns and damaged mining properties. In the canyons above Boulder…railroads and roads were washed out along with many bridges. The floodwaters spread into central Boulder and covered a wide area from University Hill north to near Mapleton Hill to a maximum depth of 8 feet. Many houses were swept away…and every bridge in Boulder was destroyed. A few people…trapped in their homes by the floodwaters… Had to be rescued. However…the gradual rise of the flood waters resulted in only one death. Boulder Creek spread to a width of nearly one mile in the pasture land to the east of Boulder. Extensive flooding on Left Hand Creek north of Boulder washed away railroad and wagon bridges. The heavy cloudbursts caused flooding on Bear Creek…which washed away bridges…railroad tracks…and structures and destroyed the canyon roadway. Morrison sustained the heaviest flood damage on bear creek. In Denver…rainfall totaled only 1.50 inches on the 30th and 31st…but the heavy rainfall on upstream tributaries of the South Platte River caused the river to rise as much as 10 feet above the low water mark in the city…which caused some flooding of pasture land downstream to a depth of 6 feet near Brighton.
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In 1935…heavy thunderstorm rains overnight caused flash flooding east of the city on both Kiowa and Bijou Creeks… Resulting in a total of 9 deaths. Most of the damage was on Kiowa Creek where there were more structures. The water rose rapidly during the storm…ripping houses and stores from their foundations and sweeping them downstream. Precipitation in Denver totaled only 0.01 inch. Hail fell in the city for a short time. The hail was very small and caused no damage.
In 1983…a late storm of rain and snow hit the Front Range. Over an inch of rain fell at some spots…and above 7 thousand feet…1 to 5 inches of snow whitened the ground. Some snow flakes even fell in the western suburbs of metro Denver on the night of the 30th.
In 2002…unseasonably warm weather at the end of the month resulted in 3 temperature records. High temperature of 91 degrees on the 30th equaled the record maximum for the date. Low temperature of 61 degrees on the 31st was a record high minimum for the date. High temperature of 93 degrees on the 31st was a record maximum for the date.
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In 1917…rainfall totaled 0.55 inch and was mixed briefly with snow around midday. Only a trace of snow fell. Cold temperatures during the day resulted in a high of 44 degrees and a low of 35 degrees. The month closed as the coldest May on record with a mean temperature of only 48.7 degrees…about 8 degrees below normal. The cold temperatures during the month had a marked effect on shade trees and shrubs in the city. Elms were just starting to leaf. Leaves on cottonwoods and maples were only half formed. Lilacs were just blooming…and snowball clusters would not bloom for days.
In 1959…the public reported a tornado briefly touching the ground 10 miles south of Stapleton Airport. No damage was reported.
In 1984…a thunderstorm microburst produced a wind gust to 67 mph…7 miles east of Boulder.
In 1991…hail to golf ball size pummeled southern and southeastern sections of metro Denver and continued on east to Watkins. Several houses and cars were damaged. Later… Thunderstorms dumped heavy rain across the city of Denver… Causing street flooding in an area just south of downtown and just northwest of downtown. Water was up to 10 inches deep over northwest Denver. A brief tornado touched down in Castle Rock where 3/4 inch diameter hail also fell.
In 1993…thunderstorms dropped dime size hail in Commerce City.
In 1994…lightning struck an apartment in Louisville and damaged electronic equipment…including a computer.
In 2006…a severe thunderstorm produced 1 inch diameter hail near Boulder.
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In 1875…a windstorm during the late afternoon and early evening produced sustained winds to 50 mph.
In 1898…south winds were sustained to 41 mph with gusts to 46 mph.
In 1917…a trace of unmelted snow fell in downtown Denver. Precipitation for the day totaled 0.08 inch…half of which was estimated to be from melted snow.
In 1919…snowfall of 0.4 inch was measured in downtown Denver. This was the greatest calendar day and 24-hour snowfall ever recorded during the month of June. Precipitation (rain and melted snow) totaled 0.15 inch. Two temperature records were set. The low temperature of 32 degrees was a record minimum for the date. The high temperature of only 40 degrees was a record low maximum for the date and the month. North winds were sustained to 36 mph with gusts to 40 mph.
In 1951…a trace of snow fell at Stapleton Airport.
In 1961…hail as large as 1 1/2 inches in diameter fell in west Denver with hail to 1 1/4 inches reported in derby.
In 1965…a man struck by lightning in southeast Denver died shortly after being admitted to a hospital. Lightning damaged power lines in east and southeast Denver.
In 1980…strong thunderstorm winds blew in the windows of a mobile home in Northglenn.
In 1990…a thunderstorm produced wind gusts to 63 mph in Boulder. A small tornado touched down in a farmer’s field between the towns of Louisville and Lafayette. Another tornado was spotted in an open field 3 miles west of Brighton. A funnel cloud was sighted near Hudson. A microburst wind gust to 55 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport. No damage was reported from any of these events.
In 1991…severe thunderstorms producing large hail…damaging winds…funnel clouds…and heavy rain were widespread across metro Denver. Funnel clouds were reported in Lakewood… Boulder…Arvada…and just east of the rocky mountain arsenal. Hail up to golf ball size fell in Lakewood…just west of Sedalia…in Littleton…Arvada…Englewood…and the city of Denver. A mobile home park in Jefferson County reported hail to 3 feet deep. Up to 1.00 inch of rain fell in 45 minutes near Boulder…causing Boulder Creek to flow out of its banks. Rock and mud slides forced the closure of many roads in Boulder County. Later in the afternoon thunderstorms produced rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches over a couple of hours. Clear Creek in Golden spilled over onto U.S. Highway 6. Heavy rains washed away part of a bridge near Erie. Water was up to 18 inches deep in Westminster. Wind gusts to 58 mph were reported at Stapleton International Airport where 1/4 inch hail fell… And heavy thunderstorm rainfall totaled 0.82 inches…briefly reducing the visibility to 1 1/4 miles. Estimates of total damage from these storms would exceed 7 million dollars.
In 1994…hail up to 1 inch in diameter fell over south Denver and Littleton.
In 1997…two short lived-tornadoes formed near Bennett…but did no reported damage.
In 2002…strong winds from the outflow of dissipating showers developed to the east of Denver. Near Strasburg…a spotter recorded a wind gust to 58 mph.
Continue reading May 31 to June 6: This week in Denver weather history