Our look back at this week in Denver weather history is dominated by some relatively common late spring / early summer weather events, especially lightning, hail and wildfires.
From the National Weather Service:
12-17
In 2000…two large wildfires developed in the Front Range foothills as careless campers and very dry conditions proved to be a dangerous combination. Strong winds gusting in excess of 60 mph on the 13th fanned the flames… Spreading both wildfires out of control. Winds gusted to 78 mph atop Niwot Ridge near the Continental Divide west of Boulder. The Hi Meadows wildfire…about 35 miles southwest of Denver…consumed nearly 11 thousand acres and 80 structures…mostly high priced homes. The Bobcat wildfire…located about 12 miles southwest of Fort Collins… Consumed nearly 11 thousand acres and 22 structures. Late on the 16th…a strong cold front moved south over the great plains into northeastern Colorado. Low level upslope conditions developed in the wake of the front…producing 2 to 4 inches of snowfall overnight at elevations above 8 thousand feet. Firefighters were able to contain both fires shortly thereafter.
15
In 1907…south winds were sustained to 40 mph. The winds were strong all day.
In 1908…the hail storm was unusually severe. Heavy clouds moved over the city from the north and northwest…and by late morning the weather had become very threatening. Heavy rain with intermittent hail from pea to 3/4 inch in diameter fell near noon. The fall of rain and hail totaled 0.68 inch of precipitation with 0.35 inch in just 5 minutes. The temperature fell from 71 degrees to 51 degrees during the storm. The hail did considerable damage to trees…gardens…and hot houses. On sidewalks with northern exposures…the hail ranged in depth from 2 to 6 inches. West winds were sustained to 29 mph during the storm.
In 1956…strong southeast winds raked metro Denver all day. Sustained winds at 44 mph with gusts as high as 61 mph were recorded at Stapleton Airport where blowing dust briefly reduced the visibility to 2 miles.
In 1984…golf ball size hail pelted southern and central Aurora. Rainfall of 2.06 inches over central Aurora in just over an hour produced local street flooding.
In 1987…golf ball size hail fell in the southern part of Lakewood.
In 1988…several tornadoes developed across metro Denver. One tornado touched down just northeast of the rocky mountain arsenal. The twister moved very slowly and did no damage…except to demolish a small electrical substation… Even though it was on the ground for nearly 30 minutes. Later…another tornado was sighted east of Brighton about 2 miles north of Barr Lake. An f2 tornado cut a swath through northeast Denver. The main path went through a thickly wooded area for about 6 blocks and uprooted about 500 city owned trees…many of them large elms 75 to 100 years old. Hundreds of privately owned trees were also sucked from the ground by the slow moving twister…which was filmed by a news team in a helicopter as it uprooted trees. The replacement cost to the city owned trees was estimated at 1.5 million dollars. The twister did little damage to buildings. Some homes suffered roof and chimney damage…a gas main was ruptured…and some cars were damaged by falling trees. The uprooted trees also caused curb and sidewalk damage and cut some electrical wires. The funnel cloud passed close to Stapleton International Airport. Aircraft operations were shut down…and the tower was evacuated. The tornado was on the ground for almost 25 minutes. An f3 tornado cut an erratic path through south Denver for about 25 minutes…causing extensive damage in at least 3 areas. The twister damaged about 85 buildings… 20 severely; the total loss was estimated at 5 to 10 million dollars. Many cars were severely damaged; at least 15 vehicles were overturned. One trailer was lifted onto the top of a building that had just been unroofed; numerous antique cars inside the building were damaged. A Ford Bronco was blown over a church…and landed 100 yards away. A metal storage shed was deposited far above the ground in some power lines. The tornado uprooted many trees on a golf course. No one was seriously hurt…although seven people suffered minor injuries from flying debris. A golfer was thrown 40 feet…but was not hurt; a man clinging to a telephone pole was unscathed…but lost both shoes…a sock…and buttons off his shirt. A woman holding a baby was sucked through a broken convenience store window… But was unhurt. A dog…tethered to the ground by its leash… Was suspended in the air by the twister. Uprooted trees crushed cars and damaged curbs and sidewalks. People in downtown Denver could see three tornadoes occurring simultaneously. Hail as large as 1 3/8 inches in diameter fell in extreme southeast Aurora.
In 1997…a tornado touched down briefly at the Colorado National Speedway near Dacono north of Denver. The tornado ripped through the south grandstand causing at least 50 thousand dollars in damage to a shed…kiosk… Bleachers…and several concession stands.
In 2004…a tornado touched down briefly near Castle Rock and blew the roof off a machine shop. A tornado near Elizabeth destroyed a barn and caused roof damage to a home. Two other barns on nearby properties were damaged extensively. The twister also caused widespread tree damage in the area. A tornado also touched down near Bennett and Strasburg…but did no damage.
In 2009…thunderstorm winds knocked a tree on to two vehicles in Boulder. One of the drivers was injured when the tree smashed into the windshield of her car.
In 2012…a severe thunderstorm produced hail from quarter to half dollar size near Littleton and Highlands Ranch. A weak short lived tornado (ef0) also touched down near Bennett.
15-16
In 1963…heavy rain and hail ravaged metro Denver. In southeast Denver…heavy rain flooded homes and streets. Hail to a depth of 4 inches on the ground stripped trees and plants and drifted to depths of 3 to 4 feet in some areas. Flood waters on the valley highway were 19 feet deep in places…trapping many cars. Many creeks were running over their banks. On the 15th…the main thunderstorm cell passed over south Denver…dumping as much as 4 inches of rain in 90 minutes. Precipitation at Stapleton Airport totaled 0.91 inch on the 15th and 1.31 inches on the 16th. A funnel cloud was sighted briefly 4 miles to the south-southeast of Stapleton Airport on the 15th. Damage from hail and flooding amounted to near a million dollars.
16
In 1950…very heavy rain and hail storms in southwest Denver caused an estimated 750 thousand dollars in hail and flood damage. Thunderstorms produced 2.06 inches of rain at Stapleton Airport with 2.23 inches of rain measured in downtown Denver.
In 1965…a tornado…15 miles south-southeast of Denver… Touched down and damaged two houses in northern Douglas County. Three golfers at a country club and a women who lived north of Castle Rock were injured by falling structures.
In 1983…a microburst wind gust to 54 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1984…a tornado touched down briefly in Parker. No damage was reported.
In 1986…lightning injured 5 people just north of the Denver city limits in Adams County. The victims were members of a drum and bugle corps and were standing near a metal scaffold. Heavy rain from the storm also caused street flooding in the metro area.
In 1991…hail to golf ball size fell at Conifer.
In 1992…a rare mid-June high wind event wreaked havoc over metro Denver when a pacific cold front moved across the Rocky Mountains. Strong winds at speeds of 40 to 50 mph were common along the Front Range foothills. Winds reaching 107 mph in the foothills west of Denver and 79 mph at Longmont…caused damage ranging from trees being toppled to large trucks being rolled over. Strong winds estimated at 75 mph rolled a 35-foot truck carrying building supplies on U.S. Highway 36 north of Boulder. The truck driver and a passenger as well as the driver of another car were slightly injured. The winds downed power lines. The gambling towns of central city and Blackhawk were without power for a couple of hours. West winds reached 43 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1996…a small tornado touched down in the foothills southwest of Boulder near Pinecliffe…knocking down 50 to 100 large pine trees. A house nearby sustained damage when shingles were ripped from the roof. The tornado also picked up a 17-foot sailboat with attached trailer and carried it 25 feet into a nearby tree. In addition… Thunderstorm wind gusts to 46 mph were measured at Denver International Airport.
In 2004…hail as large as 1 inch in diameter fell near Castle Rock. Hail to 3/4 inch was measured near Bennett.
In 2005…severe thunderstorms produced hail as large as 1 inch in diameter in Centennial.
In 2011…severe thunderstorms produced and damaging across parts of metropolitan Denver. In Lakewood…a tree blew down and landed on at least five cars. At Centennial Airport…a section of a roof on a hangar was ripped off the strong winds. A peak wind gust of 46 mph was recorded at Centennial Airport and Denver International Airport in the evening.
Continue reading June 15 to June 21: This Week in Denver Weather History