Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Denver sets new record high temperature for March 30th

Leave a comment
Denver set a new high temperature record for today, breaking a 131 year old record.
Denver set a new high temperature record for today, breaking a 131 year old record.

Following on last week’s wintry blast, residents of the Mile High City were anxious for spring-like weather and they received it today. Denver has officially set a new record high temperature for the date breaking a 131 year old record.

The National Weather Service reported that at 3:32pm the mercury reached 82 degrees at the official measuring station at Denver International Airport (DIA). This breaks the previous record of 81 degrees set in 1879. The service noted that Rutherford B. Hayes was our 19th president at the time.

Here at ThorntonWeather.com, we reached a high of 81.7 degrees at 4:01pm.

Denver’s newest National Weather Service station at Denver City Park recorded a high temperature today of 81 degrees. Many believe this station is the one that should be the official reporting station for the city as the station at DIA has been shown to be skewing Denver’s climate records.

Other area stations reported similarly warm temperatures. Longmont reached a high temperature of 83 degrees breaking its old record of 81 degrees set in 1986. On the Rocky Mountain Weather Network,  Arvada reached 84 degrees, north Denver 83 degrees, Littleton 81 degrees and Broomfield 83 degrees.

National Weather

NASA satellite time lapse video shows February blizzards striking the northeast

Leave a comment
As seen from space, snow covers the Mid-Atlantic from Washington D.C. through Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York City. (NASA) Watch the amazing time lapse video below.
As seen from space, snow covers the Mid-Atlantic from Washington D.C. through Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York City. (NASA) Watch the amazing time lapse video below.

The northeastern United States has seen a winter of historical proportions as a seemingly endless stream of storms brought record setting levels of snowfall. NASA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) captured a series of these storms as they struck in February.

The amazing time lapse video released by NASA covers the period from February 1st to February 16th. During that time, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. all saw major winter snowstorms that ranked in each city’s ‘top 10’ and gave way to terms like ‘Snowmageddon’ and ‘Snowpocalypse.’

Baltimore recorded an astounding 24.8 inches from February 5th to the 6th and 19.5 inches from February 10th to the 11th. The nation’s capital received 17.8 inches of snow during the February 5th / 6th snowstorm. The City of Brotherly Love was similarly buried under 28.5 inches from February 5th to the 6th and 15.8 inches from February 10th to the 11th.

The February storms added to already hefty seasonal snowfall totals across the northeastern United States that actually got a start in December. Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Atlantic City have all seen seasonal snowfall records.

In a statement accompanying the video which compressed 16 days into two minutes, NASA explains these “Nor’easters”. “The counter-clockwise circulation around a low pressure system on the Atlantic coast pushes moist sea air from the north-east into arctic air over the land. This windy mixture creates a very efficient snow-making machine from Boston to Washington,” the agency said.

Weather History

March 28 to April 3 – This week in Denver weather history

Leave a comment
March 28 to April 3 - This week in Denver weather history
March 28 to April 3 - This week in Denver weather history

Looking at historical weather records can oftentimes provide insight into what weather we can expect over a given period of time.  As we saw this past week, while the calendar says spring, Old Man Winter can return very quickly.  Our look at this week in Denver weather history we see much of the same – major snowstorms and blizzards that impact travel and knock out power to residents.  Also, these spring snowstorms are often moisture-laden and their sheer weight can be damaging. 

27-28

In 1951…heavy snowfall totaled 6.5 inches at Stapleton Airport where north winds gusted to 38 mph on the 27th and 41 mph on the 28th.
 
In 1972…heavy snowfall of 6.2 inches was measured at Stapleton International Airport…where northeast winds gusted to only 21 mph.
 
In 1980…a major blizzard struck the northeastern Colorado plains…closing both I-70 and I-76 to the east of Denver for a time.  Some areas received 1 to 2 feet of snow.  Drifts were 4 to 8 feet high.  The storm killed many young livestock.  At Stapleton International Airport…snowfall totaled 6.7 inches from the storm and north winds gusted to 29 mph.
 
In 2002…high winds developed in the foothills west of metro Denver.  Winds gusted to 81 mph near Fritz Peak…72 mph at Rollinsville…and 70 mph at Blackhawk.  West winds gusted to 51 mph on the 27th and to 45 mph on the 28th at Denver International Airport where the temperature warmed to a high of 69 degrees on the 28th.

27-29

In 1948…high winds raked Boulder.  A wind gust to 75 mph was recorded at Valmont.  Sustained winds in excess of 35 mph were estimated in Boulder.  Minor damage was reported.
 
In 1961…heavy snowfall totaled 9.5 inches at Stapleton Airport over the 3 day period.  Most of the snow…5.3 inches…fell on the 28th.  Winds were generally light and gusted to only 22 mph from the north.

28   

In 1886…the lowest recorded temperature in March…11 degrees below zero…occurred.
 
In 1911…a thunderstorm produced snowfall of 0.4 inch…which was the only measurable snowfall of the month…making the month the second least snowiest March on record.
 
In 1962…a vigorous cold front produced strong winds across eastern Colorado.  North winds gusted to 46 mph at Stapleton Airport where visibility was briefly reduced to 3/4 mile in blowing dust.  A construction worker was injured in Aurora when he was struck by a windblown piece of plywood.

28-29

In 1891…rain changed to snow and totaled 9.7 inches in the city.  Northeast winds were sustained to 12 mph with gusts to 28 mph on the 28th.
 
In 1910…a strong cold front brought much wind…rain…and snow to the city.  Rain on the 28th changed to snow early on the 29th.  Snowfall totaled only 2.8 inches…but north winds were sustained to 50 mph on the 29th. Precipitation from the storm totaled 0.96 inch.
 
In 1994…moist upslope winds combined with an upper level system to dump 5 to 7 inches of snow along the eastern foothills and across metro Denver.  Snowfall totaled 6.3 inches at Stapleton International Airport where northeast winds gusted to 39 mph.  Thirteen inches of new snow were measured at the Eldora Ski Area west of Boulder.

Continue reading March 28 to April 3 – This week in Denver weather history →

Natural Disasters

NASA’s Terra satellite captures images of erupting Iceland volcano

Leave a comment
NASA's Terra satellite captured astounding images of the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland. See a larger image below. (NASA)
NASA's Terra satellite captured astounding images of the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland. See a larger image below. (NASA)

A week ago the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate as lava and ash shot into the air. The eruption has continued since and NASA’s Terra satellite recently flew over the island nation and captured stunning images of the volcano.

A fissure in the earth nearly one half mile long has opened and continues to experience heightened activity.

In addition to the dangers presented by the ash and lava, Eyjafjallajokull sits beneath a massive glacier of the same name. Should the eruption spread, it could begin to melt the glacier creating massive flooding.

Eyjafjallajokull last erupted in 1821, an event that lasted for more than a year but was relatively minor in nature. Prior to that, an explosive eruption occurred on the mountain in 1612.

Officials fear that the increased activity at Eyjafjallajokull may trigger an eruption at Katla, a bigger and potentially more powerful volcano. Past activity at Eyjafjallajokull has done just that and residents are casting a wary eye on both mountains.

NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the area on Wednesday and from its perch in space, it captured images clearly showing the flowing lava, steam and plume of smoke.

Editor’s note: The images above and below are from the March 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.  Newer satellite images of the most recent activity can be found from the Natural Disasters Examiner – click here.

For all the latest on volcanoes as well as all types of natural disasters, be sure to visit the Natural Disasters Examiner!

Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland (NASA)
Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland. (NASA)

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

ThorntonWeather.com webcams capture time lapse video of snowstorm

Leave a comment
March 24, 2010 - Early morning look as the snowstorm comes to an end.
March 24, 2010 - Early morning look as the snowstorm comes to an end.

Colorado was slammed with an early spring snowstorm on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 that left the Mile High City buried in a blanket of white. Widespread poweroutages were reported, the evening commute was a mess and residents worked to dig themselves out from the heavy, wet snow. 

Across the nation there are thousands of Personal Weather Stations (PWS) that are owned and operated by weather enthusiasts.  These stations provide valuable services to their communities and their data is oftentimes used by local news media and even the National Weather Service. 

You can find many of these stations on the Rocky Mountain Weather Network.

ThorntonWeather.com is proud to be one of these stations providing local weather to residents of the City of Thornton.  Our site has become extremely popular as we are the most comprehensive source for Thornton weather.

Our webcams followed the storm as it arrived in Thornton on Tuesday and below is a time lapse video from the east camera.  The day starts out relatively nice with temperatures in the 40’s but by late afternoon, the video shows conditions deteriorating rapidly.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Snowstorm slams Thornton wreaking havoc along the way

Leave a comment
An image taken from ThorntonWeather.com's east camera at the height of the storm on Tuesday.
An image taken from ThorntonWeather.com's east camera at the height of the storm on Tuesday.

Update, 3:25pm: With many businesses and schools closed for the day, Thornton residents have spent the day digging out from a snowstorm that officially dumped 10 inches of snow in Denver. Areas to the west in the foothills and the south along the Palmer Divide had 18 inches or more while ThorntonWeather.com recorded 8.9 inches.  Click here to view the latest snowfall reports.

This latest snowfall puts Denver at 12.0 inches of snow for the month as measured at the official station at Denver International Airport. That is slightly above the March average of 11.7 inches. For the season, Denver has recorded 58.0 inches which is fast approaching the average of 61.7 inches.

As in the past, questions continue to dog the weather measurements at DIA however as they don’t reflect what most of the population of Denver actually sees. The accuracy of the measurements also is questionable as yesterday DIA recorded 0.61 inch of precipitation – far below what was likely received between the rain and snow melt.

Out at DIA, operations are slowly getting back to normal after scores of flights had been canceled due to the weather. At one point the FAA imposed a hold on arriving flights so the airport could catch up on departures. Many flights had been delayed while waiting for deicing and snow removal operations.

Xcel Energy continues to try to work to restore power to all of its customers after up to 36,000 lost electricity. The power company’s website still lists hundreds of outages affecting thousands of customers, including many in Thornton.

As always, stay tuned to ThorntonWeather.com for truly local weather for Thornton. 

You can also signup to receive the latest weather alerts and forecasts via email here.

Continue reading Snowstorm slams Thornton wreaking havoc along the way →

Thornton Weather

Here we snow again – Winter Storm Warning issued for Thornton

Leave a comment

Current weather warnings for northern Colorado. A Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for the Front Range including Thornton at 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon. (NWS)
Current weather warnings for northern Colorado. A Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for the Front Range including Thornton at 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon. (NWS)

Update, 7:10pm:  Thornton is in full winter storm mode now.  Wet, heavy snowfall is being seen across the Front Range and it is far from over.  Many areas are reporting more than 5 inches of snowfall so far with some as high as nine inches.  Here at ThorntonWeather.com we are up to 5.2 inches and counting!

Thundersnow was reported at the outset of the storm and Parker Examiner Melody Jones reports it is continuing in her area.  It is a phenomena that many folks may not be familiar with but not all that unusal. 

The snow is falling at rates up to 3 inches per hour and has covered many roads, particularly those in the northern, western and eastern parts of the city.  Strong winds are driving the snow creating some drifting and limiting visibility. 

Forecast total snow amounts have increased to the 8 to 16 inch range for the Denver metropolitan area.  The foothills and Palmer Divide could see amounts approaching 2 feet. 

Heavy snowfall will continue through the night and hazardous conditions will persist.  All residents should avoid travel if at all possible.  If you must go out, be sure to carry emergency supplies with you.

At Denver International Airport is reporting significant delays with some arriving and departing flights however airlines currently are not reporting any widespread cancellations.  Air travelers should check with their airlines before going to DIA.

As always, stay tuned to ThorntonWeather.com for truly local weather for Thornton. 

You can also signup to receive the latest weather alerts and forecasts via email here.

Continue reading Here we snow again – Winter Storm Warning issued for Thornton →

Local News

City of Thornton asks residents to nominate Thornton for Google Fiber

Leave a comment

Help the City of Thornton get Google Fiber!

On the City of Thornton’s Facebook page, the city is asking all Thornton residents to take five minutes to nominate Thornton to be the recipient of a new high-speed network provided by Google.  This would be an extraordinary opportunity for Thornton to not only gain incredibly fast Internet access for its citizens but also to expand it to those who cannot afford Internet access at all. 

The city’s posting said:

We need your help!! You may have heard that Google is looking for a community to build and test an ultra-highspeed network for connection to the internet. The City of Thornton is applying to have Google build their network here!! How can you help? By visiting the link attached, you can NOMINATE YOUR CITY. It is easy to do too. Please visit the link and nominate Thornton for this amazing opportunity. 

Residents are asked to follow the link below and extol the virtues of the City of Thornton and why we would be a worthy recipient of this.  If you have the talent, a YouTube video would be great as well but is not necessary. 

Please take a few minutes and fill out the form.  Just FYI, you do have to have a Google account to nominate Thornton but it takes just a minute extra to do. 

You can read more about the program by clicking here or watch the video below.

And, to nominate Thornton, please visit here.

Thornton Weather, Weather History

March 21 to March 27 – This week in Denver weather history

Leave a comment
March 21 to March 27 - This week in Denver weather history
March 21 to March 27 - This week in Denver weather history

This may be the first full week of spring officially but as any longtime Colorado resident will tell you, spring-like weather is not a given this time of year.  As we look back at this week in Denver weather history, it is very clear that oftentimes Old Man Winter insists on hanging around for a bit longer.

18-21

In 1907…a warm spell resulted in 6 daily temperature records.  Record maximum temperatures of 82 degrees occurred on the 18th with 81 degrees on the 19th and 80 degrees on the 20th.  Record high minimum temperatures of 52 degrees occurred on the 19th and 20th with 54 degrees on the 21st.

19-21

In 1888…heavy snowfall totaled 8.6 inches over downtown Denver.  North winds were sustained to 27 mph on the 19th.

20-21

In 1878…warm days with high temperatures in the lower 70’s in the city…caused snow to melt on the palmer divide…which caused the waters in Cherry Creek to rise. The high…rapid running water damaged a home and eroded bridge footings and abutments.  Some bridges became unsafe for the passage of trains.
 
In 1904…southwest winds sustained to 48 mph with gusts to 60 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 68 degrees on the 20th.  The high was only 42 degrees on the 21st behind a cold front…which produced 1.3 inches of snow and northeast winds sustained to 27 mph overnight.
 
In 1923…post-frontal rain changed to heavy snow and totaled 8.2 inches over the city.  North winds were sustained to 27 mph with gusts to 29 mph on the 20th. This was the second major snow in a week.
 
In 1932…rain changed to heavy snow…which totaled 6.2 inches in downtown Denver.  North winds gusted to 22 mph on the 21st.
 
In 1948…heavy snowfall totaled 7.2 inches over downtown Denver.
 
In 1952…a major snow storm produced north wind gusts to 35 mph and dumped 16.9 inches of snowfall on Stapleton Airport.  The maximum snow depth on the ground was 13 inches due to melting.
 
In 2000…heavy snow fell in and near the foothills of Douglas and Jefferson counties.  Snowfall totals included:  9 inches near tiny town and 7 inches in Littleton.  Snowfall totaled only 1.8 inches at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport. North winds gusted to 34 mph at Denver International Airport on the 20th.

20-22

In 1944…heavy snow fell over metro Denver for a total of 36 hours.  The storm dumped 18.5 inches of snowfall over downtown Denver and 12.2 inches at Stapleton Airport. Fortunately…there were no strong winds with the storm. North winds to only 19 mph were recorded on the 21st.

21

In 1898…an apparent Canadian cold front produced strong winds and plunged temperatures from a high of 56 degrees to a low of 8 degrees late in the day.  North winds were sustained to 48 mph with gusts to 60 mph.
 
In 1908…light snowfall of 1.3 inches produced 0.10 inch of precipitation.  This…along with the 0.01 inch of precipitation on the 8th…resulted in the driest March on record with a total of 0.11 inch of precipitation.
 
In 1916…southwest winds were sustained to 46 mph with a gust to 48 mph.  The Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a high of 62 degrees.
 
In 1923…heavy snowfall totaled 8.0 inches in downtown Denver.
 
In 1953…northwest winds gusting to 57 mph briefly reduced visibility to 3/4 miles in blowing dust at Stapleton Airport.
 
In 1981…rain changed rapidly to snow…but totaled only 2.8 inches at Stapleton International Airport.  North winds gusting to 35 mph produced much blowing snow and reduced the visibility to a half mile at times.  Over the higher elevations of south metro Denver…4 to 6 inches of snow were measured.

Continue reading March 21 to March 27 – This week in Denver weather history →

World Weather

Massive sandstorm turns China’s skies orange

Leave a comment
Sandstorm in China
Sandstorms in China have become more common due to deforestation and growing deserts. (File photo / Flikr / mckaysavage)

China’s capital city was shrouded in a cloud or orange dust from a massive sandstorm that affected an area of 312,000 square miles. Residents and visitors to Beijing were forced to wear masks and glasses in an attempt to keep the dust at bay.

The nation’s weather forecasting service gave the air quality rating of ‘5’ – its worst possible rating. The service was urging residents to stay inside and avoid the unhealthy air.

Flights at Beijing’s international airport were delayed and visitors to Tiananmen Square and other popular locations were greeted with orange skies and obscured landmarks.

The massive storm which originated hundreds of miles away struck after midnight and was carried by winds reaching 60mph. The sandstorm, somewhat common in Beijing, is expected to last until Monday.

The storm’s reach will also extend Saturday to the Korean Peninsula where Seoul has issued dust advisories.

Experts have blamed the storms on deforestation and urbanization and have resulted in a marked increase in the number of sandstorms. One storm in 2006 deposited an estimated 300,000 tons of sand on Beijing.

The expansion of deserts in the nation are considered a grave risk as deserts now encompass one third of the land area. In recent years the government began a program to plant vegetation in an attempt to stop the growing deserts.

“The situation improved tremendously after that. Thanks to the mild climate and conservation efforts, Beijing had only one sandstorm last year,” Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Station, told Xinhua on Saturday.

This story was originally published by the Natural Disasters Examiner.  To ensure you are up to date with the latest on all types of disasters from sandstorms and snowstorms to hurricanes and tornadoes, visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.