The Thornton Community Chorus will join the Thornton Community Band as one more cultural offering in the city.
Supported by the Thornton Arts, Sciences and Humanities Council (TASHCO), Thornton will soon be playing host to its own choir group – the Thornton Community Chorus. The chorus joins the relatively new Thornton Community Band and form a duo of extraordinary cultural offerings for area residents.
According to the Thornton Community Chorus’ website, they will be working to establish a performing chorus of adults in the north metro area. Currently in the formation stage is looking for organizers, musicians and supporters. Be sure to check out their website for more information at www.thorntoncommunitychorus.org.
We would be remiss to not also mention the Thornton Community Band. The band formed a bit over a year ago and has been a tremendous hit. If you have not heard them perform, you are truly missing out on hearing some extraordinary musicians. Their next concert is March 4th so please visit their website to learn more at www.thorntonband.webs.com.
While obviously not a weather-related story, we feel that both of these offerings bring new opportunities to not only the performers but citizens as well. We encourage everyone to take advantage and enjoy some music!
January 24 to January 30 - This week in Denver weather history
Denver and Colorado weather is rarely boring. This week in Denver weather history we see numerous occurrences of Chinook winds that warmed temperatures but also arrived with such force that they caused a great deal of damage. We also see unseasably warm weather, bitter Arctic cold, and snow fall that had to be measured in feet.
18-24
In 2005…a week of mid-winter unseasonably warm weather pushed high temperatures into the 60’s or more on all but one day. During the period…the highest temperature of 70 degrees on the 20th was a new record maximum for the date. Low temperatures remained above freezing on 4 of the days.
22-26
In 1948…the longest period of snowfall on record (92 hours and 3 minutes) occurred in downtown Denver where a total of 13.6 inches of snow fell. At Stapleton Airport…19.0 inches of snow fell…making it the heaviest snow in January and the 5th heaviest snow of record at that time. North winds were sustained to a velocity of 23 mph on the 25th…but generally the winds were light throughout the storm. The snow disrupted traffic…but street clearing was begun soon after it became apparent that the snow would be heavy. Over the 5 days…temperatures ranged from a high of 48 degrees on the 22nd to a low of 1 degree on the 26th. Most readings were in the teens and 20’s during the storm.
23-24
In 1921…heavy snowfall in downtown Denver totaled 8.0 inches overnight. Northwest winds were sustained to 22 mph with gusts to 25 mph on the 24th.
24
In 1887…west winds sustained to 44 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 56 degrees in the city.
In 1890…northwest winds sustained to 48 mph with gusts to 60 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 63 degrees.
In 1900…west winds were sustained to 44 mph with an extreme velocity of 46 mph. The Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a high of 57 degrees.
In 1934…a trace of snowfall resulted in precipitation of 0.01 inch in downtown Denver. This was the only measurable amount of precipitation for the month…making the month one of the driest January’s on record.
In 1956…west-northwest winds gusted to 51 mph at Stapleton Airport. Strong and gusty winds persisted throughout the day.
In 1972…a west wind gust to 92 mph was recorded in Boulder at the National Bureau of Standards…while in downtown Boulder a wind gust to only 66 mph was measured.
In Denver…a car was demolished when the wind blew a traffic light pole onto it…and a wooden wall at a construction site was blown over damaging two cars. Northwest winds gusted to 55 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1982…strong winds were again reported along the eastern foothills. While the most damage occurred in the Fort Collins area…Boulder did not entirely escape. Nine planes were damaged at the Boulder airport along with 4 mobile homes and many cars in the Boulder area. A school in Central City was damaged. A water tank in Parker collapsed. The strongest wind gust recorded was 140 mph at Wondervu. Wind gusts reached 92 mph in Boulder. Northwest wind gusts to 61 mph were recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
In 1992…for the third day…high winds raked the eastern foothills. Winds gusted to 105 mph at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Several tractor trailers were overturned along State Highway 93…between Boulder and Golden. Traffic lights and signs were knocked down in Boulder. Other wind reports included: 86 mph at Rocky Flats…100 mph on Fritz Peak near Rollinsville…and 93 mph in north Boulder. West winds gusted to 37 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
Venezuela's state run media is reporting that the United States used a devastating new 'earthquake weapon' to cause the earthquake that struck Haiti last week. (Examiner.com)
Unbeknownst to the world, the United States has a new weapon that was responsible for last week’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti and the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China that killed 90,000 people. That of course is a ridiculous statement but the claim was nevertheless made on Venezuela’s ViVe TV, the official news outlet of the nation’s dictator, Hugo Chavez.
According to the report, not only can this devastating weapon cause earthquakes, it can also “create weather anomalies to cause floods, droughts and hurricanes.” The claims are based on a supposed report from Russia’s Northern Fleet which has been monitoring United States Navy activity and documented the new device.
ViVe TV says the earthquake in Haiti was the result of the U.S. Navy testing this new weapon and the United States was aware that it could cause damage. Despite this, ViVe says the U.S. proceed with the test and “had pre-positioned their Commander Southern Command Officer, Gen. PK Keen, on the island to oversee relief efforts if needed.”
This image from the IPCC's AR4 report was included with claims of Himalayan glaciers disappearing by 2035. That claim has now been disproven. The image also shows that glacial retreat was occuring long before the industrial age. (IPCC)
Just three years ago, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made the stark claim that it was “very likely” that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035. In a blow to its credibility, the IPCC was forced to acknowledge this week that the assertion was incorrect despite being oft repeated by its leaders.
The claim was contained in the IPCC’s seminal “AR4” report that was issued in 2007, the same year the panel and Al Gore won Nobel Peace Prizes for their work combating anthropogenic global warming. The document has served as a guide to policymakers in their efforts to force heavy regulation of carbon dioxide emissions.
The passage in question said, “Glaciers in the Himalaya are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.”
Concerns of glacial retreat have been used to provide an exclamation point on the claims that action must be taken immediately to stem man’s purported influence on the climate. According to the IPCC’s methodology, “very likely” is meant to have a 90% or greater chance of occurring. With millions of people in Asia relying on glacial ice for their water supply, the threat was considered to be great.
The claim was said to reference a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a global environmental advocacy group performed in 2005. The WWF’s study in turn cited a 1999 story in New Scientist that contained the claim.
New Scientist had interviewed Dr. Syed Hasnain who was working at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi at the time. No quote is attributed to Hasnain where he mentioned the 2035 date although it appears in the narrative of the story. Earlier this month, Hasnain said that the statement was pure “speculation” and not based in scientific fact.
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck northern New Mexico early Monday morning. The temblor was felt as far away as Trinidad, Colorado. (USGS)
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck northern New Mexico west of Raton early this morning and was felt as far away as Trinidad, Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey says that the temblor’s epicenter was 16 miles west of Raton and originated 3.1 miles underground.
No damage from the quake that occurred at 1:41am on Monday morning has been reported. While a magnitude 4.1 quake is not a major quake, had it struck in a more densely populated area it would have been sufficient to knock items off of shelves.
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 6.5 on the Richter Scale.
According to the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, the costliest quake was a 5.3 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.
The Sangre de Christo Fault, near which the quake occurred, is located in the mountain range for which it is named and runs more than 110 miles from the New Mexico border north into Colorado. In 2001 an earthquake “swarm” shook the area near Trinidad on the fault. During that event, from August 28 and September 21 of that year, 12 earthquakes of magnitude 2.8 to 4.6 struck just west of the southern Colorado city in the same area as Monday’s quake.
January 17 to January 23 - This week in Denver weather history
Chinook winds in January oftentimes bring welcome warmth to the Front Range. They can however be more of a curse than a blessing as at times they can reach hurricane strength and do extensive damage. Looking back at this week in Denver weather history, we see many such occurrences.
14-21
In 1930…a protracted cold spell occurred when low temperatures plunged below zero on 8 consecutive days. The coldest low temperatures of 20 degrees below zero on the 17th and 19 degrees below zero on the 16th were record minimums for the dates. High temperatures during the period ranged from 18 on the 18th to zero on the 20th. Two degrees on the 15th was a record low maximum temperature for the date.
15-23
In 1962…a protracted cold spell kept metro Denver in the deep freeze for more than a week. From the 15th thru the 23rd…low temperatures were zero or below for 9 consecutive days…but a daily record low was set only on the 22nd when the temperature dipped to 14 degrees below zero. A record low maximum for the date was also set on the 22nd when the temperature climbed to only 11 degrees. The coldest high temperature was 3 degrees above zero on the 21st…which did not break the record. The protracted cold was broken for only a few hours on the afternoon of the 20th when Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a high of 38 degrees before another surge of cold arctic air plunged temperatures back into the deep freeze that evening. The severe cold caused much damage to water systems. A woman was frozen to death at Morrison. There were other deaths attributable to the weather…including traffic deaths and heart attacks from overexertion.
16-17
In 1886…a brief cold spell resulted in two temperature records. High temperatures of zero degrees on the 16th and 2 degrees below zero on the 17th were both record low maximums for the dates. Low temperatures of 8 degrees below zero on the 16th and 16 degrees below zero on the 17th were not records.
In 1930…temperatures plunging well below zero resulted in two records. Low temperatures of 19 degrees below zero on the 16th and 20 degrees below zero on the 17th were record low temperatures for the dates. High temperatures were 4 degrees on the 16th and 15 degrees on the 17th. Light snowfall totaled 4.0 inches. North winds were sustained to 18 mph on the 16th.
In 1964…high winds struck the eastern foothills. Gale velocity winds were recorded in Boulder with gusts to 83 mph measured at Rocky Flats. Several airplanes were damaged at the Jefferson County Airport in Broomfield. Roofs…walls…and parts of buildings were blown away at various locations. Power poles and trees were blown over.
16-18
In 1943…light snowfall totaled 3.2 inches over the 3 days. This was the only measurable snow of the month. North winds were sustained to 20 mph on the 16th.
January 10 to January 16 - This week in Denver weather history
January weather is like the weather of any other month in Denver in that you can see just about any type of condition possible. However, three conditions are dominant during the month – wind, snow and cold. All three make many appearances in our look back at this week in Denver weather history.
From the National Weather Service:
7-10
In 1962…a major winter storm dumped 13.5 inches of snow on metro Denver. A foot of the snow fell on the 8th when northeast winds gusted to 30 mph. The storm was followed by an intense blast of very cold arctic air. Minimum temperature readings of 24 degrees below zero occurred on both the 9th and 10th. The temperature never reached above zero on the 9th when a maximum reading of 1 degree below zero was recorded. Temperatures were below zero for 37 consecutive hours.
8-10
In 1983…winds of 70 to 90 mph howled through Boulder. A wind gust to 100 mph was recorded on Fritz Peak near Rollinsville. A tree blown down by the wind damaged a house in eastern Boulder County. The strong winds developed behind a cold front late on the 8th and continued through the 10th. At Stapleton International Airport…west to northwest winds gusted to 49 mph on the 8th…to 45 mph on the 9th…and to 48 mph on the 10th.
9-10
In 1962…the low temperature plunged to 24 degrees below zero on both days.
In 1972…a west wind gust to 60 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport…while in Boulder a wind gust to 86 mph was recorded at the National Bureau of Standards. The roof of a house was blown off…and trees were blown down in Boulder. The high winds contributed to the damage from a building fire in Boulder.
In 2000…heavy snow and strong winds in the mountains spilled into the Front Range foothills. Ward…northwest of Boulder…received 9 inches of new snow. Wind gusts to 91 mph were measured in Golden Gate Canyon…with gusts to 77 mph at Loveland Ski Area and to 73 mph along State Highway 93 north of Golden. West winds gusted to 44 mph at Denver International Airport on the 9th.
10
In 1893…strong west winds in Boulder and the adjacent foothills caused only minor damage.
In Denver…northwest winds were sustained to 48 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph. The Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a high of 64 degrees and a low of only 40 degrees…which was a record high minimum for the date.
In 1911…southwest Chinook winds sustained to 44 mph warmed the temperature to a high of 60 degrees.
In 1932…the first thunderstorm ever officially recorded in Denver during January occurred in the early morning. The assistant observer heard two prolonged peals of thunder between 4:20 am and 4:25 am. Another off-duty observer was awakened by the thunder. Other people reported both thunder and lightning. Light snow was falling at the time. Pellets of graupel or hail were reported from some parts of the city. Snowfall totaled only 1.8 inches. Northwest winds gusted to 30 mph.
In 1962…as the temperature dipped to a frigid 24 degrees below zero…setting a new record minimum for the date… The pressure adjusted to sea level reached the highest ever recorded in Denver…31.24 inches (1057.8 mb). The altimeter setting reached 30.70 inches…and the actual station pressure recorded was 25.260 inches.
In 1988…strong winds occurred throughout the day in and near the foothills. Peak gusts to 85 mph were recorded at Rollinsville…84 mph at Echo Lake…and 64 mph in Boulder.
In 1990…a third consecutive day of 50 to 85 mph wind gusts occurred in and along the eastern foothills. A 5 mile portion of the Denver-Boulder turnpike was closed after clouds of blowing dust and gravel caused several multicar accidents near Broomfield. One 59-year-old woman was killed and two others injured. A wind gust to 81 mph was recorded at the nearby Jefferson County Airport.
In Boulder…wind gusts to 85 mph were blamed for ripping off a portion of a roof on a house…as well as blowing out the large picture window. West winds gusted to 41 mph at Stapleton International Airport. The warm Chinook winds set a record high temperature of 71 degrees in Denver for the date.
In 1996…strong northwest winds developed behind a pacific cold front that moved rapidly across northeast Colorado. A peak wind gust to 64 mph was recorded at the Rocky Flats Environmental Test Facility in Jefferson County. North- northeast winds gusted to 38 mph at Denver International Airport.
Calling the recent weather that has gripped the eastern two thirds of the nation a ‘cold spell’ does not do it justice. From the eastern side of the Rockies to Florida and north to New England, much of the nation has seen extraordinarily cold weather in recent days that will continue through the weekend.
To the west, Denver will begin to warm up finally this weekend but that comes in the wake of Arctic cold that saw the Mile High City see high temperatures in the teens on Thursday and a low temperature down to -16. Just a bit further east on the plains, Kansas and Nebraska were similarly cold and were forced to cope with snow and ice that turned roadways treacherous.
In the Midwest, the cold weather had tragic results. On Thursday, an icy highway caused a tractor trailer to lose control and swerve into oncoming traffic impacting a bus transporting disabled adults. Three passengers and the bus driver were killed, six other passengers were injured as was the truck driver.
The nation’s railway system was impacted as Amtrak was forced to cut its daily train between Chicago and Denver on Friday because it could not make it through snow drifts in Nebraska. Passengers on the train Thursday arrived in Denver a day late after having been stuck on the plains for 23 hours. The California Zephyr from California to Chicago finally arrived Friday after being delayed 18 hours.
The southern part of the nation found itself gripped in the cold and unprepared to deal with it. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and even Florida saw temperatures dipping into record setting territory. Shelters in the states were packed with the homeless seeking someplace warm to spend the nights.
The new version of the 'Frozen Gore' statue spews smoke generated from a truck. (FrozenGore.com)
He weighs two tons, is six feet tall and spews smoke from his mouth. No, not former vice president and Nobel Laureate Al Gore but rather a huge likeness of him carved out of ice. The infamous ‘Frozen Gore’ ice sculpture has returned to Fairbanks, Alaska and it is better than ever.
Last year, local businessmen Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora received national media attention for the ice sculpture of the former vice president they had commissioned. The frozen likeness was created to draw attention to what Compeau called Gore’s hypocrisy in the debate about manmade climate change. Thousands of people went to see the sculpture and the website www.frozengore.com recorded more than 1.7 million visitors.
This week Compeau and Gavora unveiled a new Frozen Gore statue that is bigger and has a feature that allows it to belch smoke from its mouth (see video below). At the unveiling visitors laughed as the smoke emanated from the sculpture all while a soundtrack of Al Gore’s speeches played in the background.
Sculpted by Steve Dean, the sculpture is intended to draw attention to the men’s belief that other factors drive the climate besides man. Compeau told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, “We do want to invite debate. We don’t agree with his theories — we’re suspicious of the financial motivation behind them.”
The pair did invite Al Gore to come view the statue and have a debate last year. Gore declined citing a ‘scheduling conflict’ although according to Compeau no date had even been suggested.
NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of London and the surrounding countryside covered under a blanket of snow. See a larger image below. (NASA)
Cold winter weather that has been called the worst in 50 years has gripped England and turned deadly. Showing the widespread extent of the snowfall, NASA released imagery today from its Terra satellite showing the nation under a blanket of white.
The severe cold in the country has turned deadly and claimed 22 lives since it first struck last month. Schools across the nation have been forced to close and air and road travel has been severely impacted. Many homes have found themselves without power.
The nation found itself unprepared by the cold as it was facing shortages of road salt and more critically, natural gas for heating. Suppliers of salt said they were having a hard time keeping up with demand and may very well run out before the cold weather is finished. Companies in northern England have been ordered to shut down in order to preserve natural gas supplies.
