Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

January 10 to January 16 – This week in Denver weather history

Leave a comment
January 10 to January 16 - This week in Denver weather history
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.

Continue reading January 10 to January 16 – This week in Denver weather history →

National Weather

From the Rockies to the Atlantic, cold weather grips the nation

Leave a comment
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.

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!For more on this story and to view some of the amazing photos from the winter weather, visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Climate Change

‘Frozen Gore’ returns to Fairbanks, Alaska bigger than ever

Leave a comment
The new version of the Frozen Gore statue spews smoke generated from a truck. (FrozenGore.com)
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.

Examiner.com - Get inside Denver weatherFor the rest of this story and to see the video of the new Frozen Gore in action, please visit the Climate Change Examiner.

World Weather

Great Britain gripped by cold and snow – seen from space

Leave a comment
NASAs Terra satellite captured this image of London and the surrounding countryside covered under a blanket of snow. See a larger image below. (NASA)
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.

Unusually heavy snow and cold has affected not only Great Britain but large swaths of the Northern Hemisphere. The eastern two thirds of the United States was experiencing far below normal temperatures and Asia found itself dealing with snow and cold as well.

For a larger image, please check out the story on the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Climatology, National Weather, Natural Disasters

Deadly cold envelops Northern Hemisphere from U.S. to China

Leave a comment
Severe cold weather has enveloped the northern half of the globe from the United States to Britain to China. Across the continents, many places are reporting record setting temperatures and lives have been lost due to the Arctic chill.

The eastern half of the United States saw cold, Arctic air pulled down from the north plunging temperatures below freezing in normally mild places as far south as Florida. The widespread cold gripped most of the nation east of the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Seaboard.

Across the Midwest, temperatures plunged to well below freezing as parts of Iowa recorded temperatures as low as -15 degrees. Jeff Johnson, National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Des Moines Register, “”We’re a solid 30 degrees below normal.” Minneapolis, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois were seeing wind chills below 0 degrees Tuesday morning.

In Miami, residents accustomed to short sleeve shirts and shorts bundled up as temperatures dropped to freezing. Further north in the state, Orlando saw a low temperature of 21 degrees.

The National Weather Service issued hard freeze warnings across parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida as the cold threatened the agriculture industry in those states. Freeze watches in Tennessee highlighted the severe cold and came on the heels of reports that four people have died in that state from the cold.

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!The United States is not alone as the cold has turned deadly across the globe.  Get all the details and see some amazing photos at the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Climatology, Thornton Weather

December 2009 goes into the books as seventh coldest on record

Leave a comment

For the second time in the past three months, Denver has experienced monthly average temperatures in the ‘top 10 coldest’ category. In October, the Mile High City saw its second coldest October on record since record keeping began in 1882. Now Denver has just wrapped up its seventh coldest December in history.

Denver’s average December 2009 temperature was 24.1 degrees – a chilly 6.2 degrees below the normal average of 30.3 degrees. That puts the month into the books as the seventh coldest December on record (image right).  Thornton was just a touch colder having recorded an average temperature of 23.8 degrees.

Temperatures during the month ranged from a high temperature of 59 degrees on the 1st down to a low of -17 on the 9th. Overall, the majority of days during the month saw below normal temperatures.

In terms of snowfall, the month did finish above average but not in record setting territory. The National Weather Service recorded 11.1 inches of snowfall at the official monitoring station at Denver International Airport. This was 2.4 inches above the average of 8.7 inches for December.  In Thornton, we received a bit more snow than DIA.  15.3 inches was recorded at ThorntonWeather.com of which the single biggest even was the pre-Christmas storm which dumped 7.5 inches.

 The snow we did receive however was rather dry and as such we finished the month below normal for precipitation. DIA recorded 0.45 inch of precipitation which is 0.18 inch below normal.  Here again, because of the additional snowfall, Thornton fared a bit better with 0.5 inch of precipitation. 

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO                                 
510 PM MST SAT JAN 2 2010

................................... 

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2009...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2009

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR'S         
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)      
                                          NORMAL                      
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              79   12/05/1939                                    
 LOW              -25   12/22/1990                                    
                        12/24/1876                                    
HIGHEST            59   12/21        79     -20       69  12/02       
                        12/01                                         
LOWEST            -17   12/09       -25       8      -19  12/15       
AVG. MAXIMUM     36.4              44.1    -7.7     41.0              
AVG. MINIMUM     11.9              16.4    -4.5     12.3              
MEAN             24.1              30.3    -6.2     26.6              
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0              
DAYS MAX <= 32     15               5.3     9.7       10              
DAYS MIN <= 32     31              29.2     1.8       30              
DAYS MIN <= 0       6               2.8     3.2        6              

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         5.21   1913                                          
 MINIMUM         0.00   1881                                          
TOTALS           0.45              0.63   -0.18     0.24              
DAILY AVG.       0.01              0.02   -0.01     0.01              
DAYS >= .01         7               5.3     1.7        6              
DAYS >= .10         2                MM      MM        0              
DAYS >= .50         0                MM      MM        0              
DAYS >= 1.00        0                MM      MM        0              
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.20   12/22 TO 12/23        0.10  12/13 TO 12/14       

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           57.4   1913  SNOWIEST DENVER MONTH SINCE 1881
TOTALS           11.1                8.7              7.1             

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL    1260              1078     182     1179              
 SINCE 7/1       2739              2486     253     2367              
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0              
 SINCE 1/1        533               696    -163      825              

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962                                              
 LATEST       06/08/2007                                              
EARLIEST                        10/07                                 
LATEST                          05/05                                 
.................................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              8.8
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/217
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    43/220    DATE  12/13
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    49/220    DATE  12/13

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM *SUNSHINE DATA N/A EFFECTIVE 10/1

NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            4
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             21
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          6

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     61

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH 
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       0
LIGHT RAIN                0     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       2
LIGHT SNOW               10     SLEET                      0
FOG                      11     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      1
HAZE                      7                                           
                                                                    
-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.                                      
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.                                
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.                                       
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

January 3 to January 9 – This week in Denver weather history

Leave a comment
January 3 to January 9 - This week in Denver weather history
January 3 to January 9 - This week in Denver weather history

January weather in Colorado can be as varied as during any month of the year.  Temperatures bordering on spring-like to bone chilling Arctic cold can be seen.  Snow of course plays a big part and while not always recognized as a big danger, high speed damaging winds are not unusual.

31-6

In 1973…the 31st marked the start of a protracted cold spell that extended into January of 1974 when temperatures dipped below zero on 7 consecutive days.  Record daily minimum readings occurred on the 3rd and 5th when the temperature plunged to 17 degrees below zero on both days. A record low daily maximum temperature of only 4 degrees occurred on the 5th.

31-7 

In 1941…a protracted cold spell through January 7…1942… Produced below zero low temperatures on 7 of the 8 days. A low temperature of 2 degrees on the 3rd prevented a string of 8 days below zero.  The coldest days during the period were the 1st with a high of 2 degrees and a low of 9 degrees below zero…the 4th with a high of 2 degrees and a low of 11 degrees below zero…and the 5th with a high of 26 degrees and a low of 12 degrees below zero.

1-5  

In 1940…the first days of the month were characterized by a mixture of drizzle…light snow…and fog.  Fog occurred on each day.  On the 4th and 5th considerable glazing resulted from freezing drizzle.  All objects were coated with a glaze on the windward side.  This resulted in very slippery streets…which caused several minor traffic accidents.  The glaze was not heavy enough to damage wires and cables.

2-3  

In 1971…a major storm dumped a total of 8.4 inches of snow at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusted to 23 mph.
 
In 1972…a strong cold front late on the 2nd produced north wind gusts to 35 mph at Stapleton International Airport. Snow…heavy at times on the 3rd…totaled 6.4 inches as temperatures hovered only in the single digits.
 
In 2000…heavy snow fell over the higher terrain of the palmer divide to the south of metro Denver.  Snowfall totaled 7 inches 5 miles southwest of Sedalia.  Only 1.5 inches of snowfall were measured at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport.

2-4

In 1949…the worst blizzard in many years struck metro Denver and all of northern Colorado.  The storm produced blizzard conditions with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph all day on the 3rd when temperatures were only in the single digits.  This resulted in extremely cold wind chill temperatures of 40 to 55 degrees below zero.  Stapleton Airport received 13.3 inches of snow from the storm… While downtown Denver received 11.8 inches.  The snow fell for 51 consecutive hours downtown.  Numerous lives were lost…and livestock losses were high across the northeastern plains of Colorado where extensive airlift operations were needed to bring supplies and food to isolated communities.

Continue reading January 3 to January 9 – This week in Denver weather history →

Astronomy, Thornton Weather

Slideshow of images from the blue moon and other random pictures

Leave a comment
A New Year's Eve blue moon over Thornton. (ThorntonWeather.com)
A New Year's Eve blue moon over Thornton. (ThorntonWeather.com)

Thornton was treated to a rare New Year’s Eve blue moon and clear weather conditions to allow near perfect viewing of it.  While blue moons are relatively common occuring roughly every 2 1/2 years, they only occur on New Year’s Eve every 19 years. 

The first couple images in the slideshow below are from that night and the others from the night of New Year’s Day.  The other photos were taken the morning of January 2nd as the moon set in the west and then a few pictures of stuff in the ThorntonWeather.com backyard are included.

Remember, if you ever capture great images around Thornton, feel free to email them to us (info@thorntonweather.com) and we will share them on ThorntonWeather.com.

Climate Change, National Weather

Deaths and cost from natural disasters down significantly in 2009

Leave a comment
A distinct lack of major natural catastrophes resulted in lower costs and less of a loss of life in 2009. German reinsurer Munich Re AG said in its annual disaster report that approximately 10,000 people lost their lives and $50 billion in losses was realized during the year.  The company warned however that manmade climate change will soon reverse those numbers.

In terms of lives lost, with approximately 10,000 people killed during 2009, the year fell far short of the average of 75,000. This was also significantly less than in 2008 when 220,000 were killed by natural disasters. That year saw two major catastrophes – Cyclone Nargis and an earthquake in China’s Sichuan province – case the vast majority of lives lost.

The insurer’s numbers match closely with a report released last month by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) which put the annual death toll at 8,919. The most significant events in 2009 were an earthquake in Indonesia in September which killed 1,117, flooding in India in July that killed 992 and a series of typhoons and tropical storms that struck the Philippines.

Economic losses were also below the decadal average of $115 billion per year. 2009’s reported losses fall at less than half of that and far below the $200 billion mark that was seen in 2008. Munich Re said, “Losses were far lower in 2009 than in 2008 due to the absence on the whole of major catastrophes and a very benign North Atlantic hurricane season.”

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!For the rest of this story and to see how climate change could cause greater impact from natural disasters, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Climate Change

2009 proves to be pivotal year in climate change

Leave a comment
2009 - The year climate change and global warming activists would like to forget
2009 - The year climate change and global warming activists would like to forget

There is little doubt that 2009 will be viewed as a pivotal and important year in the debate about manmade climate change.  For years alarmists served up their theory to a seemingly captive audience.  This past year however, the sands shifted and scientists that doubt man’s influence on the climate found their voice. 

Throughout the year, alarmists suffered setbacks and then the Climategate scandal struck and the UN climate summit ended in failure.  Even Al Gore was likely hiding with a polar bear somewhere after the dismal year he experienced.  🙂

The Climate Change Examiner has a great summary of the year in climate change:

For those who believe the manmade climate change theory, the new year cannot get here fast enough. As 2009 comes to a close, many are faced with the realizations that not only are they losing in the court of public opinion, the ‘consensus’ about anthropogenic global warming is far from solid. The year saw preeminent scientists join the chorus of those saying that other drivers besides man influence the climate, a scandal erupted that shook the very foundation of climate science and a much touted climate summit fell into disarray.

As 2009 dawned, climate change advocates continued to sound the alarm about carbon dioxide’s accumulation in the atmosphere and the warming they believe it causes. With President Barack Obama taking office in January, it was thought their brand of climate science would find a new foothold on which to advance the cause. As Obama prepared to take office, Dr. James Hansen sent the president-elect a letter warning of the dire consequences at hand saying that he had four years to save the world.

High hopes were soon dashed as many noted scientists and public figures raised their voices in dissent. From meteorologists to geologists to climate scientists, those who don’t agree with the theory refused to be silenced.

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!Click here to read the rest of this important look back at 2009 in climate change news.

Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.