Thornton Weather

Winter Weather Advisory in effect on Sunday as cold and snow settle in

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A view from Thornton as of mid-morning on Sunday. Broncos fans should be thankful that they dont have to go to a game at Invesco Field at Mile High with wind chills dipping to zero degrees!
A view from Thornton as of mid-morning on Sunday. Broncos fans should be thankful that they don't have to go to a game at Invesco Field at Mile High with wind chills dipping to zero degrees!

Updated, 12/6/09, 10:40am – The Winter Weather Advisory has been canceled.  Light snow will continue to fall through the afternoon but it is just too cold and dry to generate a bunch of snow.

Updated, 12/6/09, 10:30am – It is COLD out there! Temperatures in Thornton right now are around 14 degrees but with the breeze wind chills are approaching zero. 

The snow arrived in the Mile High City in the early morning hours and has been falling since then in varying degrees of intensity. Most roads around Denver are snowpacked and likely are pretty slick under the snow given the cold temperatures. The City of Thornton is on accident alert so if you must drive, please be careful.

Generally, we are looking at 3 to 5 inches of snow for today with flurries continuing throughout the day and into tonight. Areas close to the foothills and in the mountains will see more in the range of 6 to 8 inches. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 8:00pm tonight.

As we discussed in our morning forecast, it is simply too cold and dry to generate a great deal of snow. The real story with the system is the bitter cold. Most stations on the Rocky Mountain Weather Network are reporting temperatures in the teens with wind chills near zero making it pretty miserable to be outside no matter where along the Front Range you are.

As always, stay tuned to ThorntonWeather.com for truly local weather for Thornton.  If you haven’t done so, be sure to follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!  They are great ways to stay up to date with the latest weather news, forecasts and conditions!

Updated, 12/6/09, 6:05am – While being a bit slower to generate than originally thought, the snow has begun to fall along the Front Range and will continue for much of the day, particularly this morning. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued and will remain in effect until 8:00pm this evening.

The Denver metro area can expect 3 to 5 inches of snow accumulation from the system, most of which will be light and fluffy thanks to a lack of moisture and the cold temperatures. Here in Thornton we will probably be at the lighter end of that range.  We may see some periods of heavy snow before it begins to taper off this afternoon. A weak upslope will limit the highest accumulations to areas along the foothills and in the mountains.

Continue reading Winter Weather Advisory in effect on Sunday as cold and snow settle in →

Climate Change

ABC, CBS, NBC continue to ignore Climategate email scandal

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The story has all the makings of a big news story and a world class whodunit. An illegal break in leads to charges of a global conspiracy. Some of the world’s leading experts tackling one of the most pressing issues of our day and age are forced to launch a defense of themselves. Two experts fall under the specter of investigations, Congress holds hearings into the affair, the Internet is set afire by one phrase – Climategate.

For two weeks the story rages and grows in intensity and yet somehow, the big three television networks are missing in action. Whether the story is just smoke or if there is fire behind it, the hacking of one of the world’s major climate research centers and the fallout from it is big news. By ignoring the story, ABC, CBS and NBC are highlighting the failures of themselves and much of the mainstream media.  Perhaps more importantly they are contributing to their own demise and irrelevance.

Since the Climategate story broke two weeks ago today on November 20th, the story has been covered by all cable news networks including FOX News and CNN. Through it all, the big three are nowhere to be found. Not one mention of the event has been made on the networks’ morning or evening news broadcasts.

The story has all the makings of a big news story and a world class whodunit. An illegal break in leads to charges of a global conspiracy. Some of the world’s leading experts tackling one of the most pressing issues of our day and age are forced to launch a defense of themselves. Two experts fall under the specter of investigations, Congress holds hearings into the affair, the Internet is set afire by one phrase – Climategate.

For two weeks the story rages and grows in intensity and yet somehow, the big three television networks are missing in action. Whether the story is just smoke or if there is fire behind it, the hacking of one of the world’s major climate research centers and the fallout from it is big news. By ignoring the story, ABC, CBS and NBC are highlighting the failures of themselves and much of the mainstream media.  Perhaps more importantly they are contributing to their own demise and irrelevance.

Since the Climategate story broke two weeks ago today on November 20th, the story has been covered by all cable news networks including FOX News and CNN. Through it all, the big three are nowhere to be found. Not one mention of the event has been made on the networks’ morning or evening news broadcasts.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!Why are the networks ignoring the story?  Who is covering the story in the networks’ absence?  Get all the details on the Climate Change Examiner. 

National Weather, Natural Disasters

Hurricane season ends with lowest level of activity since 1997

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Hurricane Bill was the most powerful hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season but it never struck the United States. (NASA)
Hurricane Bill was the most powerful hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season but it never struck the United States. (NASA)

Yesterday marked the end of the 2009 hurricane season and with it comes to a close one of the quietest seasons in recent history. The season featured nine named storms, the fewest since 1997, and for the first time since 2006 no hurricanes made landfall in the United States.

Only two named the storms – Tropical Storm Claudette and Tropical Storm Ida – made landfall in the nation. Those two storms both struck along the central Gulf Coast and brought heavy rain and some flooding but no widespread destruction.

Of the nine named storms, three became hurricanes. Two of those became major hurricanes of Category 3 strength of higher – Hurricane Bill and Hurricane Fred. Bill flirted with the United States East Coast as its waves claimed two lives but turned to the northeast and made landfall in Newfoundland after having weakened considerably. Hurricane Fred rapidly intensified off the west coast of Africa but quickly fell victim to wind shear.

Of the nine named storms, three became hurricanes. Two of those became major hurricanes of Category 3 strength of higher – Hurricane Bill and Hurricane Fred. Bill flirted with the United States East Coast as its waves claimed two lives but turned to the northeast and made landfall in Newfoundland after having weakened considerably. Hurricane Fred rapidly intensified off the west coast of Africa but quickly fell victim to wind shear.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For much more on this story including the tracks of the storms and amazing satellite imagery, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Thornton Weather, Weather History

November 29 to December 5 – This week in Denver weather history

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November 29 to December 5 - This week in Denver weather history
November 29 to December 5 - This week in Denver weather history

As always, our look back at Denver’s weather history books is very eventful.  As we start to get closer to winter, we begin to see many more multi-day snow events that are notable and this week’s look is no different.  We see many major snow events and also of note are the damaging high wind events.

From the National Weather Service:

25-29

In 1985…dense fog with visibilities as low as 1/8 mile occurred on five consecutive days at Stapleton International Airport.  The fog was at times accompanied by light snow… Light freezing drizzle…or ice crystals.  Fog occurred all day on both the 26th and 29th.
28-29 in 1908…heavy snowfall overnight and for most of the day on the 29th totaled 12.5 inches.  Precipitation was 1.09 inches.  Northwest winds were sustained to 26 mph on the 29th.
 
In 1928…a major storm dumped 15.5 inches of snowfall on downtown Denver.  North winds were sustained to 18 mph with gusts to 19 mph on the 28th.
 
In 1992…an upper level storm system moved across metro Denver…but left only a dusting of snow.  Snowfall totaled only 1.6 inches at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusted to 25 mph.  Other snow amounts included: 8 inches at Conifer…6 inches at Lake Eldora…3 inches at Rollinsville and in southeast Denver.
 
In 1997…a storm system tracking across northern New Mexico produced strong north to northeast upslope flow against the eastern slopes of the Front Range and Palmer Ridge. Snowfall totals in Jefferson County included:  14 inches near Deckers; 12 inches at Castle Rock and Sedalia; 10 inches near Conifer…11 miles southwest of Morrison…and at Buffalo Creek.  Elsewhere…snow accumulations were less. Snowfall totaled only 0.7 inch at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport on the 27th and 28th.
 
In 2004…heavy snow fell in the foothills and across metro Denver.  In the foothills…snowfall totals included:  13 inches at Roxborough State Park and Eldorado Springs… 11.5 inches near Conifer…11.0 inches near Nederland…and 10 inches near Indian Hills.  Across metro Denver snowfall totaled 14 inches near Sedalia…9 inches near Louisville… 8 inches at Ralston Reservoir…and 5.1 inches in the Stapleton area of Denver.  Northeast winds gusted to 28 mph at Denver International Airport on the 28th.
 
In 2006…a slow moving storm system brought heavy snow to the mountains and to the eastern foothills where snowfall ranged from 8 to 18 inches.  Some of the more impressive snow totals included:  18 inches at Genesee…17.5 inches near Boulder…17 inches at aspen springs…16.5 inches 10 miles northwest of Golden…15 inches at Eldorado Springs… 14.5 inches in Idaho Springs and near Jamestown…12 inches in grant and near Indian Hills…11.5 inches near Blackhawk… 11 inches at gross reservoir and Eldora…and 10.5 inches in Conifer.  Across metro Denver…storm total snowfall generally ranged from 5 to 9 inches with the heaviest amounts near the foothills in Boulder and Jefferson counties.  The most impressive totals included:  15.5 inches at Ken Caryl…12 inches in Boulder…7.5 inches near Morrison…and 7 inches near both Chatfield and Ralston reservoirs.  Snowfall totaled only 4.2 inches in the Denver Stapleton area.  Northeast winds gusted to 31 mph at Denver International Airport on the 28th.

28-30

In 1991…a winter storm dumped heavy snow in the foothills and near the Palmer Divide with 10 inches recorded at Conifer and Golden Gate Canyon…12 inches in Morrison… 6 inches at Castle Rock and Parker.  Only 3.4 inches of snow fell at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusting to 35 mph on the 29th…produced some blowing snow.  Some light freezing drizzle also fell on the 28th and 29th.

29   

In 1877…the all-time lowest recorded minimum temperature in the month of November…18 degrees below zero…occurred. The high temperature for the day was 16 degrees.
 
In 1899…northwest winds were sustained to 51 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph.  The Chinook winds warmed the temperature to a maximum of 74 degrees…a record high for the date and the warmest of the month that year.  The minimum temperature was only 39 degrees.
 
In 1927…post-frontal rain changed to snow and totaled 5.8 inches over downtown Denver.  Northeast winds were sustained to 22 mph.
 
In 1977…85 mph winds were reported at Wondervu in the foothills southwest of Boulder.  Northwest winds gusted to 39 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1980 strong Chinook winds reached 85 mph in Boulder… Blowing traffic signals and street lights down.  Some windows were shattered by the wind.  West winds gusted to 37 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1994…high winds blew across the Front Range eastern foothills.  Wind gusts to 92 mph occurred atop squaw mountain…5 miles south of Idaho Springs…and to 82 mph on fritz peak near Rollinsville in the foothills southwest of Boulder.  A wind gust to 75 mph was recorded at Jefferson County airport near Broomfield.  Northwest winds gusted to only 35 mph at Stapleton International Airport. No damage was reported.

Continue reading November 29 to December 5 – This week in Denver weather history →

Local News, Site News

Shop Weather Geek Stuff this holiday season and support ThorntonWeather.com

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Weather Geek Stuff is a great store with a wide array of weather related clothing and novelties. The site's merchandise was even shown on The Weather Channel.
Weather Geek Stuff is a great store with a wide array of weather related clothing and novelties. The site's merchandise was even shown on The Weather Channel.

One year ago we launched Weather Geek Stuff, an online store with a wide variety of clothing and novelties all catering to weather enthusiasts and storm chasers.  Powered by Cafe Press, there are a variety of custom logos available to adorn the merchandise. 

We have our infamous Weather Geek and Weather Diva line to our amusing weather warning signs that covers severe weather from tornadoes to hurricanes.  Kids clothing and even shirts for your dog area available.  Clocks, mugs, aprons, bags, water bottles and more can bear the weather related logos. 

By buying items from Weather Geek Stuff, you will be helping to support this ThorntonWeather.com.  All proceeds from sales of items go directly to the somewhat considerable costs for maintaining ThorntonWeather.com and updating it with the new features you have come to appreciate. 

With the holidays coming up, Weather Geek Stuff will make great gifts for the Weather Geek or Weather Diva on your shopping list! 

Weather Geek Stuff is a great place to buy weather related clothing and merchandise.

Climate Change

Climategate causes uproar – latest news and opinion

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Late last week thousands of emails from Britain’s top climate research agency were illegally released on the Internet and immediately caused an uproar in the debate about manmade climate change. The messages of private communications between some of the world’s top climate scientists raised questions about possible collusion, manipulation of data, deleting of climate data, and concerted efforts to silence dissenting opinions.

The Climate Change Examiner has been covering the developing story as new information is uncovered. These are some of the more recent stories to have come out:

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) responded to charges that it had incorrectly adjusted the…
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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Following on Climategate and the questions about the actions of some of the world’s top scientists, it has just been revealed that New…
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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Amidst the very serious discussion about the emails and documents from some of the world’s top climate scientists that were released on the…
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Legal counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed three Notices of Intent to File Suit against NASA today. Chris Horner, counsel of…
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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Swimming against the tide is never an easy task. Scientists that disagreed with the manmade climate change theory have learned that if you’re…
Keep Reading »

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

The release of thousands of email messages from Britain’s Climate Research Unit has stirred up a hornet’s nest of debate about whether or…
Keep Reading »

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Some of the world’s top climate change scientists have found themselves having to defend their internal communications after thousands of emails…
Keep Reading »

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

As the contents of a hacked climate change unit’s server in Britain were exposed on the Internet Friday, the event had some of the scientists…
Keep Reading »

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Britain’s Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, suffered a data breach in recent days when a hacker apparently broke into their…
Keep Reading »

Natural Disasters

NASA satellite captures image of Russian volcano’s smoke

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NASAs Terra satellite captured this image of a smoke plume coming from the Bezymianny volcano on the the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of a smoke plume coming from the Bezymianny volcano on the the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. (NASA)

The Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia is a relatively active area for volcanic activity, like much of the rest of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Bezymianny volcano in the east-central part of the peninsula is the smaller of three neighboring volcanoes.

Bezymianny was thought to be extinct until it erupted from 1955 to 1956. Prior to that, it had experienced a period of 1,000 of dormancy. The 1956 eruption was comparable in size to the Mount Saint Helens eruption in 1980 and resulted in a horseshoe shaped crater that has since been filled by other, smaller eruptions and pyroclastic flows.

On Wednesday, Novebmer 25, 2009, NASA’s Terrra spacecraft captured an image of a smoke plume emanating from the volcano. Using the craft’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), the plume is clearly seen as is its shadow.

For a larger image of the volcano, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Climate Change

Skeptic climate scientists’ voices silenced by so-called ‘consensus’

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The unscrupulous efforts of some of the world’s top climate scientists to silence dissent among skeptics is the latest discovery from the Climategate emails that were leaked last week.  Analysis of the messages shows that the scientists colluded together to stifle the opinions of anyone who disagreed with them. 

As the Climate Change Examiner wrote:

Swimming against the tide is never an easy task. Scientists that disagreed with the manmade climate change theory have learned that if you’re swimming against the ‘consensus’ of global warming, it can not only be hard, it can be a nasty business.

For years those who believe other factors beyond man drive the planet’s climate have said they were blocked from publication and been the target of a concerted effort to silence them. Their complaints were largely ignored but with the release of the Climategate documents and emails, the proof shows their claims were not unfounded.

An analysis of the emails from a veritable who’s who in climate science show that some of the world’s top scientists worked directly against dissenting scientists. The scientists worked to discredit other’s work, oust them from professional organizations, exerted pressure on scientific publications and went so far as to consider pushing an educational institution to review the doctorate of a scientist. The moves appear to go far beyond a scientific debate and read more like a vendetta against dissenting opinions.

The story here has all the details and examples how the scientists colluded together in rather disturbing fashion.

Also see:

Thornton Weather

England sees record rainfall that brings flooding

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The normally picturesque view of England’s Lake District saw itself become the scene of a rescue operation as helicopters and lifeboats plucked hundreds residents and brought them to safety. The area recorded the most rainfall ever recorded in the nation and the weather was responsible for the death of a local constable.

Widespread heavy rain across England and Ireland caused flooding that brought floods as deep as eight feet and engorged rivers that brought down bridges. England set a national rainfall record when 12.3 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours last week at Seathwaite Farm according to Britain’s Met Office.

In the town of Cockermouth, officials estimate 1,000 homes were flooded and more than 200 people were rescued. Local emergency responders and British soldiers conducted house to house searches to extract those struck by the floods. The town, 300 miles northwest of London, is at the confluence of the Cocker and Derwent rivers and is the birthplaces of poet William Woodsworth.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For the rest of the story including details on Irelands flooding and the amazing photos from the events, visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.

Thornton Weather

November 22 to November 28 – This week in Denver weather history

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November 22 to November 28 - This week in Denver weather history
November 22 to November 28 - This week in Denver weather history

This time period in November has been exceedingly eventful throughout Denver weather history.  Notable as usual are big wind events that have caused damage and injuries.  Snow of course is also quite present, including the Thanksgiving blizzard of 1983 which dumped an astounding 21.5 inches of snow on the Mile High City. 

From the National Weather Service:

21-22

In 1905…a trace of snow fell on both days in downtown Denver.  This was the only snow of the month…ranking the month along with other Novembers…the 2nd least snowiest on record.
 
In 1999…the first significant snowfall of the season struck metro Denver.  Snowfall totals included:  16 inches near bailey; 13 inches near evergreen; 12 inches at north turkey creek…Genesee…near Morrison…and near Sedalia; 11 inches near Conifer and in evergreen; 10 inches in Louisville; 9 inches in Brighton…Broomfield…and Denver; and 8 inches at Arvada…Castle Rock…and Eldorado Springs.  Snowfall totaled 8.4 inches at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 2003…heavy snow fell in and near the foothills of Boulder County.  Snowfall totaled 10.5 inches in Eldorado Springs. Across the city…snowfall was lighter with 2.8 inches measured at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport on the 22nd.  North winds gusted to 32 mph at Denver International Airport on the 22nd.

21-23

In 1918…post-frontal snowfall totaled 5.9 inches in downtown Denver.  Most of the snow…5.3 inches…fell on the 22nd. North winds were sustained to 20 mph on the 21st.
 
In 1931…a major storm dumped a total of 13.2 inches of snowfall over downtown Denver.  Most of the snow…11.4 inches…fell on the 21st.  A very cold air mass settled over the city after the heavy snow on the 21st.  After a low temperature of zero…the temperature climbed to a high of only 5 degrees on the 22nd…a record low maximum for the date.

21-25

In 1952…snowfall of 6.2 inches was measured at Stapleton Airport where northeast winds gusted to 17 mph on the 21st.

22

In 1977…101 mph winds were measured in southwest Boulder. The side of a garage was blown down.  West winds gusted to only 33 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1981…high winds occurred in the foothills.  A peak gust to 75 mph was reported at Wondervu.  West winds gusted to 23 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
 
In 1988…a wind gust to 88 mph was measured at Rollinsville.
 
In 1990…strong west to northwest winds…on the coat tails of a mountain snow storm the day before…lashed out at portions of the eastern foothills with 60 to 95 mph wind gusts.  The strong winds spread over all of metro Denver. A west wind gust to 49 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.

Continue reading November 22 to November 28 – This week in Denver weather history →

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