Tag Archives: record cold

Thornton Weather

So how cold did it get in Thornton? Cold enough to freeze boiling water instantly

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ThorntonWeather.com tested the theory that boiling water turns to ice crystals when thrown into sub-zero air. It worked! Check out the video below. (ThorntonWeather.com)
ThorntonWeather.com tested the theory that boiling water turns to ice crystals when thrown into sub-zero air. It worked! Check out the video below. (ThorntonWeather.com)

To say it has been cold would be a major understatement.  Yesterday Denver’s “high” temperature only reached -2 degrees and this morning DIA dropped to -17 degrees, one degree shy of the record low temperature for the date.  We decided to have a little fun with the cold weather in our Thornton backyard yesterday. 

One fun experiment to do when the temperatures is so cold is to demonstrate how boiling hot water instantly freezes when thrown in the air.  We figured it would make a great story for our work on Examiner.com and thought we would share the results here.

Your intrepid local weather geek conducted the experiment at a time when the sun was partially shining but the temperature was a bone chilling 1.4 degrees below zero.  For what it is worth, with a 9 mph wind that was generating a wind chill of 14 degrees below! 

The experiment is conducted simply using a pot of boiling water.  When the water is taken outside in zero degree or colder weather and thrown into the air, the water instantly freezes in a cloud of ice crystals. 

It is interesting to note that if you do this with cold water, you simply end up dumping water everywhere – it doesn’t freeze!  That of course begs the question, how does boiling hot water freeze faster than cold water?

This phenomenon actually has a name – the Mpemba effect – named after Erasto Mpemba, a student in Tanzania in the 1960s who studied it.  While it is named after Mpemba, other luminaries including Aristotle spent time analyzing it.

Dr. Joe Larsen, a chemist at the Rockwell Science Center in Los Angeles, explains that the hot water breaks into tiny droplets when it is thrown because it is close to being steam.  The heat from the small droplets freezes virtually instantly resulting in the ice crystal cloud. 

This doesn’t happen with cold water because it is thicker and in a closer to solid state (or at least not as close to turning to evaporative gas as the boiling water is).  As such, it doesn’t break up as easily and falls to the ground in blobs. 

So, for those of you with kids at home because school is canceled, you can now put their time to good use by conducting a science experiment in the cold!

Thornton Weather

Temperature record falls – First time in 14 years Denver’s high temp did not get above zero

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Denver set a record low maximum temperature for this date.

With bone chilling cold having settled in along the Colorado Front Range, we knew a weather record had to fall and one did.  Denver set a record low maximum temperature for February 1. 

The official high temperature as measured at Denver International Airport only climbed to a high of -1 degrees.  This broke the previous record low maximum for this date of 2 degrees set in 1985.  Here in Thornton we fared a bit better hitting 2.7 degrees at 1:07pm.

As noted by the National Weather Service, this is the first time since January of 1997 that Denver saw a high temperature below zero degrees.  On January 12th and 13th of the year, the high only reached to -1 degrees. 

Will more records fall with this cold spell?  It is definitely possible.  Low temperatures overnight on Tuesday and into Monday morning are forecast to approach 18 degrees below zero.  The record low temperature for February 2nd is -17 set way back in 1901.

National Weather

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

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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.

Thornton Weather

Three temperature records fall to frigid cold in Denver

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Record setting cold arrived in Denver, breaking three records and nearly hitting a fourth.
Record setting cold arrived in Denver, breaking three records and nearly hitting a fourth.

Following on two low temperature records Friday and Saturday, a third was set Saturday when the mercury climbed to a high of only 26 degrees. That easily smashed the previous record low maximum for the date of 34 degrees set in 2005.

Friday night the cold front moved in and temperatures plummeted 23 degrees in five hours. Before midnight the mercury read 18 degrees thus shattering the old low temperature record for October 9th of 25 degrees. That record dated to 1970.

Saturday morning the low temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to 17 degrees. That set a new record low temperature for October 10th as well. The previous record low of 25 degrees was set more than a century ago in 1905.

A fourth record, for Sunday’s low temperature, was within reach but the mercury didn’t quite dip far enough. The record low for the date is 22 degrees, set in 1946. This morning the temperature at DIA dropped to 24 degrees which while chilly, didn’t quite go far enough.

The Arctic blast of cold air sent temperature plunging and forced the postponement of game 3 of the National League Divisional Series against the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies. That game has been rescheduled for tonight at 8:07pm.

Sunday will be the first time since Friday night with temperatures above the freezing mark in Denver although it will remain 20 degrees cooler than normal. The forecast high today is 49 degrees whereas the average for this date is 69 degrees.

For the Rockies game, at the first pitch the temperature will be around 38 degrees. The mercury will slowly drop during the game and be down to around 35 by 11:00pm.

Denver BroncosThe Rockies aren’t the only game in town today either. The Denver Broncos host the New England Patriots at 2:00pm. For the game at Invesco Field at Mile High, it should be great football weather. It will be 47 degrees at kickoff and remain right in that vicinity throughout. A slight breeze around 5 mph will make it feel a touch cooler than that.

For the longer term, temperatures throughout the week will remain cooler than normal. Columbus Day temps will actually be a touch cooler than today before we start a slight warm-up for the rest of the week.

Thornton Weather

Denver breaks 104 year old cold temperature record as Arctic chill sets in

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Record setting cold temperatures arrive in DenverThe Arctic blast of cold air that has settled in across much of the nation’s midsection arrived in Colorado Friday night and allowed the Mile High City to set two low temperature records. Two more records may be set today and tonight before we start to warm up on Sunday.

Friday night the cold front moved in and temperatures plummeted 23 degrees in five hours. Before midnight the mercury read 18 degrees thus shattering the old low temperature record for October 9th of 25 degrees. That record dated to 1970.  Thornton was a touch warmer than the official station at DIA as we recorded a low of 19.7 yesterday.

This morning the low temperature at Denver International Airport has dropped to 17 degrees. That sets a new record low temperature for October 10th as well. The previous record low of 25 degrees was set more than a century ago in 1905.  At ThorntonWeather.com we have been a bit chillier having recorded a low of 16.3 degrees this morning. 

The forecast for today and tonight also portends the potential to set two more cold temperature records.

  • The record low maximum temperature for today is 34 degrees, set in 2005. With temperatures today forecast to struggle to get above freezing, that could be the third record set.
  • Lastly, a fourth record is possible and indeed, quite likely. The record low temperature for the 11th of October (Sunday) is 22 degrees set in 1946. Current forecasts put the overnight low Saturday night / Sunday morning as possibly hitting down the mid to upper teens thus setting up the potential to break that record.

That would be four record setting cold temperature records in a 48 hour span!

Related – Examiner.com:

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Record setting cold may be on the way

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As the Colorado Rockies return home to play game 3 of the National League Divisional Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the weather could prove to be a tougher opponent than the opposing team. As we forecast early this week, a major blast of Arctic air will be arriving over Colorado tonight and will send thermometers plunging, possibly into record setting territory.

Over the next 48 hours, Denver could break three, very chilly records:

  • The record low temperature for Denver on the 10th of October (Saturday), the day of the game, is 25 degrees. That was set more than 100 years ago in 1905.  Tonight’s / tomorrow morning’s forecast low temperatures are expected to be in the low 20’s.
  • The record low maximum temperature for the 10th is 34 degrees, set in 2005. Tomorrow’s forecast high temperature is expected to be in the mid 30’s.
  • The record low temperature for the 11th of October (Sunday) is 22 degrees set in 1946. Current forecasts put the overnight low Saturday / Sunday morning as possibly hitting down to 17 degrees.

Of the three, it seems pretty likely we will break the first and the third record listed. The second one is a bit up in the air.

There's more to this story on the Denver Weather Examiner's site!For a detailed look at what the weather forecast holds for the Rockies and Phillies, check out our forecast at Examiner.com.

Thornton Weather

Record setting cold in Denver kicks off October

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Cold weatherTwo days in a row Denver has set or tied record low temperatures. 

On Friday at 5:55am the temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to 26 degrees easily setting a new low temperature record for October 2nd. The previous record of 30 degrees was set in 1999 and also in 1959.  This was the first freeze of the season.  Thornton however remained above the freezing mark with a low of 33.1 degrees.

Following on yesterday’s record setting cold, the Mile High City tied a 109 year old low temperature record this morning. The temperature at Denver International Airport dipped to 31 degrees tying the record low for this date last set in 1900.  Unlike yesterday, Thornton was actually cooler than the official Denver temperature having recorded a low of 28.2.

The average date of Denver’s first freeze is October 7th so we are a bit ahead on timing. The earliest date Denver has received freezing temperatures is September 8th which occurred in 1962. The latest date was in 1944 when the mercury didn’t dip to freezing until November 15th.

For a look at Denver’s cold weather statistics click here.

Thornton Weather

Record setting cold continues for Thornton and Denver

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Erin Mooty tries to stay warm as she waits for a bus Monday. Image courtesy Darin McGregor, The Rocky.
Erin Mooty tries to stay warm as she waits for a bus Monday. Image courtesy Darin McGregor, The Rocky.

The cold continues to hang on and in the process Denver managed to set one record and tie another in the last 24 hours.  This is of course on top of the two records set before that.

Yesterday the mercury at Denver International Airport only climbed to 2 degrees.  This smashes the old record low maximum temperature for the date of 19 degrees set way back in 1914.  Following up on that, this morning DIA fell to an official low of 8 degrees below zero.  This ties the record low temperature for December 16th last set in 1897. 

Today we have good news and bad news.  The good news is that the snow we were expecting didn’t materialize on the Front Range thanks to downslope winds.  That at least saves adding to the misery of the cold.  The bad news though is that this cold is far from over.
 
Tuesday we will remain quite cold and only reach 18 degrees here in Denver.  The mountains will continue to get pounded by snow, particularly the southwestern areas where two to three feet could fall.  A number of advisories have been posted for the southwestern and central mountains so if you are heading to the hills, you may want check the conditions before you go. 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there is a chance we could see temperatures above freezing but it won’t be by much – maybe 33 or 34 degrees.  A chance of snow will remain in the forecast for the foreseeable future as well although there won’t be much if it does snow. 

Come the weekend though, the “heat wave” looks to come to an end as an upper level trough that is sitting over the Pacific coast right now moves into the area.  With it our chances of snow increase and the temperatures could drop to the low 20’s Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 

The best piece of advice?  Bundle up and stay inside if you can!  

Where’s this weather coming from?  The jet stream is currently pulling in moist air from the Pacific and sending it right over Colorado.  This in turn is pulling down cold air from the north.  The image below helps you see what is going on.

The jet stream is currently speeding over southern Colorado.

Thornton Weather

Dangerously cold temperatures set records in Denver

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Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills have invaded the Front Range.
Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills have invaded the Front Range.

If you love the cold you must be in heaven this morning.  We are awakening to sub-zero temperatures that have now set records for two days in a row. 

Last night at 6:35pm the temperature at Denver International Airport reached a frigid -18 degrees.  This breaks the 107 year old record of -14 degrees for December 14th set way back in 1901. 

This morning the mercury dropped a bit further to -19 degrees at 2:31am.  That absolutely smashed the previous record low temperature for December 15th of -6 set in 1951.

Here in Thornton, ThorntonWeather.com also set records for low temperatures since we first went online in October 2006.  At 6:06am this morning the mercury was at a mere -14 degrees thus breaking our previous all-time cold temperature record of -13.3 degrees set on February 2, 2007.  At 4:08am we recorded a wind chill of -25.3, an all time record for us as well.  Certainly our record keeping hasn’t been going on as long as the official Denver ones but it is still pretty neat to see. 

At 7:00am, stations on the Rocky Mountain Weather Network were recording temperatures well into the negative teens.
At 7:00am, stations on the Rocky Mountain Weather Network were recording temperatures well into the negative teens.

As dawn approached, our temperature map from the Rocky Mountain Weather Network showed many stations across the Front Range reporting temps in the negative teens.  With daybreak, we won’t see much of a warm up either  as we will only reach a high of 16 degrees today.   Denver’s official record low maximum for this date set back in 1914 is 19 degrees so there is a pretty good chance that will be a third record set.  Tonight we are expecting a touch of snow, maybe an inch is about it.

When will the cold end?  Not for the foreseeable future unfortunately.  Long range forecasts going out to next Sunday do not show even one day with temperatures above freezing and there is a slight chance of snow almost every day.

This severe cold almost assures rough travel conditions as the sun isn’t helping to melt the lingering snow.  Please be safe out there and allow plenty of time to arrive at your destination.

Thornton Weather

Denver breaks 107 year old record

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Denver officially broke the record for the coldest temperature recorded on this date.
Denver officially broke the record for the coldest temperature recorded on this date.

Updated 12/15/08 @ 3:30am:

It’s officially cold as heck now!  The cold front has caused the mercury to plummet across the Front Range and we have officially set two new low temperature records.

At 5:52pm on Sunday, December 14th, the temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to -15 degrees.  That broke the old record of -14 degrees for this date set way back in 1901.  The mercury continued to drop and bottomed out at -18 degrees at 6:35pm.

The morning of the 15th has started with a new record low temperature as well.  At 12:00am the temperature was -13 degrees, breaking the old record for the date of -6 set in 1951.  The temperature is still dropping so that record will undoubtedly get even colder. 

It is important to note that prior to DIA opening, temperatures were measured at the old Stapleton site and prior to 1950 they were measured downtown.   That makes a 15 mile distance between where temperatures are measured now and where they were prior to March 1995.  Those 15 miles can accont for large differences in temperature so the record setting temperatures needs to be balanced with that knowledge as in some ways you are comparing apples and oranges.  Click here for a bit of history on the Denver Forecast Office.

Original posting:

We can officially say it is cold now.  The National Weather Service has reported that at 5:52pm the temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to -15 degrees.  That breaks the old record of -14 degrees for this date set way back in 1901. 

Thankfully here in Thornton we haven’t gotten that cold.  At 7:00pm Sunday night it is currently -6.2 degrees.  We will get down to -11 tonight and then only climb to 18 Monday.  Bundle up!

It is important to note that prior to DIA opening, temperatures were measured at the old Stapleton site (and before that downtown).   That makes a 15 mile distance between where temperatures are measured now and where they were prior to 1994.  Those 15 miles can accont for large differences in temperature so you have to take these new records with a grain of salt.