The snow is falling, the wind is blowing and it is cold and nasty out there right now. We took to the street for a little bit to capture some video of our late spring snowstorm. Highlights include the flag flapping in the wind, blowing snow, shoveling and even an appearance by Scout, our Frisbee catching dog who doesn’t mind the snow one bit.
Update, 4:45pm: Below the first video taken this morning is a second video captured from our east facing webcam. It is a time lapse showing the past 24 hours compressed into 48 seconds.
The recent snowstorm didn’t bring all that much snow to Thornton, 6.9 inches, but it was our biggest snowfall in over a year and delivers some much needed precipitation. The light, fluffy snow was easily blown around by winds gusting in excess of 32 mph which limited visibility and made conditions outside harsh.
The video below captures the event from our east facing camera beginning at 6:00pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013 and continuing through 6:00am on Monday, February 25, 2013. Light snow is seen falling soon after 10:00pm on Saturday night and following a lull, really picks up by mid-morning Sunday.
Thornton residents have begun digging out from the major winter storm that deposited an extraordinary amount of snow on the city. In the end, the storm will go into the record books as the biggest February snowstorm in Denver history.
As officially recorded at Denver International Airport, Denver recorded 15.9 inches of snow from the storm system. This handily broke the old single storm February record of 14.1 inches set in 1912.
Further, February 2012 now enters the history books as the 10th snowiest February ever recorded in Denver. With more than three weeks to go, it is possible we will climb the top 10 list even further.
The 12.5″ DIA saw yesterday set a new single day record for February 3rd beating the old record for the date of 9.5″ set in 1932. This also is the biggest single day snowfall total ever recorded in Denver during February.
The snow has moved out and the sun will be shining soon as residents begin digging out from a record-setting snowstorm. Here is Thornton we recorded 13.8″ of snowfall and that was actually one of the lower totals across northeastern Colorado. It was however Thornton’s biggest snowstorm since October 2009 when we recorded 14.1″ from a late month event.
Snow began falling Thursday evening and continued through the night, all through the day Friday and into Saturday morning. By this morning most of the metro area was only seeing a few flakes falling and by the end of the day the sun will return.
Below is a time lapse video from our east facing webcam. It covers from 4:00pm on Thursday, February 2 to 6:00am on Saturday, February 4 compressing that period into a little more than one minute.
A view of the Flatirons near Boulder on December 3, 2011 following the second snowstorm in three days. (National Weather Service)
The meteorological winter starts on December 1 and Old Man Winter is making sure we know he is around. Two snowstorms have hit Thornton in a three day span and more snow is on the way.
On Thursday the first storm brought 5.1 inches to Thornton. Denver officially recorded 5.7 inches at Denver International Airport (DIA).
Shortly before midnight last night, the snow began falling again and continued through noon. Here in Thornton we recorded 4.9 inches with the latest system.
Remember, when the snow starts flying, stay up to date with ThorntonWeather.com: ‘Like’ us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and add us to your Google+ circles
It is interesting to note that this brings our seasonal snowfall total to 24.5 inches. For comparison, we recorded a dismal 21.2 inches during all of the last season! In an average season, December received 61.7 inches.
Yet another storm system is on its way and is expected to arrive tomorrow evening. Right now it isn’t look near as impressive as the last two but Thornton may see another inch or two out of it.
Over the longer term, colder than normal temperatures are expected to last through this week. The first half should be dry but Thursday night into Friday we may see snow again. Long range models looking even further ahead predict colder than normal temperatures to last through the first half of the month.
ThorntonWeather.com's east camera captured the storm at its height early Tuesday morning.
After weeks of what some would call boring weather, Thornton saw things change considerably over the past week. Not one, but two snowstorms have hit the city getting us 2/3 of the way to the snow total we had for all of last season.
Here in Thornton we measured 6.6 inches with last week’s snowstorm and today’s added 7.9 inches. That brings us to a seasonal total of 14.5 inches.
For comparison, the last season was absolutely dismal and we only received 21.2 inches over the entire period. On average Denver receives 61.7 inches during a season.
The most recent storm prompted Winter Storm Warnings as the snow fell quickly after dark and lasted into the morning. The ground was much colder this time and aided by wind, it accumulated on roads unlike last week’s storm which saw the snow melt as quick as it fell.
While the morning commute was a mess and slow moving, it was relatively uneventful. Much to the chagrin of local students, most school districts remained open for the day. The sun started making an appearance after noon and by the evening a good bit of blue sky was above.
Below are time lapse videos taken from our two webcams of the storm. They cover the 18 hour period from 6:00pm on November 1 to 12:00pm on November 2.
Denver saw a big change in the weather in a very short period of time. Click the image for a slideshow of images from the snowstorm.
The weather in Colorado is famously variable and in a span of a few short days this was fully evident. We went from record high temperatures to a winter-like snowstorm and back to sunny skies in four days.
On Monday, October24, Denver set a record high temperature of 80 degrees, besting the record high for the date of 79 degrees last set in 1999. Thornton was just a touch cooler for the day with a high of 79 degrees.
Tuesday was a day of transition as we started with sunny skies but clouds rolled in during the afternoon and rain was falling by the evening. As darkness descended and temperatures fell, the rain changed to snow and we started our first snowstorm of the season.
In the Denver metro area, snow totals ranged from a few inches to as many as 9 in the western and northwestern suburbs. Denver International Airport recorded 8.5 inches, more than double the 4.1 inch average for the month of October. Here in Thornton, we lagged a bit with 6.6 inches of the white stuff.
Have broken branches to get rid of? The City of Thornton is holding a special tree limb drop off event on Saturday. Click here for details
Across Thornton and much of the Front Range, the heavy wet snow caused its share of problems. Many trees had yet to lose their leaves and branches broke under the weight of the snow. Power outages were seen across the region including many in Thornton.
While the storm moved out before nightfall Wednesday, it left clearing skies which led to bitterly cold temperatures. Denver International Airport recorded an early morning low of 14 degrees, the coldest temperature the city has seen since March 5th. Here in Thornton we dropped to a low of 12.8 degrees.
The latest forecasts show we are in for a gradual warm up but one that will keep temperatures below normal through the weekend. Beyond that, we may be getting our next shot of snow as soon as late in the day next Tuesday.
The video below was captured by our west facing webcam. You can see as the snow builds the trees start sagging and struggle under the weight of the snow.
Snowfall totals from the latest snowstorm to strike the northeastern United States. Click the image for a larger view. (Examiner.com)
Yet another major snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States yesterday and last night, their third in less than a month. Snow totals in many areas from this single storm have far exceeded what Denver has received for its entire snow season thus far.
Snow began falling on Wednesday snarling evening commutes from Virginia to New York and picked up in intensity overnight.
Snowfall totals this morning include 18.9 inches at Newark Airport, 19.0 inches at Central Park and 15.1 inches in Philadelphia (click here to view the latest totals from across the region). These all dwarf Denver’s official seasonal total thus far of 12.1 inches!
Even President Barack Obama was not immune to the storm as Marine One, the presidential helicopter, was grounded due to the weather Wednesday. Returning from a trip to Wisconsin, the president took a motorcade back to the White House instead and spent an hour stuck in traffic.
As many as 400,000 residents across the northeast are without electricity as the unusually wet snow wreaked havoc with the utilities. Public schools are closed Thursday and many government offices followed suit with the only exception being emergency personnel.
New York area airports shuttered Wednesday causing flight delays and cancellations across the nation. The FAA reports that most should open late this morning or this afternoon.
Virtually every major city has reported seasonal snowfall totals so far this year far in excess of normal. New York City, Boston, Worcester and Providence all have accumulated more than a foot of snow above average.
Click the image to the left to view a slideshow of images of the snow around New York City (Examiner.com).
To say today’s snowstorm was a fast mover doesn’t do it justice. The storm hit fast and furious and many doubted our forecasts for only light snowfall. But, as quickly as it arrived the winter storm departed and the event was over by nightfall.
In a span of three hours or so Thornton received 1.2 inches of snow. Of course it is a bummer to have to withstand the traffic problems caused by a storm that brought so little. To top it off we now have to wash our cars which hadn’t been clean but for a few days. Not much return for the hassle, even if we need the moisture. 🙂
The time lapse video below captures the entire event from start to finish and does it in about 9 seconds.
Snow cover across Colorado as imaged by NASA satellites on January 12, 2011. View a larger image below and images of snow elsewhere in the nation.
Snow cover across the lower 48 states jumped to more than 70% in recent days as a number of snowstorms dumped a blanket of white. NASA satellites took some extraordinary images of not only Colorado but also the South and the northeastern U.S.
Here in Colorado our recent storm brought nearly 6 inches of snow to Thornton and deposited a pretty solid layer across most of the state. Warm weather today and in the coming days will make short work of it though, particularly on the eastern half of the state.
Little Rock, Arkansas reported 5.6 inches of snow, Atlanta 3.0 inches and 7.0 inches fell on Tupelo, Mississippi, Asheville, North Carolina and New Boston, Texas. Adding to the problems was ice which coated some places up to an inch and a half thick.
The same storm system that wreaked havoc in the south moved to the northeast and brought snow from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. The region was buried by a major snowstorm right after Christmas and while this storm wasn’t near as bad, it added to the misery.
The images below were taken yesterday by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites and are impressive testaments to the powerful winter weather. For more on all of these storm systems, be sure to visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.
