Thornton, CO

... This week in Metro Denver weather history...

20-27 in 2002... lightning sparked a wildfire near Deckers. Extremely
        dry conditions and very strong winds the following day
        allowed the fire... known as the Schoonover... to consume 3850
        acres before it could be contained. Thirteen structures
        were destroyed... including 4 homes... resulting in 2.2 million
        dollars in damage.
24-26 in 1996... a late Spring snowstorm dumped 4 to 10 inches of
        snow over the Front Range foothills. Conifer picked up
        10 inches of new snow; Aspen Springs... 9 inches; and
        Central City... 8 inches. The sticky... heavy snow clung to
        power lines and pulled tree branches down... causing power
        outages to about 1200 homes in the Conifer area. It took
        up to 6 hours to restore power to some residences.
        Lightning struck a telephone data Cabinet in Conifer on
        the 25th... which knocked out phone service to about 1500
        customers. Widespread rain fell across Metro Denver...
        where rainfall totaled 2.07 inches at the site of the
        former Stapleton International Airport and 1.66 inches at
        Denver International Airport where north winds gusted to
        24 mph on the 26th.
      In 2010... high winds preceding a cold front... swept across
        the Front Range foothills and urban corridor. In Aurora...
        the wind damaged the roof of rangeview High School. In
        Conifer and Denver... the wind downed trees and power
        lines and caused several brief outages. The downed
        power lines also caused several cars to catch fire in
        the vicinity of 1590 Cook St. In Denver. Peak wind gusts
        included: 82 mph at Highlands Ranch... 67 mph... 4 miles
        east of Franktown and longmont; 65 mph in Boulder... 64 mph
        in centenniel and Denver International Airport... 62 mph
        near Parker and 60 mph in Arvada.
25-26 in 1950... a major storm dumped 10.0 inches of snowfall
        downtown and 10.7 inches at Stapleton Airport where
        northwest winds gusted to 30 mph on the 25th. The storm
        caused extensive damage to utility wires and trees which
        were in full Leaf. A daily record minimum temperature of
        31 degrees occurred on the 25th. This was the coldest
        temperature on this date in 79 years and for so late in the
        season.
      In 1989... a late season snow storm dropped snow as low as 6
        thousand feet along the Front Range. Most places in the
        foothills had 2 to 5 inches of snow. Overnight rainfall
        totaled 0.33 inch at Stapleton International Airport where
        north winds gusted to 37 mph on the 25th.
      In 1994... lightning struck a television transmitter on Lookout
        Mountain near Golden and burned out a switcher... which
        disrupted cable service for 2 hours.
26 in 1897... apparent Post-frontal north winds were sustained to
        42 mph with gusts as high as 48 mph.
      In 1942... the all-time highest recorded temperature in may... 95
        degrees... occurred.
      In 1978... two children were struck and killed by lightning on
        a Junior High School playground in Parker.
      In 1987... 1 inch diameter hail fell near Boulder and
        Bennett. The hail was fairly soft and caused no damage.
      In 1993... dry thunderstorms produced wind gusts to 81 mph at
        Jefferson County Airport near Broomfield. Several trees
        were blown down by the strong winds. Microburst winds
        gusted to 51 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
      In 1995... a woman was injured in Littleton when the car she
        had just entered was struck by lightning. All of the
        windows in the car were blown out by the strike. A funnel
        cloud was sighted near Littleton.
      In 2000... a strong microburst wind gust to 92 mph flipped a
        small airplane on its back and blew a DC-3 loose from its
        moorings... which allowed it to roll onto a grassy field at
        Front Range Airport near Watkins.
      In 2010... severe thunderstorms pounded parts of the urban
        corridor with very large hail... heavy rain... damaging winds
        and a tornado. The hail... ranging in size from 1 inch to
        2 3/4 inches in diameter... struck Brighton... Commerce City
        and northeast Denver the hardest. The storms continued to
        spread destruction to the north and east... impacting
        Byers... Hudson... Deer Trail and Prospect Valley. The
        combination of hail and wind stripped the bark and
        branches from trees. Numerous accidents were reported
        as the hail accumulated up to a foot deep. Snowplows
        were called out to clear the roadways. Flash flooding
        occurred along State Highway 52 between Hudson and
        Keenesburg... and forcing the closure of the Highway.
        Widespread crop damage was also reported as the area
        was inundated with up to 18 inches of water. Extensive
        damage to homes... businesses and automobiles was
        reported with the damage estimated to be around 70
        million dollars. A tornado touched down near Denver
        International Airport... but did no damage. Lightning
        struck a child in Commerce City while she was watching
        television. She suffered minor injuries to her leg.
        At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal wildlife Refuge... a
        lightning strike killed a Bison. At Denver International
        Airport... only 0.01 inch of rainfall was observed... along
        with a peak wind gust to 48 mph from the southeast.
26-31 in 1995... a cool period with light morning showers and
        moderate to heavy afternoon showers and thunderstorms
        pushed rivers already swollen from mountain snow melt
        over their banks causing minor flooding. Streams and
        rivers such as the South Platte and Boulder Creek flooded
        Meadowlands... bike paths... roads near streams... and other
        low lying areas. No significant property damage was
        reported and crop damage was unknown. Rainfall totaled
        1.79 inches at the site of the former Stapleton
        International Airport and only 1.51 inches at Denver
        International Airport.
27 in 1874... an apparent thunderstorm gust front reached the
        city at 6:40 PM. Strong southwest winds sustained to
        48 mph for a few minutes produced large columns of
        dust in the city and on the prairie. There was no
        rain in the city.
      In 1942... a duststorm swept into the city... but no damage
        was reported. West winds were sustained to 23 mph.
      In 1953... a heavy hailstorm caused an estimated 100 thousand
        dollars damage across Metro Denver. Larger than Golf Ball
        size hail fell in Westminster and north Denver. Only 1/8
        inch hail was measured at Stapleton Airport.
      In 1955... west-northwest winds at 35 mph with gusts as high
        as 58 mph briefly reduced the visibility to 1/2 mile in
        blowing dust at Stapleton Airport.
      In 1981... lightning damaged power lines west of Lakewood and
        blew up a transformer at the Denver Federal Center. Hail
        1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter was reported in Lakewood and
        on I-25 south of Denver.
      In 2001... hail as large as 3/4 inch in diameter was measured
        near Commerce City.
      In 2003... hail to 3/4 inch in diameter fell near Central
        City.
      In 2006... unusually warm weather for late may produced two
        temperature records. The high temperature of 93 degrees
        was a record maximum for the date. The low temperature
        of 59 degrees equaled the record high minimum temperature
        for the date. Both previous records occurred in 1895.
28 in 1884... a thunderstorm apparently produced large hail.
        The hail stones were noted as unusually large... but the
        diameter of the stones was not measured. The hail fell
        for only 5 minutes. Precipitation from the storm was
        only 0.05 inch.
      In 1898... heavy thunderstorm rainfall totaled 1.74 inches
        in downtown Denver. Hail of unknown size accompanied
        the storm.
      In 1981... a woman in Aurora was struck and killed by
        lightning. Another Bolt injured a boy on a bicycle at
        about the same time a short distance away. About half an
        inch of rain in 20 minutes caused street flooding in the
        area. A tornado touched down for about 2 minutes some 3
        miles north of Stapleton International Airport.
      In 1982... severe thunderstorms produced Golf Ball size hail
        in southeast Denver... Aurora... and Strasburg. The large
        hailstones undoubtedly damaged some cars in the area.
        At Stapleton International Airport... only 1/2 inch diameter
        hail was measured.
      In 1991... Golf Ball size hail fell in Brighton. No damage
        was reported. Later... hail ranging in size from 3/4 inch
        to 1 1/2 inches in diameter fell over southwestern sections
        of Metro Denver. In some areas... hail piled up a few inches
        in depth.
      In 1994... thunderstorm wind gusts to 65 mph damaged 16 small
        airplanes and a hangar at Centennial Airport.
      In 2001... severe thunderstorms produced large hail across
        Metro Denver. Hail as large as 1 inch in diameter fell
        in Lakewood... Wheat Ridge... northwest Denver... near Watkins...
        Bennett... and Keenesburg. Hail 3/4 inch or larger fell
        in Brighton. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 58 mph at
        Denver International Airport. A small tornado (f0)
        touched down near Bennett... but did no damage.
29 in 1934... the low temperature dipped to only 66 degrees... the
        all-time record highest minimum temperature for the month
        of may.
      In 1958... a microburst caused a brief wind gust to 56 mph at
        Stapleton Airport.
      In 1964... heavy rain caused flooding in the Harvey Gulch
        area of southeast Denver. The high water damaged homes...
        businesses... streets... and bridges. At Stapleton
        International Airport... 1.33 inches of rain were measured
        with 1.76 inches total rainfall on the 29th and 30th. The
        heavy rain during the last week of the month was the first
        significant precipitation since April 3rd.
      In 1967... 3/4 to 1 inch diameter hail stones fell in the city
        of Denver... but caused no reported damage. Hail as large as
        3/4 inch was measured at Stapleton International Airport.
      In 1975... the heaviest last snowfall of the season occurred
        when 5.6 inches of snow were measured at Stapleton
        International Airport. Rain all day on the 28th changed
        to snow on the 29th and accumulated to a depth of 4 inches
        on the ground. Northwest winds gusted to 31 mph.
        Precipitation (rain and melted snow) on the 28th and 29th
        totaled 1.48 inches.
      In 1982... one man was killed and two others injured by a
        lightning strike as they stood under a tree in the city of
        denver's Washington Park.
      In 1987... 7/8 inch diameter hail fell near Castle Rock.
      In 1990... thunderstorms over Metro Denver produced several
        small funnel clouds and two small tornadoes. The first
        tornado (f0) touched down in northwest Denver and caused
        roof damage to a house and snapped off the tops of several
        trees. A second tornado (f1) touched down in Northglenn
        and moved into Thornton damaging a group of self storage
        garages... several vehicles... a wooden fence... several trees...
        and the roof of an auto parts store. No injuries were
        reported. The storms also caused minor street flooding
        across northern and western sections of Metro Denver.
        Rainfall totals ranged from 1 to 3 inches. Lightning
        started a small fire at a home in northwest Denver. The
        fire was confined to the front rooms and was quickly
        extinguished. Snow plows were used to clear 2 to 4 inches
        of pea to Marble size hail from a stretch of U.S. Highway
        285 in Turkey Creek Canyon. Lightning felled a tree in
        northeast Denver... while strong winds snapped off several
        large tree limbs in the same area. Thunderstorm rainfall
        totaled 0.82 inch at Stapleton International Airport
        where southwest winds gusted to 30 mph.
      In 1991... lightning struck a 13 year old boy in a field in
        Fort Lupton. The boy was in critical condition in an area
        hospital for 2 days before recovering.
      In 1995... lightning struck a soccer goal Post and injured
        6 adults viewing a soccer game in Arvada. Although no
        one received a direct hit from the lightning... all escaped
        with only minor injuries... except one woman who was
        hospitalized.
      In 1996... large hail... 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter...
        struck Lakewood and west Denver. Lightning sparked a
        small fire when it struck an oil storage tank 5 miles
        west of Brighton.
      In 2001... lightning sparked a fire in an apartment complex in
        Aurora... forcing the evacuation of 24 units. Most of the
        fire damage was confined to the attic. Damage was
        estimated at 100 thousand dollars.
      In 2004... a man and his son were struck by lightning while
        practicing on the driving range at The Meadows Golf club
        in southwest Metro Denver. The father was killed by the
        Bolt... and his 16 year old son seriously injured. Three
        other people standing nearby received only minor injuries.
      In 2010... hail up to 7/8 inch in diameter was reported in
        Broomfield.
29-1 in 1894... heavy rain combined with snowmelt runoff caused
        widespread flooding over the South Platte river basin.
        Rainfall was heaviest in the foothills where 5 to 8
        inches were measured over the 4 days. Heavy rainfall
        west of Boulder flooded mining towns and damaged mining
        properties. In the canyons above Boulder... railroads
        and roads were washed out along with many bridges. The
        floodwaters spread into central Boulder and covered a
        wide area from University hill north to near Mapleton
        hill to a maximum depth of 8 feet. Many houses were
        swept away... and every bridge in Boulder was destroyed.
        A few people... trapped in their homes by the floodwaters...
        had to be rescued. However... the gradual rise of the flood
        waters resulted in only one death. Boulder Creek spread to
        a width of nearly one mile in The Pasture land to the east
        of Boulder. Extensive flooding on Left Hand creek north
        of Boulder washed away Railroad and wagon bridges. The
        heavy cloudbursts caused flooding on Bear Creek... which
        washed away bridges... Railroad tracks... and structures and
        destroyed the canyon roadway. Morrison sustained the
        heaviest flood damage on Bear Creek. In Denver... rainfall
        totaled only 1.50 inches on the 30th and 31st... but the
        heavy rainfall on upstream tributaries of the South Platte
        river caused the river to rise as much as 10 feet above the
        low water mark in the city... which caused some flooding of
        pasture land downstream to a depth of 6 feet near Brighton.
30 in 1875... a windstorm lasting almost all day produced
        sustained winds to 42 mph.
      In 1935... southeast winds sustained to 29 mph with gusts to
        34 mph produced a moderate duststorm during the afternoon.
      In 1938... heavy thunderstorm rain and hail pummeled downtown
        Denver during the evening hours. Rainfall accumulated to
        1.63 inches. Hail accumulated to a depth of 18 inches.
      In 1948... a localized thunderstorm caused flooding on Sand
        Creek in Aurora and northeast Denver. Rainfall was only
        0.49 inch in downtown Denver where light hail also fell.
      In 1963... a golfer died of injuries received when struck
        by lightning on a Golf course southwest of Denver. A
        warehouse in Denver was damaged and its contents destroyed
        by a lightning-caused fire.
      In 1967... up to 4.00 inches of rain in Lakewood and Wheat
        Ridge caused flooding of roads and basements. Water was
        several feet deep in some yards. Many streets were
        temporarily closed. Hail as large as 1 inch in diameter
        fell in Wheat Ridge. Hail piled up to 2 feet deep in some
        low lying areas of east and southeast Denver. Snowplows
        were employed to remove the hail. Stapleton International
        Airport... where west winds gusted to 39 mph... received 1.51
        inches of rain and hail... which forced the closure of the
        runways for an hour. Hail stones to 3/4 inch in diameter
        were measured at Buckley field. A funnel cloud was sighted
        near south Wadsworth Blvd. And Bear Creek. A tornado
        touched down briefly in the vicinity of 60th and 62nd
        avenues near North Washington street. The storm uprooted
        trees and damaged one building. Doors were ripped from a
        business house... widely scattering irrigation pipe. In
        addition... a total of 3 funnel clouds were sighted in that
        area.
      In 1970... hail up to 1 inch in diameter fell at Stapleton
        International Airport.
      In 1976... a single thunderstorm crossed south Metro Denver
        producing a funnel cloud 2 miles south of Arapahoe Road
        and Broadway. The storm moved over Buckley field producing
        a funnel cloud and 1/2 inch diameter hail. As the storm
        moved northeast of the city... a large tornado touched down
        near east 59th Ave and tower Road and was on the ground for
        20 minutes. It demolished a 60-foot-long cinderblock cow
        shed... tore a wall from a machinery shed... tore shingles off
        the roof of a farmhouse nearby... and felled 12 trees on one
        farm. A boy in a feed shed 20 feet from a destroyed
        building was not injured.
      In 1977... 3/4 to 1 inch diameter hail fell at or near
        Stapleton International Airport. One inch to baseball
        size hail fell in south Denver... damaging some homes and
        extensively damaging some airplanes at Arapahoe County
        Airport... now Centennial Airport. Hail covered highways
        to a depth of 6 to 8 inches in south Denver.
      In 1978... two funnel clouds were sighted 5 miles south of
        Stapleton International Airport. Hail up to 1 1/4 inches in
        diameter was reported in Wheat Ridge and northwest Denver.
        Only 1/2 inch diameter hail fell at Stapleton International
        Airport.
      In 1989... Golf Ball size hail fell at the Junction of I-25 and
        I-225. One inch diameter hail fell in Littleton.
      In 1990... a line of severe thunderstorms crossed Metro Denver...
        producing wind gusts to 60 mph and scattered areas of
        pea to Marble size hail. Small trees and branches were
        blown down by the strong thunderstorm winds... which also
        caused minor power outages across southern and eastern
        sections of Metro Denver. The strong winds uprooted a 25-
        to 30-foot tree in the acres green subdivision of northern
        Douglas County. The tree blocked a busy street for several
        hours. A pilot reported hail as large as 1 1/2 inches in
        diameter covering the ground near the north end of a runway
        at Stapleton International Airport. Heavy rain caused a
        rock and mud slide that partially closed the Boulder Canyon
        Highway 10 miles west of Boulder. Thunderstorm winds gusted
        to 41 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
      In 2001... lightning ignited a fire which destroyed a luxury
        home on Bear Mountain near Evergreen. Estimated damage
        was set at 1 million dollars