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NOUS45 KBOU 160959
PNSBOU
COZ030>051-162300-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
259 AM MST TUE DEC 16 2025
..TODAY IN METRO DENVER WEATHER HISTORY
15-16 IN 1964...HIGH WINDS RAKED METRO DENVER...CAUSING CONSIDERABLE
DAMAGE. WIND GUSTS TO 81 MPH WERE RECORDED AT ROCKY FLATS
NORTHWEST OF DENVER...94 MPH AT JEFFERSON COUNTY AIRPORT
NEAR BROOMFIELD...48 MPH IN DOWNTOWN BOULDER...AND 70 MPH
IN LITTLETON. WEST WIND GUSTS TO 67 MPH WERE RECORDED
AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. A MAN WORKING ON
CONSTRUCTION IN DOWNTOWN DENVER DIED FROM INJURIES AFTER
BEING STRUCK BY A 5-FOOT BY 8-FOOT SECTION OF PLANK RUNWAY
BLOWN BY THE STRONG WINDS. SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE BLOWN DOWN
BY THE STRONG WINDS OR HIT BY FLYING OBJECTS. BUILDINGS...
ROADS...TREES...AND POWER EQUIPMENT WERE DAMAGED. ROADS WERE
CLOSED EAST OF DENVER DUE TO BLOWING DUST.
IN 1981...WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH WERE COMMON IN THE FOOTHILLS
NORTHWEST OF DENVER. WEST WIND GUSTS TO 47 MPH WERE
RECORDED AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE THE
VISIBILITY WAS BRIEFLY REDUCED TO 3 MILES IN BLOWING DUST.
IN 1996...STRONG PRE-FRONTAL WINDS DEVELOPED IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF BOULDER COUNTY AHEAD OF AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT THAT MOVED
INTO NORTHEASTERN COLORADO LATE ON THE MORNING OF THE 16TH.
WIND GUSTS OF 70 TO 75 MPH WERE CLOCKED AT TABLE MESA IN
SOUTHWEST BOULDER.
16 IN 1912...NORTHWEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 44 MPH WITH AN
EXTREME VELOCITY OF 45 MPH.
IN 1921...NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 46 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
50 MPH BEHIND A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT. ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW
FELL.
IN 1954...A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT PRODUCED SUSTAINED NORTH WINDS
TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH 54 MPH. VISIBILITY WAS
REDUCED TO 1 MILE IN BLOWING DUST AT STAPLETON AIRPORT.
IN 1955...SUSTAINED WEST WINDS TO 44 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS
58 MPH WERE RECORDED AT STAPLETON AIRPORT.
IN 1994...A WIND GUST TO 108 MPH WAS RECORDED ATOP SQUAW
MOUNTAIN WEST OF DENVER WITH A GUST TO 92 MPH IN
ROLLINSVILLE SOUTHWEST OF BOULDER. WEST WINDS GUSTED
TO 48 MPH AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 1996...A VIGOROUS ARCTIC COLD FRONT MOVED ACROSS METRO
DENVER. HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANIED THE
FRONT AS NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS IN SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW DEVELOPED SUDDENLY. NORTHERLY WINDS GUSTED FROM
40 TO 60 MPH BEHIND THE FRONT. DOZENS OF ACCIDENTS
OCCURRED AS ROADS AND HIGHWAYS QUICKLY TURNED TO A GLAZE
OF ICE. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS RANGED FROM 4 TO 6 INCHES ACROSS
METRO DENVER AND IN THE FOOTHILLS. THE EXCEPTION WAS AT
ELDORADO SPRINGS SOUTH OF BOULDER WHERE 8 INCHES OF NEW
SNOW WERE MEASURED. SNOWFALL TOTALED ONLY 1.8 INCHES AT
THE SITE OF THE FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
OFFICIALLY...THIS WAS THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW OF THE MONTH
IN DENVER. AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...NORTH WINDS
GUSTED TO 34 MPH.
IN 1999...ANOTHER BRIEF ROUND OF HIGH WINDS DEVELOPED IN AND
NEAR THE FOOTHILLS OF BOULDER COUNTY. PEAK WIND GUSTS
INCLUDED 83 MPH AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC
RESEARCH NEAR BOULDER AND 74 MPH ATOP NIWOT RIDGE AND
AT THE NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER ON ROCKY FLATS
SOUTH OF BOULDER. WEST WINDS GUSTED TO ONLY 33 MPH AT
DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE THE TEMPERATURE WARMED
TO A HIGH OF 54 DEGREES.
IN 2000...HIGH WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS SPREAD INTO THE
FOOTHILLS WEST OF DENVER. WINDS GUSTED TO 87 MPH AT
GEORGETOWN LAKE AND AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH IN BOULDER. WINDS GUSTED TO
72 MPH AT THE NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER SOUTH
OF BOULDER.
16-17 IN 1908...HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 7.9 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN
DENVER WHERE NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 20 MPH ON
THE 17TH. TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE TEENS AND 20'S.
IN 1939...LOW TEMPERATURES OF 49 DEGREES ON THE 16TH AND
43 DEGREES ON THE 17TH WERE RECORD HIGH MINIMUMS FOR
THE DATES. HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 65 ON THE 16TH AND 72
ON THE 17TH WERE NOT RECORDS.
IN 1980...CHINOOK WINDS BLEW THROUGH THE NIGHT IN BOULDER WITH
A PEAK REPORTED GUST TO 75 MPH. NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO
30 MPH AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 17TH.
THE STRONG CHINOOK WINDS WARMED TEMPERATURES TO RECORD
DAILY HIGHS OF 70 DEGREES ON THE 16TH AND 73 DEGREES ON
THE 17TH.
IN 2016...THE PRESENCE OF A WARM AND MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW
ALOFT...OVERRUNNING AN ARCTIC AIRMASS WITH SHALLOW POST
FRONTAL UPSLOPE PRODUCED A BAND OF VERY HEAVY SNOWFALL
ACROSS THE DENVER METRO AREA. THE ENHANCED BAND OF HEAVY
SNOW EXTENDED WEST INTO THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS WITH SNOWFALL RATES UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR.
MULTIPLE ACCIDENTS OCCURRED DURING THE EVENING HOURS OF
THE 16TH AS THE SNOW QUICKLY PILED UP. THREE HUNDRED
FLIGHTS WERE CANCELED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
AS THE WINTER STORM MOVED THROUGH THE DENVER METRO AREA
EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 17TH. STORM TOTALS IN THE
FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS INCLUDED: 16 INCHES
AT LOVELAND SKI AREA; 12 INCHES NEAR CONIFER...11 INCHES
AT WINTER PARK SKI AREA...10.5 INCHES AT BERGEN PARK...
10 INCHES AT ECHO LAKE...WITH 9.5 INCHES AT ASPEN SPRINGS
AND EVERGREEN. IN AND AROUND METRO DENVER...STORM TOTALS
INCLUDED: 11.5 INCHES IN WHEAT RIDGE...11 INCHES IN ARVADA...
9 INCHES NEAR MORRISON...8 INCHES AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT...DENVER/STAPLETON...MARSTON RESERVOIR AND RALSTON
RESERVOIR; 7.5 INCHES IN WESTMINSTER; 6.5 INCHES...5 MILES
NORTHEAST OF WESTMINSTER; 6 INCHES IN AURORA...5 MILES
WEST-NORTHWEST OF BRIGHTON...ENGLEWOOD AND NEAR LOUISVILLE.
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