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NOUS45 KBOU 060859
PNSBOU
COZ030>051-062300-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
259 AM MDT WED MAY 6 2026
..TODAY IN METRO DENVER WEATHER HISTORY
4-8 IN 1969...FROM THE 4TH TO THE 8TH...HEAVY RAINS CAUSED
FLOODING ON BOULDER CREEK IN BOULDER...WHICH RESULTED IN
ONE DEATH ON THE 7TH. FLOODING ALSO OCCURRED ON BEAR
CREEK IN SHERIDAN AND ON THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER IN DENVER.
RAIN OVER MOST OF THE EASTERN FOOTHILLS STARTED LATE ON
THE 4TH AND CONTINUED WITH ONLY BRIEF INTERRUPTIONS IN
MANY AREAS UNTIL THE MORNING OF THE 8TH. VERY HIGH RATES
OF RAINFALL OCCURRED ON THE 6TH AND 7TH WITH THE GREATEST
INTENSITIES IN A BAND ALONG THE FOOTHILLS FROM ABOUT 25
MILES SOUTHWEST OF DENVER NORTHWARD TO ESTES PARK. STORM
TOTALS BY BOTH OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL MEASUREMENTS
EXCEEDED 10 INCHES OVER MUCH OF THIS AREA AND WERE OVER 12
INCHES IN SOME LOCALITIES. HEAVY SNOW FELL IN THE HIGHER
MOUNTAINS AND IN THE FOOTHILLS LATER IN THE PERIOD. THE
SATURATION OF THE SOIL RESULTED IN NUMEROUS ROCK AND LAND
SLIDES...AND THE HEAVY RUN-OFF CAUSED SEVERE DAMAGE ALONG
MANY STREAMS AND FLOODING ON THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER. MANY
FOOTHILL COMMUNITIES WERE ISOLATED AS HIGHWAYS WERE BLOCKED
AND COMMUNICATIONS DISRUPTED. ROADS WERE SEVERELY DAMAGED
OVER A WIDE AREA...AND A LARGE NUMBER OF BRIDGES WASHED OUT.
MANY ROADS WERE CLOSED DUE TO THE DANGER FROM FALLING
ROCKS. A BUILDING IN GEORGETOWN COLLAPSED FROM THE WEIGHT
OF HEAVY WET SNOW. IN BOULDER...A MAN DROWNED WHEN CAUGHT
BY THE FLOODING WATERS OF BOULDER CREEK...AND A PATROLMAN WAS
INJURED. RAINFALL TOTALED 7.60 INCHES IN BOULDER WITH
9.34 INCHES RECORDED AT THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY ELECTRIC
PLANT IN BOULDER CANYON. IN MORRISON...RAINFALL TOTALED
11.27 INCHES IN 4 DAYS. HEAVY RAINFALL TOTALED 4.68 INCHES
AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OVER 3 DAYS FROM THE 5TH
THROUGH THE 7TH. RAINFALL OF 3.14 INCHES WAS RECORDED IN 24
HOURS ON THE 6TH AND 7TH. DOWNSTREAM FLOODING CONTINUED
ALONG THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER UNTIL THE 12TH WHEN THE FLOOD
CREST REACHED THE NEBRASKA LINE.
5-6 IN 1907...RAIN CHANGED TO SNOW ON THE 5TH...CONTINUED THROUGH
THE NIGHT INTO THE 6TH...AND TOTALED 3.50 INCHES. NORTHEAST
WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 15 MPH ON THE 5TH.
IN 1917...POST-FRONTAL RAIN CHANGED TO HEAVY SNOW...FROM THE
5TH TO THE 6TH...AND TOTALED 12.5 INCHES OVER DOWNTOWN DENVER.
MOST OF THE SNOW...12.0 INCHES...FELL ON THE 5TH AND THIS WAS
THE GREATEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL EVER MEASURED DURING THE MONTH
OF MAY. THIS WAS ALSO THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW OF THE MONTH
THAT YEAR. LOW TEMPERATURES OF 27 DEGREES ON THE 5TH AND 23
DEGREES ON THE 6TH WERE RECORD MINIMUMS FOR THE DATES.
HIGH TEMPERATURES ON BOTH DAYS WERE IN THE LOWER 40'S.
SOUTHEAST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 24 MPH WITH AN EXTREME
VELOCITY TO 26 MPH.
IN 1964...FROM THE 5TH TO THE 6TH...HIGH WINDS GUSTED TO 54 MPH
IN BOULDER AND TO 80 MPH AT JEFFERSON COUNTY AIRPORT NEAR
BROOMFIELD. WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 60 MPH WERE COMMON OVER ALL
OF EASTERN COLORADO. BUILDINGS...POWER LINES...TREES...AND
VEHICLES WERE DAMAGED BY THE WIND. SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WIND
GUSTS TO 54 MPH CAUSED SOME BLOWING DUST AT STAPLETON
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE THE VISIBILITY WAS BRIEFLY
REDUCED TO 2 MILES.
IN 1973...FROM THE 5TH TO THE 6TH...A HEAVY DRIVING RAIN STORM
WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS...PRODUCED 1 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN
AND CAUSED LOCAL FLASH FLOODING ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF
THE FRONT RANGE. THE GREATEST FLASH FLOODING OCCURRED IN
METRO DENVER WHERE RAINFALL TOTALED 3.56 INCHES AT STAPLETON
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. FLOODING IN METRO DENVER OCCURRED
ON CLEAR CREEK AND THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER...ALREADY SWOLLEN
FROM HEAVY SNOWMELT. NUMEROUS BASEMENTS WERE FLOODED...
ROADS AND STREETS WERE WASHED OUT...A BRIDGE WAS DEMOLISHED...
AND MISCELLANEOUS OTHER DAMAGE WAS REPORTED. NORTH WINDS
GUSTED TO 39 MPH AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DURING
THE STORM. THE STORM PRODUCED MAJOR DOWNSTREAM FLOODING
ALONG THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER ALL THE WAY TO THE NEBRASKA
BORDER DURING THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. ONE PERSON DIED AND
TOTAL DAMAGE WAS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 120 MILLION DOLLARS.
IN 1978...FROM THE 5TH TO THE 6TH...HEAVY WET SNOW OF AROUND
24 INCHES COLLAPSED AN OFFICE AND HOTEL BUILDING IN
BOULDER. MANY CARS WERE ABANDONED IN THE CITY. DENVER
RECEIVED 14 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW WITH EVERGREEN AND
GOLDEN REPORTING 12 INCHES. SNOWFALL TOTALED 12.4 INCHES
AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WITH A TOTAL ACCUMULATION
OF SNOW ON THE GROUND OF 8 INCHES DUE TO MELTING. SOUTHEAST
WINDS GUSTED TO 23 MPH ON THE 5TH. TEMPERATURES BOTH DAYS
REMAINED IN THE LOWER TO MID 30'S.
6 IN 1876...HEAVY SNOW FELL DURING THE NIGHT AND ENDED DURING
THE MORNING...BUT NO AMOUNT WAS RECORDED. LIGHT HAIL FELL
BRIEFLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION FOR THE
DAY TOTALED 1.05 INCH WHICH WOULD GIVE AN ESTIMATED SNOWFALL
OF NEARLY 11 INCHES HAD ALL OF THE PRECIPITATION BEEN SNOW.
IN 1889...NORTHWEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 45 MPH IN THE CITY.
IN 1893...HEAVY SNOW OF 8.9 INCHES FELL OVER DOWNTOWN DENVER.
ONCE ON THE GROUND...THE SNOW MELTED RAPIDLY. THIS WAS THE
ONLY SNOW OF THE MONTH. NORTHWEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO
20 MPH.
IN 1904...WEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 45 MPH WITH AN EXTREME
VELOCITY TO 46 MPH.
IN 1914...AN APPARENT DRY MICROBURST PRODUCED SUSTAINED NORTH
WINDS TO 44 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH.
IN 1920...A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED HAIL AND 0.55 INCH OF RAIN.
THE HAIL OF UNKNOWN SIZE COVERED THE GROUND.
IN 1921...THUNDERSTORM WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 42 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO 44 MPH. RAINFALL WAS ONLY 0.17 INCH.
IN 1936...A LIGHT TO MODERATE DUSTSTORM MOVED IN FROM THE
EAST ON SOUTHEAST WINDS AND LASTED MOST OF THE DAY. THE
DUST REDUCED THE VISIBILITY TO TWO MILES AT TIMES. WINDS
FROM THE NORTHWEST SUSTAINED TO 21 MPH SWEPT THE DUST OUT
OF THE CITY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON.
IN 1966...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED FOR 7 MINUTES TO THE
SOUTHWEST OF STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE FUNNEL
APPEARED TO BE PICKING UP DUST FROM THE GROUND...BUT WAS
TOO DISTANT TO TELL. NO DAMAGE WAS REPORTED.
IN 1968...A THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST TO 53 MPH WAS RECORDED AT
STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 1988...HIGH WINDS RAKED THE STATE. WIND GUSTS RANGED FROM
60 TO 80 MPH IN BOULDER...AURORA...AND AT CENTENNIAL AIRPORT.
SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WINDS TO 53 MPH WERE RECORDED AT STAPLETON
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ACROSS METRO DENVER...THE STRONG
WINDS KNOCKED WINDOWS OUT OF BUILDINGS...DOWNED POWER POLES
AND WIRES AND SOME FENCES...UNROOFED SEVERAL BUILDINGS...AND
DAMAGED SIGNS.
IN 1997...STRONG WINDS FROM A DRY MICROBURST BLEW AN EMPTY
18-WHEELER ON ITS SIDE IN THE NORTHBOUND LANE OF I-25
NORTH OF DENVER NEAR THE BRIGHTON EXIT. THERE WERE NO
INJURIES. WEST WINDS GUSTED TO 46 MPH AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 2017...LIGHTNING STRUCK DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO A WOMAN WHILE
SHE WATCHED A YOUTH BASEBALL GAME. SHE FELT HER LEGS GO
NUMB AFTER A LIGHTNING BOLT STRUCK THE GROUND.
6-7 IN 1873...FROM THE 6TH TO THE 7TH...SNOWFALL TOTALED 8.9 INCHES
IN DOWNTOWN DENVER. MOST OF THE SNOW FELL ON THE 6TH.
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