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NOUS45 KBOU 300959
PNSBOU
COZ030>051-302300-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
259 AM MST TUE DEC 30 2025
..TODAY IN METRO DENVER WEATHER HISTORY
25-31 IN 1980...TEMPERATURES WERE UNUSUALLY WARM DURING THE WEEK
BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S. HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR
THE WEEK RANGED FROM THE MID-50'S TO THE MID-70'S. FOUR
TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET. RECORD HIGHS OCCURRED ON
THE 26TH WITH 68 DEGREES...THE 27TH WITH 75 DEGREES...AND
THE 30TH WITH 71 DEGREES. A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE OF 41 DEGREES OCCURRED ON THE 27TH.
29-30 IN 1898...HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 6.2 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN
DENVER. NORTHEAST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 35 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO 40 MPH ON THE 29TH.
IN 1912...STRONG WINDS BUFFETED BOULDER...CAUSING HUNDREDS OF
DOLLARS DAMAGE. THE WINDS WERE DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE
MOST TERRIFIC IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY.
IN 1923...A COLD WAVE CAUSED TEMPERATURES TO PLUNGE 58
DEGREES IN 24 HOURS. THE TEMPERATURE WAS 54 DEGREES AT
2:00 PM ON THE 29TH AND ONLY 4 DEGREES BELOW ZERO AT THE
SAME TIME ON THE 30TH. THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 14 DEGREES
ON THE 29TH WAS THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE 30TH. THE LOW
TEMPERATURE ON THE 30TH DIPPED TO 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
LIGHT SNOWFALL TOTALED ONLY 0.7 INCH. NORTHEAST WINDS
WERE SUSTAINED TO 23 MPH ON THE 29TH.
IN 2008...VERY STRONG CHINOOK WINDS BLASTED AREAS IN AND NEAR
THE FOOTHILLS OF BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES. THE WIND
BLEW DOWN TREES AND POWER POLES...DOWNED ELECTRICAL LINES
AND FENCES...AND DAMAGED HOMES AND VEHICLES. SCATTERED
POWER OUTAGES WERE REPORTED ALONG THE FRONT RANGE. IN
METROPOLITAN DENVER ALONE...24000 XCEL CUSTOMERS WERE
AFFECTED BY THE OUTAGES. FOUR PLANED WERE DAMAGED AT THE
VANCE BRAND MUNICIPAL AIRPORT IN LONGMONT...ONE WAS HEAVILY
DAMAGED. INSURANCE COMPANIES ESTIMATED UP TO 7 MILLION
DOLLARS IN DAMAGE. PEAK WIND GUSTS INCLUDED 87 MPH AT THE
NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER...86 MPH...2 MILES NORTH OF
LONGMONT; 77 MPH AT ERIE...AND 75 MPH AT LAFAYETTE. ON THE
30TH...A PEAK WIND GUST TO 47 MPH WAS RECORDED AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 2021...THE COMBINATION OF VERY HIGH WINDS AND EXTREMELY
DRY CONDITIONS PRODUCED THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRE IN
COLORADO HISTORY (APPROXIMATELY 2 BILLION DOLLARS). IT
WAS ALSO ONE OF THE COSTLIEST IN U.S. HISTORY. THE
MARSHALL FIRE WAS DRIVEN BY WIND GUSTS FROM 75 MPH TO 100
MPH AS IT RACED ACROSS SOUTHEAST BOULDER COUNTY AND QUICKLY
CONSUMED 6200 ACRES. GOVERNOR POLIS ISSUED A STATE OF
EMERGENCY. U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN RESPONDED TO THE
FIRES BY EXPEDITING A MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION...WHICH
UNLOCKED FEDERAL AID FOR INDIVIDUALS AND PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURE. THE MARSHALL FIRE DESTROYED OR DAMAGED OVER
ONE THOUSAND HOMES AND BUSINESSES...ALONG WITH HUNDREDS OF
TREES. THE FIRE PERIMETER INCLUDED THE CITIES OF MARSHALL...
SUPERIOR...LOUISVILLE AS WELL AS UNINCORPORATED SECTIONS OF
BOULDER COUNTY. A TOTAL OF 45000 PEOPLE WERE EVACUATED FROM
SUPERIOR...LOUISVILLE...AND PORTIONS OF BROOMFIELD; 26000
RESIDENTS WERE WITHOUT POWER. IN ALL...1084 HOMES WITHIN THE
FIRE PERIMETER WERE DESTROYED AND 149 WERE DAMAGED. SEVEN
COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES WERE DESTROYED AND 30 OTHER BUSINESSES
DAMAGED. THERE WAS ONE CONFIRMED FATALITY IN MARSHALL. AN
ELDERLY RESIDENT IN SUPERIOR WAS MISSING AND PRESUMED DEAD.
SIX PEOPLE SUFFERED MINOR BURNS. IN ARVADA...A DISCOUNT TIRE
STORE COLLAPSED. ONE EMPLOYEE WAS TREATED FOR MINOR INJURIES.
SEMI-TRUCKS WERE BLOWN OVER ALONG CO93 AND C470 WHICH FORCED
ROAD CLOSURES. THE HIGH WIND SMASHED CAR WINDOWS. JUST PRIOR
TO THE MARSHALL FIRE...THE MIDDLE FORK FIRE WAS REPORTED IN
NORTHERN BOULDER COUNTY. IT WAS CONTAINED THAT DAY AND NO
STRUCTURES WERE BURNED. PEAK WIND GUSTS INCLUDED: 115 MPH IN
NORTHWEST ARVADA NEAR CO93...110 MPH AT THE JUNCTION OF
CO93/CO72...108 MPH...3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BOULDER; 103 MPH
NEAR WHITE RANCH OPEN SPACE...102 MPH NEAR CRISMAN...98 MPH AT
THE NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER; 90 MPH NEAR MARSHALL...81
MPH AT C470 AND SOUTH WADSWORTH...AND 75 MPH IN BOULDER. AT
DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...A PEAK GUST OF 40 MPH WAS
OBSERVED FROM THE WEST.
30 IN 1875...SNOW FELL FROM THE EARLY MORNING INTO THE EARLY
EVENING. WHILE THE AMOUNT OF SNOWFALL WAS NOT RECORDED...
PRECIPITATION FROM MELTED SNOW TOTALED 0.53 INCH.
GOOD SLEIGHING WAS REPORTED...SO SNOWFALL MUST HAVE BEEN
5 INCHES OR MORE.
IN 1895...NORTHWEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 60 MPH IN THE
CITY.
IN 1897...WEST WINDS SUSTAINED TO 52 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60
MPH WARMED THE TEMPERATURE TO A HIGH OF 55 DEGREES.
IN 1912...WEST WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 48 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
52 MPH. THE CHINOOK WINDS WARMED THE TEMPERATURE TO A
HIGH OF 50 DEGREES.
IN 1928...SNOWFALL WAS 0.1 INCH IN DOWNTOWN DENVER. THIS
WAS THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW OF THE MONTH...RANKING THE
MONTH THE THIRD LEAST SNOWIEST ON RECORD IN THE CITY.
IN 1990...STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS BUFFETED THE EASTERN
FOOTHILLS. WIND GUSTS TO 91 MPH WERE RECORDED ATOP TABLE
MESA IN SOUTHWEST BOULDER...WHILE A GUST TO 94 MPH WAS
CLOCKED AT ROLLINSVILLE. THE HIGH WINDS CAUSED WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS DUE TO BLOWING SNOW ALONG SOME HIGHWAYS SOUTH
AND NORTH OF BOULDER. THE HIGH WINDS DOWNED POWER LINES
NEAR THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT SOUTH OF BOULDER.
IN 1998...HIGH WINDS CONTINUED TO BUFFET AREAS IN AND NEAR
THE FOOTHILLS. NEAR EVERGREEN...A 100-FOOT-HIGH BLUE
SPRUCE CRASHED DOWN ON THE ROOF OF A HOME...SPLITTING THE
CORRUGATED METAL ROOF IN HALF. FORTUNATELY...THE TREE...
WHICH MEASURED 10 FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE...ONLY PENETRATED
THE HOME'S INTERIOR IN A FEW PLACES. PEAK WIND REPORTS
INCLUDED: 90 MPH AT WONDERVU...88 MPH AT THE ROCKY FLATS
TEST FACILITY...83 MPH NEAR CONIFER...AND 82 MPH ATOP BLUE
MOUNTAIN NEAR COAL CREEK CANYON. WEST WINDS GUSTED TO
39 MPH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
30-31 IN 1887...HEAVY SNOW TOTALED 6.5 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN DENVER.
MOST OF THE SNOW...4.5 INCHES...FELL ON THE 31ST. NORTH
WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 18 MPH.
IN 1928...SNOWFALL OF 0.6 INCH WAS THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW
OF THE MONTH IN THE CITY.
IN 1947...POST-FRONTAL HEAVY SNOW TOTALED 6.3 INCHES OVER
DOWNTOWN DENVER. MOST OF THE SNOW FELL ON THE 30TH.
NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 17 MPH ON THE 30TH.
IN 1995...THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF DENVER RECEIVED 5 TO 9 INCHES
OF NEW SNOW...EXCEPT FOR BAILEY WHERE 11 INCHES OF SNOW WERE
MEASURED. NO SNOW FELL AT THE SITE OF THE FORMER STAPLETON
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 2021...THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON FINALLY
MADE ITS MARK...IMPACTING THE MOUNTAINS...FOOTHILLS...AND NEARBY
PLAINS WITH MUCH NEEDED MOISTURE. IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS...STORM TOTALS RANGED FROM 6 TO 15 INCHES.
ELSEWHERE 5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW FELL WEST OF I-25...WITH
3 TO 7 INCHES EAST OF THE INTERSTATE. AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT...4.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED.
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