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NOUS45 KBOU 250859
PNSBOU
COZ030>051-252300-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
259 AM MDT SUN OCT 25 2026
..TODAY IN METRO DENVER WEATHER HISTORY
23-25 IN 2020...AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF WARM...WINDY AND DRY WEATHER
THAT FUELED THE TWO LARGEST WILDFIRES IN THE STATE'S
HISTORY; A POWERFUL STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT WELCOME RELIEF AS
IT PRODUCED HEAVY SNOW AND FRIGID TEMPERATURES DENVER AND
THE FRONT RANGE. IN THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...
STORM TOTALS RANGED FROM 10 TO 20 INCHES. ALONG THE URBAN
CORRIDOR...STORM TOTALS FROM 4 TO 12 INCHES WERE OBSERVED...
WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS ALONG AND GENERALLY WEST OF I-25
AND OVER WELD COUNTY...WHERE LOCALIZED BANDS OF HEAVY SNOW
SOME STORM TOTALS INCLUDED 14.3 INCHES NEAR ALLENSPARK;
AND 12.9 INCHES IN SOUTHEAST BOULDER AND NEDERLAND...WITH
12.8 INCHES NEAR LOVELAND. AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT...4.0 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WAS OBSERVED.
24-25 IN 1921...RAINFALL TOTALED 0.35 INCH OVERNIGHT BEHIND AN
APPARENT COLD FRONT. NORTH WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 40 MPH
WITH GUSTS TO 46 MPH ON THE 25TH. TEMPERATURES PLUNGED
FROM A HIGH OF 73 DEGREES ON THE 24TH TO A LOW OF 39
DEGREES ON THE 25TH.
IN 1923...RAIN OVERNIGHT CHANGED TO SNOW DURING THE MORNING.
THE HEAVY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATED TO 12.0 INCHES BEFORE ENDING
ON THE MORNING OF THE 25TH. POST-FRONTAL NORTH WINDS WERE
SUSTAINED TO 22 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 23 MPH ON THE 24TH.
IN 1997...ONE OF THE WORST AND DEADLIEST BLIZZARDS OF THE
DECADE DEVELOPED OVER EASTERN COLORADO AS DEEP EAST TO
NORTHEAST FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE FOUR CORNERS...COMBINED WITH A
STRONG ARCTIC AIR MASS OVER THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS.
SNOWFALL TOTALS ACROSS METRO DENVER RANGED FROM 14 TO 31
INCHES. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRED IN THE FOOTHILLS
WEST AND SOUTHWEST OF DENVER WHERE 2 TO 4 FEET OF SNOW
WERE MEASURED. SUSTAINED WINDS TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS AS
HIGH AS 60 MPH PRODUCED ZERO VISIBILITIES AND EXTREMELY
COLD WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES FROM 25 BELOW TO 40 BELOW
ZERO. WINDS WHIPPED THE SNOW INTO DRIFTS 4 TO 10 FEET
DEEP. SEVERAL MAJOR AND INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS WERE CLOSED
AS TRAVEL BECAME IMPOSSIBLE. RED CROSS SHELTERS WERE SET
UP FOR HUNDREDS OF TRAVELERS WHO BECAME STRANDED WHEN
THEY HAD TO ABANDON THEIR VEHICLES. FOUR PEOPLE DIED IN
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO AS A RESULT OF THE BLIZZARD. NONE OF
THE DEATHS WERE IN METRO DENVER. AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT...4 THOUSAND TRAVELERS WERE STRANDED WHEN THE AIRPORT
WAS FORCED TO SHUT DOWN. AT LEAST 120 CARS WERE ABANDONED
ALONG PENA BLVD....THE ONLY ARTERIAL LEADING INTO AND OUT
OF DIA. THE BLIZZARD COST AIR CARRIERS AT LEAST 20 MILLION
DOLLARS. THOUSANDS OF CATTLE DIED IN THE STORM OVER
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO...RESULTING IN LOSSES TOTALING 1.5
MILLION DOLLARS. SOME OF THE MORE IMPRESSIVE SNOWFALL
TOTALS INCLUDED: 51 INCHES AT COAL CREEK CANYON; 48
INCHES AT SILVER SPRUCE RANCH...NEAR WARD; 42 INCHES AT
INTERCANYON...IN THE FOOTHILLS SOUTHWEST OF DENVER; 37 INCHES
AT SEDALIA; 35 INCHES AT ASPEN SPRINGS AND CONIFER IN THE
FOOTHILLS WEST OF DENVER; 31 INCHES AT ELDORADO SPRINGS...
SOUTHEAST AURORA...AND ENGLEWOOD; AND 30 INCHES ON TABLE MESA
IN BOULDER. SNOWFALL TOTALED 21.9 INCHES AT THE SITE OF
THE FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...SETTING A NEW
24-HOUR SNOWFALL RECORD OF 19.1 INCHES FOR THE MONTH.
SNOWFALL TOTALED ONLY 14 INCHES AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT WHERE NORTH WINDS GUSTED TO 39 MPH ON THE 24TH.
HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 21 DEGREES ON THE 25TH EQUALED
THE RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE FIRST SET IN 1873.
LOW TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 3 DEGREES ON THE 26TH SET A NEW
RECORD MINIMUM FOR THE DATE.
25 IN 1925...A VIGOROUS COLD FRONT PRODUCED NORTH WINDS SUSTAINED
TO 42 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 52 MPH. POST-FRONTAL SNOWFALL WAS
ONLY 0.4 INCH DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
IN 1959...NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO 55 MPH AT STAPLETON
AIRPORT.
IN 1997...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WARMED TO ONLY 21 DEGREES...THE
RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE MONTH. THE SAME TEMPERATURE
ALSO OCCURRED ON OCTOBER 30...1991.
IN 2017...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN DENVER REACHED 84 DEGREES...
WHICH SET A NEW RECORD FOR THE DATE...AND WAS ALSO THE WARMEST
TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED FOR THE MONTH.
25-27 IN 2021...THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
DROPPED INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE MORNINGS:
8 DEGREES...4 DEGREES AND 8 DEGREES RESPECTIVELY.
25-26 IN 1996...4 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF
DENVER. ONLY 1.5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WERE MEASURED AT THE
SITE OF THE FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE
26TH. THIS WAS THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW OF THE MONTH AT
THE SITE. THE SNOWFALL PRODUCED ICY AND SNOWPACKED
HIGHWAYS...WHICH RESULTED IN A 50-TO 60-CAR PILEUP ON I-25
SOUTH OF METRO DENVER. WEST WINDS GUSTED TO 33 MPH AT
DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
IN 2006...A WINTER STORM BROUGHT HEAVY SNOWFALL TO METRO
DENVER AND THE EASTERN FOOTHILLS. TOTAL SNOWFALL RANGED
FROM 12 TO 22 INCHES OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND 6 TO 12
INCHES ACROSS METRO DENVER. NORTHERLY WINDS AT SUSTAINED
SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 47 MPH AT
DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHIPPED THE SNOW INTO DRIFTS
3 TO 4 FEET DEEP. MANY TREE LIMBS SNAPPED UNDER THE WEIGHT
OF THE HEAVY...WET SNOW WHICH ALSO DOWNED POWER LINES...
LEAVING THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS WITHOUT POWER. STORM TOTAL
SNOWFALL INCLUDED: 25 INCHES NEAR ASPEN SPRINGS...CONIFER...
AND EVERGREEN; 23.5 INCHES NEAR ROLLINSVILLE; 23 INCHES IN
IDAHO SPRINGS; 22.5 INCHES NEAR BLACKHAWK; 21.5 INCHES NEAR
BAILEY; 19 INCHES NEAR BERGEN PARK; 18 INCHES NEAR ASPEN
SPRINGS...GENESEE...AND JAMESTOWN; 17 INCHES SOUTHWEST OF
BOULDER; 16 INCHES IN EVERGREEN; AND 15 INCHES NEAR
GEORGETOWN AND PERRY PARK. SNOWFALL TOTALED 5.3 INCHES
IN THE DENVER STAPLETON AREA. AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIPORT...RAIN...INCLUDING A THUNDERSTORM...CHANGED TO SNOW
ON THE EVENING OF THE 25TH AFTER A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF
70 DEGREES.
IN 2010...A STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS
WEST OF DENVER. STORM TOTALS INCLUDED: 24 INCHES AT THE
EISENHOWER TUNNEL...18 INCHES AT LOVELAND SKI AREA; WITH
16 INCHES AT ARAPAHOE BASIN.
25-27 IN 1897...A MAJOR STORM DUMPED 13.5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL OVER
DOWNTOWN DENVER. RAIN CHANGED TO SNOW DURING THE EVENING
OF THE 25TH AND CONTINUED THROUGH MID-MORNING OF THE 27TH.
MOST OF THE SNOW...12.0 INCHES...FELL ON THE 26TH WHEN NORTH
WINDS WERE SUSTAINED TO 36 MPH AND GUSTS WERE AS HIGH AS 46
MPH. TEMPERATURES DURING THE STORM WERE IN THE 20'S AND
LOWER 30'S. PRECIPITATION (RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) TOTALED
1.21 INCHES.
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