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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
259 AM MDT SAT JUN 8 2024

...Today in metro Denver weather history...

7-9   In 1979...rain...at times with thunder on the 7th...fell almost
        continuously through the morning of the 9th.  Rainfall
        totaled 2.28 inches at Stapleton International Airport
        over the 3 days.  High temperature of only 49 degrees on
        the 8th was a record low maximum for the date.
8     In 1873...lightning struck and killed one man and damaged
        several houses.  The thunderstorms produced heavy rain
        in the city...which caused a great deal of water damage.
        At 2:40 PM heavy rain began and by 4:00 PM 1.40 inches of
        rain had fallen.  Two buildings under construction...with a
        projected cost of 100 thousand dollars...were badly damaged.
        The stone foundation and some of the brick walls were
        carried away by the storm waters.  Many basements were
        flooded...which damaged goods stored there.  Rainfall
        totaled 1.71 inches.
      In 1964...lightning struck a building in Boulder...starting a
        fire and burning two workmen.
      In 1968...a severe thunderstorm flooded streets...and hail-
        damaged trees and gardens...including flowers at a large
        commercial nursery in Boulder.
      In 1969...severe hail damaged property...trees...and gardens...
        and heavy rain flooded streets and underpasses throughout
        metro Denver.  The heaviest amounts of rain fell in south
        Denver and Englewood where unofficial totals of 5 to 6
        inches were reported.  Hail accumulated to 3 or 4 inches on
        the level and 2 to 3 feet deep in drifts.  Mud...debris...and
        hail carried by the heavy runoff clogged drains and
        increased the amount of flooding.  About 40 cars and a
        large truck were inundated at an underpass on an interstate
        highway...and several more were inundated or buried in mud
        in other areas.  A large number of basements were flooded.
        Streets and highways were heavily damaged in some areas.
        Rainfall totaled 1.66 inches at Stapleton International
        Airport.
      In 1974...a late spring storm dumped 1.79 inches of rain over
        metro Denver...causing local flooding.  Strong gusty winds
        accompanied the storm...downing some power and telephone
        lines.  Northwest winds gusted to 56 mph at Stapleton
        International Airport where a trace of snow fell.
        Measurable snowfall occurred at mid-day over Aurora and
        suburban areas to the south of Denver.  A number of people
        were temporarily stranded in the mountains west of Denver
        where heavy snow fell.  Low temperature of 37 degrees
        equaled the record minimum for the date.  High temperature
        of 50 degrees was a record low maximum for the date.
      In 1986...strong thunderstorm winds blew down a garage wall in
        Littleton and caused minor roof damage to several homes.
        Boats were overturned and damaged at a sporting goods store
        nearby.  As the storm moved northeast it produced a small
        tornado...which touched down in extreme southeast Denver and
        moved northeast into Aurora.  The twister did most of its
        estimated one million dollars damage shortly after touching
        down in an apartment complex and a shopping center.  Two
        apartments were completely unroofed; wooden chimney
        facings were demolished and metal pipes were twisted.  Many
        trees up to 25 feet high in the complex were uprooted.
        Doors were ripped off their hinges...and several parked cars
        were damaged.  In the shopping center...a wall of a building
        was stripped of its brick facing...and many windows were
        broken.  The twister picked up an aluminum rowboat...carried
        it 250 feet over some apartments...and deposited it in a
        vacant storefront.  Around 200 cars were damaged in the
        shopping center.  Benches bolted to the pavement were
        knocked over.  Six people suffered minor injuries caused by
        flying debris.  After hitting the shopping center and
        apartment complex...the tornado moved northeast into a
        residential area where it toppled some trees and damaged
        several fences.  The same storm later produced 3 separate
        small tornadoes 5 miles north of Watkins.
      In 1987...torrential rain produced extensive flooding across
        metro Denver.  I-25 was closed for a time through central
        Denver...and a trailer park in Lakewood was partially
        evacuated due to high water.  Several streets in Boulder
        were closed due to flooding.  There was extensive basement
        flooding and water damage in Lakewood and southeast Denver.
        Lightning hit a power plant in Denver that supplied
        electricity to storm drain pumps which exacerbated street
        flooding in some areas.  Rainfall from the thunderstorms
        totaled 1 1/2 to 2 inches at many locations in Lakewood
        central and northeast Denver.  The heaviest amount of
        reported rain was in Lakewood where 2 1/4 inches fell in
        just 2 hours.  At Stapleton International Airport...1.62
        inches of rain fell in an hour.  Rainfall totaled 1.76
        inches for the day.
      In 1988...a tornado touched down 15 miles northwest of Bennett
        and stayed on the ground for 15 minutes.  The twister was
        observed by National Weather Service personnel at Stapleton
        International Airport.   No damage was reported.
      In 1989...a small tornado hit a neighborhood in southeast
        Aurora.  The twister hit a dozen homes...blowing out
        windows...knocking down fences...and partially unroofing one
        house.  About a half dozen trees were felled.  A basketball
        pole was severely bent.  The tornado was on the ground for
        about 2 minutes.  Total damage was estimated at 50 thousand
        dollars.  Lightning also struck a home in Parker...causing
        25 hundred dollars damage.
      In 1992...very heavy thunderstorm rains drenched southwestern
        Weld and eastern Boulder counties.  Measured rainfalls of
        over 2 inches an hour caused St. Vrain Creek to rise 2 feet
        out of its banks.  Boulder Creek was also out of its banks
        along U.S. Highway 287.  I-25 flooded with 3 to 5 feet of
        water along a 9-mile stretch from the Erie exit to the
        Frederick exit.  The highway was closed for over 6 hours
        while snowplow drivers and farmers with tractors rescued
        stranded motorists.  Water rose into homes along South
        Boulder Road in Lafayette.  Several small county roads
        were washed out along the Boulder County/Weld County line.
        An off-duty National Weather Service employee measured 3/4
        inch hail in Thornton.  Several locations north of Denver
        had small hail up to 6 inches deep.  A funnel cloud was
        spotted 18 miles northeast of Stapleton International
        Airport.
      In 1998...severe thunderstorms dropped large hail across
        metro Denver.  Hail as large as 1 3/4 inches in diameter
        fell near Columbine in Jefferson County.  One inch
        diameter hail fell in Aurora and Littleton with 7/8 inch
        hail in Arvada and 3/4 inch hail at Centennial Airport...
        near Greenwood Village...and in Parker.
      In 2004...heavy rain and large hail caused flooding and flash
        flooding across northeast Jefferson County.  In Golden...
        heavy rains triggered a small mudslide on U.S. Highway 6
        near the intersection of Colorado Highway 119.  Automated
        rain gages in the area registered 2 to 3 inches of rainfall
        in one hour.  Near the Colorado Mills Mall...numerous streets
        were inundated with 1 to 3 feet of water and hail...which
        stranded several vehicles...including a fire engine.  About
        30 basements were flooded in Golden and Lakewood.  Many
        windows in both homes and cars were shattered by the large
        hail.  Hail as large as 1.5 inches in diameter was measured
        in and near Golden with hail to nearly an inch in diameter
        a few miles north of Evergreen.
      In 2007...the low temperature in Denver bottomed out at 31
        degrees...which established a new record minimum for the
        date.  It also became the latest date of the last freeze
        in Denver.
      In 2014...in Aurora...a tornado touched down near the
        Blackstone Country Club...it lifted some golf carts and
        flipped an empty construction trailer. One of the carts was
        thrown on top of a caddy walking nearby; he was taken to a
        hospital with minor injuries. It was assigned an EF-1
        rating. In Englewood...lightning struck a tree which damaged
        two nearby homes and a truck. Large hail...from 1 to 1 1/2
        inches in diameter...was reported near Buckley Air Force Base
        and near Castle Rock.  Other short lived tornadoes touched
        down near Byers and Roggen.
      In 2019...severe thunderstorms erupted around metro Denver late
        in the afternoon and spread eastward onto the plains.
        The largest hail fell around Castle Rock...where hail up to
        2 1/2 inches was reported. Elsewhere...the hail ranged from
        1 to 1 1/2 inches.

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