Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

... Today in Metro Denver weather history...

20-27 in 2002... lightning sparked a wildfire near Deckers. Extremely
        dry conditions and very strong winds the following day
        allowed the fire... known as the Schoonover... to consume 3850
        acres before it could be contained. Thirteen structures
        were destroyed... including 4 homes... resulting in 2.2 million
        dollars in damage.
24-26 in 1996... a late Spring snowstorm dumped 4 to 10 inches of
        snow over the Front Range foothills. Conifer picked up
        10 inches of new snow; Aspen Springs... 9 inches; and
        Central City... 8 inches. The sticky... heavy snow clung to
        power lines and pulled tree branches down... causing power
        outages to about 1200 homes in the Conifer area. It took
        up to 6 hours to restore power to some residences.
        Lightning struck a telephone data Cabinet in Conifer on
        the 25th... which knocked out phone service to about 1500
        customers. Widespread rain fell across Metro Denver...
        where rainfall totaled 2.07 inches at the site of the
        former Stapleton International Airport and 1.66 inches at
        Denver International Airport where north winds gusted to
        24 mph on the 26th.
      In 2010... high winds preceding a cold front... swept across
        the Front Range foothills and urban corridor. In Aurora...
        the wind damaged the roof of rangeview High School. In
        Conifer and Denver... the wind downed trees and power
        lines and caused several brief outages. The downed
        power lines also caused several cars to catch fire in
        the vicinity of 1590 Cook St. In Denver. Peak wind gusts
        included: 82 mph at Highlands Ranch... 67 mph... 4 miles
        east of Franktown and longmont; 65 mph in Boulder... 64 mph
        in centenniel and Denver International Airport... 62 mph
        near Parker and 60 mph in Arvada.
25-26 in 1950... a major storm dumped 10.0 inches of snowfall
        downtown and 10.7 inches at Stapleton Airport where
        northwest winds gusted to 30 mph on the 25th. The storm
        caused extensive damage to utility wires and trees which
        were in full Leaf. A daily record minimum temperature of
        31 degrees occurred on the 25th. This was the coldest
        temperature on this date in 79 years and for so late in the
        season.
      In 1989... a late season snow storm dropped snow as low as 6
        thousand feet along the Front Range. Most places in the
        foothills had 2 to 5 inches of snow. Overnight rainfall
        totaled 0.33 inch at Stapleton International Airport where
        north winds gusted to 37 mph on the 25th.
      In 1994... lightning struck a television transmitter on Lookout
        Mountain near Golden and burned out a switcher... which
        disrupted cable service for 2 hours.
26 in 1897... apparent Post-frontal north winds were sustained to
        42 mph with gusts as high as 48 mph.
      In 1942... the all-time highest recorded temperature in may... 95
        degrees... occurred.
      In 1978... two children were struck and killed by lightning on
        a Junior High School playground in Parker.
      In 1987... 1 inch diameter hail fell near Boulder and
        Bennett. The hail was fairly soft and caused no damage.
      In 1993... dry thunderstorms produced wind gusts to 81 mph at
        Jefferson County Airport near Broomfield. Several trees
        were blown down by the strong winds. Microburst winds
        gusted to 51 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
      In 1995... a woman was injured in Littleton when the car she
        had just entered was struck by lightning. All of the
        windows in the car were blown out by the strike. A funnel
        cloud was sighted near Littleton.
      In 2000... a strong microburst wind gust to 92 mph flipped a
        small airplane on its back and blew a DC-3 loose from its
        moorings... which allowed it to roll onto a grassy field at
        Front Range Airport near Watkins.
      In 2010... severe thunderstorms pounded parts of the urban
        corridor with very large hail... heavy rain... damaging winds
        and a tornado. The hail... ranging in size from 1 inch to
        2 3/4 inches in diameter... struck Brighton... Commerce City
        and northeast Denver the hardest. The storms continued to
        spread destruction to the north and east... impacting
        Byers... Hudson... Deer Trail and Prospect Valley. The
        combination of hail and wind stripped the bark and
        branches from trees. Numerous accidents were reported
        as the hail accumulated up to a foot deep. Snowplows
        were called out to clear the roadways. Flash flooding
        occurred along State Highway 52 between Hudson and
        Keenesburg... and forcing the closure of the Highway.
        Widespread crop damage was also reported as the area
        was inundated with up to 18 inches of water. Extensive
        damage to homes... businesses and automobiles was
        reported with the damage estimated to be around 70
        million dollars. A tornado touched down near Denver
        International Airport... but did no damage. Lightning
        struck a child in Commerce City while she was watching
        television. She suffered minor injuries to her leg.
        At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal wildlife Refuge... a
        lightning strike killed a Bison. At Denver International
        Airport... only 0.01 inch of rainfall was observed... along
        with a peak wind gust to 48 mph from the southeast.
26-31 in 1995... a cool period with light morning showers and
        moderate to heavy afternoon showers and thunderstorms
        pushed rivers already swollen from mountain snow melt
        over their banks causing minor flooding. Streams and
        rivers such as the South Platte and Boulder Creek flooded
        Meadowlands... bike paths... roads near streams... and other
        low lying areas. No significant property damage was
        reported and crop damage was unknown. Rainfall totaled
        1.79 inches at the site of the former Stapleton
        International Airport and only 1.51 inches at Denver
        International Airport.