DENVER — Love is in the air this Valentine's Day and unlike some years past, that's about all that's in the air. Going back to the 1800s, we've had some wild weather days on Valentine's Day.
1895: A cold air mass settled over the city. High temperatures of only 4 degrees on the 13th and 8 degrees on the 14th were record low maximum temperatures for each day. Low temperatures were 6 degrees below zero on the 13th and 5 degrees below zero on the 14th, but were not records. Light snow totaled only 0.4 inch. Winds were light.
1918: Southwest winds were sustained to 41 mph with a measured extreme velocity to 46 mph.
1960: Heavy snowfall totaled 6.1 inches at Stapleton Airport.
1960: Snowfall totaled 6.1 inches and north-northwest winds gusted to 39 mph at Stapleton Airport.
1965: 5.4 inches of snow fell at Stapleton International Airport behind a cold front. North-northeast winds gusted to 32 mph. Winds were strong and gusty all day and caused considerable blowing snow, contributing to hazardous driving conditions mainly to the east of Denver.
1967: High winds were widespread along the foothills where wind gusts of 60 to 90 mph were common. A wind gust to 108 mph was measured at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Sustained winds of 50 to 55 mph with gusts as high as 70 mph were recorded in downtown Boulder. An estimated 3 thousand dollars in damage occurred to mobile homes in Boulder. Power lines were downed over a wide area. At Stapleton International Airport, west winds gusted to 32 mph on the 13th and southwest winds gusted to 48 mph on the 14th.
1972: Winds gusted to 67 mph at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder. Wind gusts to 49 mph were measured in downtown Boulder. West winds gusted to 26 mph at Stapleton International Airport.
1984: A snow and wind storm howled across eastern Colorado closing I-70 east of Denver. This was the second blizzard in less than 4 days. Only 0.5 inch of new snow fell at Stapleton International Airport, but north winds gusted to 51 mph.
1987: Metro Denver received only 3 to 4 inches of snow, but the foothills west of Boulder received up to 11 inches of snow. Snowfall totaled 4.2 inches at Stapleton International Airport where north winds gusted to 31 mph.
1988: Winds gusted to 81 mph at Echo Lake.
2001: Heavy snow fell across metro Denver and in the foothills. Snowfall totals included: 8 inches at Evergreen; 7 inches atop Crow Hill and in Lakewood; 6 inches in Denver, Doubleheader, Eldorado Springs, Morrison, and Pine Junction. Snowfall totaled 4.8 inches at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport. Northeast winds gusted to 33 mph at Denver International Airport on the 13th.
2002: High winds developed in the Front Range foothills during the early morning hours. Winds gusted to 84 mph, 11 miles north of Central City. West winds gusted to 43 mph at Denver International Airport.
Information provided by the National Weather Service.
