High-Impact Weather and Climate Events

Slide blocked Highway 89, forcing Afton residents to detour 75 miles through Idaho to get to Jackson.

A series of convective events including heavy precipitation, hail, and a tornado caused widespread damage. 6" to 8" of rain fell in the North Platte Valley, overflowing the Interstate Canal and inundating Ft. Laramie with 5' of water. Torrington experienced 2" of rain along with baseball-sized hail, which severely damaged crops in the valley. A tornado southwest of Torrington uprooted trees and destroyed two farmhouses.

Upslope snowstorm is still the U.S. record for 24-hour snowfall, with 76" recorded at Silver Lake northwest of Nederland in 24 hours and a storm total of 95". Over 60" fell in northwestern Larimer County, 52" in Georgetown, and 48" in Estes Park and Grand Lake.

Extreme snowmelt flooding on the Colorado River. Estimated peak discharge of ~210,000 cfs downstream at Lees Ferry, AZ, the largest flood in the historical record (since ~1850). Peak discharges upstream in western Colorado are believed to be the largest in the historical record. Severe flooding on the Cache la Poudre River on the eastern slope.

An Arctic air mass brought extremely cold temperatures to the Front Range and across Colorado; all-time record lows of -25 F in Denver, -41 F in Fort Collins, and -60 F at Taylor Park Reservoir. Many fruit orchards on the Front Range were destroyed, prompting a major shift of fruit-growing to Colorado's Western Slope.

The "Snow Blitz": a very strong jet stream combined with a possible Atmospheric River event brought huge snow totals to the high mountains, and 36" at Dillon.

Upslope snow event with strong northerly winds left 30" in Denver, and up to 50" on the plains east of Denver.

An upslope snowstorm first dropped 20+" on the Denver Metro area, then the focus shifted east and south, with totals of 12-36" in southeastern Colorado and 30-48" in the foothills and mountains of southern Colorado. Strong winds created enormous drifts and led to enormous loss of livestock.

The Thorn Divide Complex began as 26 lightning-ignited fires. Before firefighters contained the fire, 14,874 acres and 2 buildings were burned. Supression costs were estimated at $7 million.

The Jackson Canyon Wildfire was ignited by a lightning strike near Coal Mountain in Jackson Canyon. The fire burned 11,256 acres of land, including seven cabins, one barn, and two outbuildings before it was contained on August 23. The estimated cost of suppression was $3.8 million.