Littleton, 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 in 1877... lightning killed one person in west Denver and
        struck several houses. The Bolt struck the house of the
        "home laundry" stunning the occupants and killing a lady
        who was holding one of her grand children in her arms.
        The child escaped unhurt. The lightning also struck the
        top of a tree in front of the house and partially peeled
        the bark off the tree. Lightning struck a church in the
        Evans addition and another tree in east Denver. Lightning
        struck the switch room at the Telegraph office where the
        operator saw small balls of lightning pass across the room
        to the stove. The thunderstorm pelted the city with only
        pea size hail. Precipitation from the storm totaled 0.40
        inch in downtown Denver.
      In 1880... light rain all afternoon totaled only 0.24 inch
        in the city... but was valuable to stockmen and farmers
        due to the very dry... parched weather conditions on the
        plains.
      In 1965... a tornado was sighted by a pilot 30 miles south
        southeast of Denver. No damage was reported. Another
        pilot reported 3/4 inch hail 30 miles east of Denver. The
        state patrol reported that a man was killed when a fierce
        gust of wind swept him from the back of a pick-up truck in
        northwest Douglas County. The man was holding a mattress
        in the bed of the truck.
      In 1974... a microburst wind gust to 53 mph was recorded at
        Stapleton International Airport. A pilot reported a tornado
        20 miles east of Denver.
      In 1976... lightning struck a home in Boulder... shattering 2
        large trees and damaging a television set.
      In 1997... hail as large as 1 3/4 inches in diameter fell near
        Watkins. Hail to 3/4 inch in diameter fell in Broomfield
        and near Lochbuie.
      In 2000... 3/4 inch diameter hail fell at Cherry Creek Reservoir
        in Aurora. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 51 mph at Denver
        International Airport where small hail fell.
      In 2006... a severe thunderstorm produced an estimated wind gust
        to 70 mph in Hudson. The strong winds damaged the roof of a
        home. A thunderstorm produced southwest wind gusts to 54
        mph at Denver International Airport.
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.