Worst storm in Boulder you can recall? (Denver, Castle Rock: to rent, homes)

[qfrost]

Just curious on the extremes for Boulder. Snow, ice, wind or rain.

[Idlewile]

Blizzard of '03 (March).
Blizzard of '06 (December).
Blizzard of '97 (October).

I don't remember the snow totals for each but that really varied by the area. All were bad and roads were impassable for days, DIA was closed for a period of time. I do recall for the the '03 storm there was very little accurate forecasting and it was pretty much a surprise. To a certain extent, the same thing for '06, at least the amount of snow and the wind. '06 was a big deal because it was right before Christmas. My husband was stranded in LA for work -- no flights in -- and the only way they could return home was to rent a car and drive. They finally made it back on Christmas eve.

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by qfrost

Just curious on the extremes for Boulder. Snow, ice, wind or rain.

.....Lived 2.8 miles up Sunshine Canyon Rd (1966/1980) (all gravel from 4th street) & remember two events very vividly:

Jan 23rd 1971........NCAR recorded 147 mph during a storm that lasted about 3 hours in the evening. Cost me a 4 horse trailer----had it chained to a Pondarosa-----chain broke and blew the trailer 150 feet out of the pasture and on to the road. And as I remember, 30 some homes (on the west side of town) lost their roofs & quite a bit of damage in town as well.

April 2 & 3, 1975: when this storm ended on April 4th, I had 44 inches of snow (on the level) in my driveway. Had to hire a "4 WD Road Grader" to clear my 100 foot long & 9% "up hill Grade" driveway in order to get our vehicles up to the county road.

.......Yea, "the good ole days"!!

[poletop1]

2006 was a doozy.

[qfrost]

Wow. So did Boulder get hit more than Denver for those storms? I figured any heavy storm would impact the canyons the most. 147 mph, now that's a storm!

[Idlewile]

No, not really, for those blizzards everywhere in the main front range got it badly. Sometimes the winds are even worse further out on the plains. Now, for run of the mill storms in recent years it does seem to me that Boulder and surrounding areas north and points down south (Castle Rock etc.) seem to get it more than others.

[Katarina Witt]

Actually, oftentimes Boulder doesn't get as much snow/rain/etc as do places a tad farther east. This was the case with the infamous Christmas Blizzard of 1982, to give one example. The recent rains are another example, from what the TV people say.

[qfrost]

We lived at the tip of Lake Michigan, so whenever it snowed we got the 'lake effect'. Perhaps Boulder has a 'front range effect'.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by qfrost

We lived at the tip of Lake Michigan, so whenever it snowed we got the 'lake effect'. Perhaps Boulder has a 'front range effect'.

Where did you live, Michigan City?

[qfrost]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Where did you live, Michigan City?

Ding ding ding....that's scary. Out in the boonies.