Front Range Blizzards

This month marks the 100-year anniversary of Denver’s worst-recorded blizzard, the blizzard of December 1-5, 1913.  (Read the 1913 newspaper story and view photos here).  The blizzard dumped 45.7 inches in Denver, and piles of snow moved to Civic Center didn’t melt until the following July.

Ten years ago, in March 2003, Denver’s second-worst blizzard (in terms of snow totals) hit the Front Range, with 31.8 inches of snow, well shy of the 1913 record.  You can find very interesting comparisons of the 1913 and 2003 storms in two periodicals available from our library.  The 2003 issue Colorado Climate contains a comparison in terms of water measurement, while the Autumn 2003 issue of Colorado Heritage includes a historical comparison, “Colorado is Snowbound — the Great Front Range Blizzard of 1913 (and its 2003 Counterpart).”