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How does the Blizzard of 2006 stack up?

Contributed by: Richard Gardner on 12/21/2006

By now many are starting to dig out from our latest historic snowstorm, the Blizzard of 2006!

This time around finds me personally sealed up at home, but one of the first times without power going out too. From time to time I have searched Internet websites to gain a reliable report on what Golden's snowfall total is, to compare to our historic storms of the past. I am not totally certain I have tracked every major storm for which Golden has a researchable record (1858-today), but it does give folks a pretty good idea what our biggest snowstorms have been, and can be very sure what the very largest we have known were. So far the one report I have, from Channel 9, cites a total of 34.5 inches for Golden in 2006. You can compare this or any final 2006 snowfall here with our historic snowstorms on record:

Greatest Snowstorms
December 4-5, 1913 - 60 inches
March 18-19, 2003 - 50.5 inches
April 22-23, 1885 - 34 inches
December 24, 1982 - 34 inches
March 24-26, 1868 - 31 inches
November 2-4, 1946 - 25 inches
November 27, 1983 - 25 inches
March 20-21, 1944 - 24 inches
October 15-16, 1984 - 24 inches
March 30-April 1, 1876 - 22.2 inches
December 24-25, 1891 - 15 inches
November 18-19, 1930 - 14 inches
October 24-25, 1997 - 14 inches

Largest 24-hour Timespan Snowfalls

April 22-23, 1885 - 34 inches
December 24, 1982 - 34 inches
December 4, 1913 - 30 inches
December 5, 1913 - 30 inches
November 27, 1983 - 25 inches
October 15-16, 1984 - 24 inches

2006 is Golden's third holiday blizzard. Our first, in 1891, nearly resulted in our only blizzard fatality in the city, outside of today's Old Capitol Grill, but it makes for a little Christmas story. The Transcript reported: "A chap who had evidently been celebrating Christmas not wisely but too well came very near passing in his checks during that fearful blizzard on Christmas night. A gentleman who was passing up Second street, near Koenig's corner, noticed some one ahead of him stagger and fall alongside the side-walk. He at once endeavored to raise him to his feet, but was unsuccessful. He then started down the street for assistance; he declares that he was gone not more than a minute, but upon returning he found the snow had completely covered the victim of too much celebration. He was gotten up as soon as possible and taken to the Astor House where he was cared for. Only for the lucky circumstance of his fall in the snow being witnessed and aid promtly rendered he must have inerittably perished where he fell, for in a couple minutes or less he was completely buried in the drifting snow."

The Christmas Eve Blizzard of 1982 many here doubtless well remember. For me, that was one of the few Christmas Eves I was never able to make it to church! I believe 2006 is the first snowstorm that successfully shut down the metro area's rail mass transit system since the Great Blizzard of 1913; it's not easy to stop those trains! That was the only storm that could stop the line which will be the new light rail to Golden, when Jack Frost saved the car full of commuters from the blizzard by gathering firewood at today's Pleasant View to warm them. That was actually his real name.


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Karen Groves
posted on 1/16/2007 @ 9:09:32 AM
Rated Story
Great story Richard
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Submitted By: Tabitha Dial
posted on 12/26/2006 @ 12:03:07 PM
Rated Story
60 inches of snow? Wow!
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Richard Gardner

Golden , CO

Richard Gardner has posted 109 stories and 1 comment since joining on 9/15/2005. Richard Gardner 's average story rating is 4.95.
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