One Year Ago: Remembering Colorado’s Historic Bomb Cyclone
It certainly looks and feels like spring is on the way, but lest we forget what happened one year ago, let's take a look back at Colorado's bomb cyclone.
It was March 13, 2019 - just one week away from the first day of spring when Colorado was hit with one of the strongest storms in state history. The barometric pressure dropped to 968 millibars, making it similar to a category 2 hurricane.
There was rain, snow, winds near 100 mph, ice, blizzard conditions, reduced visibility, treacherous driving conditions, trees snapped in half, and a major disruption of life in central and northeastern Colorado. Travel became impossible.
* 1400 flights canceled in and out of DIA and some 5000 people spending the night at the airport
* I-25 was closed from Colorado Springs to the Wyoming border, while I-70 and I-76 were closed from Denver to the Kansas and Nebraska borders.
* Nearly a half million people were without power
* One fatality, a state trooper killer onI-76 northeast of Denver
Those of us in western Colorado escaped the wrath of the 2019 bomb cyclone, but we are reminded of how temperamental mother nature is. Spring is on the way, but it's possible old man winter will have more to say before moving on for another year.