Lightning struck a home in Englewood during an electrically charged snowstorm. A gas meter at the home was hit by lightning and burst into flames.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
Lightning struck a home in Englewood during an electrically charged snowstorm. A gas meter at the home was hit by lightning and burst into flames. The unusual thunderstorm produced a combination of snow and graupel. The graupel was up to one half inch in diameter. Total snow accumulations ranged from 1 to 4 inches across the southern suburbs of Denver.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 2:55 PM MST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 255 PM MST SAT FEB 2 2008 .SHORT TERM...WATER VAPOR SHOWING UPPER LEVEL TROF ACROSS WRN CO MOVING EAST. RUC QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS SHOWING MODEST UPWARD ASCENT OVER THE MID LVLS OVER OUR CWA NOW...AND COLDER AIR ALOFT WILL DESTABILIZLE THE ATMOSPHERE YET AGAIN TOWARDS 00Z. 88D SHOWING ECHOES INCREASING FROM THE WEST WITH A SLOW MOISTENING UP OF THE AIRMASS. MOST MODELS ARE PAINTING SOME LIGHT QPF ACROSS THE PLAINS OF NERN CO...GENERALLY FROM DEN AND STRETCHING EAST AND NORTHEAST. DOESNT APPEAR THE INSTABILITY IS AS GREAT AS LAST EVENING SO WILL KEEP AMOUNTS GENERALLY AROUND AN INCH OR LESS. POPS WILL BE LIKELY OVER THE PLAINS THIS EVENING THEN END RAPIDLY AS SYSTEM IS MOVING STEADILY E-NE. AS FOR THE MOUNTAINS...MSTR LVLS WILL BE MORE SHALLOW FOLLOWING TROF PASSAGE THIS EVENING SO ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS TONIGHT WILL ONLY BE 1-3 INCHES. ONLY SCATTERED COVERAGE FOR MUCH OF SUNDAY AS MSTR LVLS AGAIN REMAIN SHALLOW. WITH NEXT INCOMING SYSTEM...MSTR WILL INCREASE AGAIN LATER SUN AFTN...ESP FOR ZONE 31 AND WITH MODEST SW FLOW. AS FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...SHOULD BE DRY FOR THE DAY. .LONG TERM...MODELS CONTINUE SHOWING THAT A SERIES OF UPPER TROUGHS WILL BE MOVING OVER THE STATE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF THE SYSTEMS WILL BE MOVING OVERHEAD MONDAY. THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS SYSTEM IS COMING ONSHORE OVER WESTERN OREGON AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON. WE HAVE SEEN SEVERAL OF THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM MOVE ACROSS THE REGION OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS. AREAS TO OUR WEST APPEAR TO BE THE ONES WHO WILL RECEIVE THE MOST SNOWFALL AS EACH OF THE MODELS SHOW THE BASE OF THE TROUGH DIGGING INTO NORTHERN ARIZONA BEFORE TRACKING EASTWARD. THE STRONGEST DYNAMIC FORCING APPEARS LIKE IT WILL PEAK OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA TOMORROW EVENING AND THEN LIFT OUT ACROSS COLORADO THROUGH LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. MODEL QPF FIELDS SHOW THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OVER THE SOUTHERN SAN JUANS. EACH OF THE MODELS HAVE DIFFICULTY GENERATING VERY MUCH PRECIPITATION OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...BUT WILL STILL STAY WITH LIKELY POPS AS COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL LEND SOME INSTABILITY TO THE AIRMASS. WINDS WILL BE MODERATE... ALLOWING FOR SOME OROGRAPHIC SHOWERS TO DEVELOP. BUT AMOUNTS IN ZONES 31..33 AND 34 SHOULD REMAIN LIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. ACROSS THE PLAINS...A COLD FRONT MOVING OVER THE PLAINS WILL COMBINE WITH THE DYNAMICS OF THE EJECTING UPPER TROUGH TO PRODUCE A PRECIPITATION EPISODE FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS ON TUESDAY. GFS SURFACE PRESSURE CHARTS SHOW A SURFACE LOW OVER THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE WHILE THE NAM HAS A FARTHER NORTH POSITION...NORTHEAST COLORADO. WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS SURFACE LOW AND WATCH OUT FOR POSSIBLE CYCLOGENESIS...WHICH WOULD INTENSIFY THE PRECIPITATION ON THE PLAINS. FOR NOW...WILL JUST STICK WITH A 30-40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. FOR THE TIME BEING...THE GFS AND ECMWF EJECT THE UPPER TROUGH QUICKLY ENOUGH THAT RAPID CYCLOGENESIS IS NOT EXPECTED. IF THE MODELS ARE TOO FAST...THEN WE WILL DEAL WITH SNOW AROUND DENVER FOR A LITTLE LONGER INTO MONDAY EVENING. AFTER MONDAYS UPPER TROUGH MOVES OUT...COLD TEMPERATURES WILL LINGER THROUGH MID-WEEK. ANOTHER...WEAKER UPPER TROUGH IS ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY. AT THIS TIME...FORECASTS ONLY MENTION A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. AFTER THAT...THERE ARE INDICATIONS OF A BROAD RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES FOR THE END OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION UPDATE...AREAS OF -SN WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA BETWEEN 23-3Z WITH MVFR CIGS/VSBYS DURING THE PRD. VFR BEYOND THIS EVENING AND THRU SUNDAY. SNOW ACCUMLATIONS WILL BE AROUND AN INCH OR LESS. SFC WINDS WILL REMAIN E-SE THRU THIS EVENING THEN BECOMING NORMAL DRAINAGE PATTERNS OVERNIGHT. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && ENTREKIN/DANKERS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1054 AM MST SAT FEB 02 2008 COZ030>051-031300- JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/ NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/ SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/ EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES- NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY- 1054 AM MST SAT FEB 02 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE DIMINISHING LATER THIS EVENING. SNOWFALL THROUGH TONIGHT WILL BE 2 TO 4 INCHES. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPING ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS BETWEEN 3 AND 6 PM AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE UP TO AN INCH IN SOME LOCALES ACROSS THE PLAINS. THE SNOW IS BEING CAUSED BY A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS COLORADO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM WILL START BRINGING SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO MONDAY AND POSSIBLY SPREAD ONTO THE PLAINS MONDAY MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE LESS THAN HALF A FOOT IN THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. ON THE PLAINS...A FEW INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY TO THE SOUTH OF DENVER AND ACROSS THE PALMER DIVIDE. AFTER MONDAY...THE NEXT CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL COME WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. MOST OF THE SNOW WITH THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. ENTREKIN/DANKERS
The Denver radar (KFTG), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:39 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a home during an electrically charged snowstorm. A gas meter at the home was hit by lightning and burst into flames.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 68765.