Very strong winds preceding a cold front swept across the Front Range Foothills, Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. Peak wind gusts ranged from 60 to 85 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Very strong winds preceding a cold front swept across the Front Range Foothills, Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. Peak wind gusts ranged from 60 to 85 mph. Numerous accidents were reported along Interstate 70 between Cedar Point and Limon. The strong crosswinds blew six semi-trucks and an RV on their sides; causing minor injuries and the temporary closure of the interstate.
Numerous power poles were snapped across parts of Lincoln and Weld Counties resulting in several road closures. In Arriba, a roof was blown off a building. In Agate, a wood, metal and brick structure collapsed with minor damage to the adjacent post office. In Aurora, roof damage was reported at Rangeview High School. Strong winds downed trees and power lines in Conifer and Denver causing several brief outages. Downed power lines caused several cars to catch fire in the vicinity of 1590 Cook St in Denver. Finally, a severe thunderstorm produced large hail, up to quarter size, near Sterling Reservoir.
Peak wind reports included: 85 mph at I-70 and Cedar Point; 82 mph at Highlands Ranch; 73 mph at Red Feather Lakes; 70 mph, 4 miles southeast of Holyoke, 3 miles west-northwest of Pleasant Valley and 5 miles south of Sedgwick; 68 mph at Akron and near Amherst; 67 mph near Fort Morgan, 4 miles east of Franktown and Longmont; 65 mph, 3 miles west of Boulder; 64 mph at Centennial, Denver International Airport, Kiowa and Sterling; 63 mph at Bennett, Limon and 5 miles south-southeast of Sedalia; 62 mph at Crook and 3 miles northeast of Parker; 61 mph at Keenseburg and Proctor; 60 mph in Arvada; 59 mph, 12 miles south-southeast of Aurora and Hugo; with 58 mph at Briggsdale, Franktown and New Raymer.
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 May 24, 2:22 AM MST, 7 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 322 AM MDT MON MAY 24 2010 .SHORT TERM...UPPER LEVEL LOW IS CURRENTLY SPINNING OVER UTAH AND WILL QUICKLY MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST TODAY. BY LATE AFTERNOON...IT WILL BE OVER CENTRAL WYOMING AND BY 12Z TUESDAY IT WILL NEARLY BE IN CANADA. AS IT PASSES TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE FORECAST AREA...IT WILL BRING A STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW THIS MORNING AND THEN A STRONG WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL AGAIN BE THE BIGGEST ISSUE TODAY. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL PREVAIL THIS MORNING AND TURN TO THE SOUTHWEST BY NOON AND THEN TO THE WEST BY 00Z. THE SOUTHERLY WINDS HAVE BROUGHT MOIST AIR BACK INTO THE AREA WITH DEW POINTS IN THE 50S. HOWEVER...THE MOISTURE IS SHALLOW AND WILL QUICKLY BE SWEPT OUT BY THE DRIER SOUTHWEST WINDS LATER THIS MORNING. WILL SEE VERY GOOD MIXING TODAY DUE TO COLD AIR ADVECTION...THUS IT WILL BE EASY TO MIX THE STRONGER WINDS ALOFT DOWN. WINDS SPEEDS LOOK TO BE SUSTAINED IN THE 20 TO 30 KNOTS RANGE WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 KNOTS. BECAUSE OF THE COLD AIR ADVECTION...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER THAN YESTERDAY. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS WHERE IT WILL TAKE THE COOLER AIR LONGER TO REACH AND HIGHS WILL BE IN THE UPPER 70S. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL AGAIN BE ON THE LOW SIDE. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. THIS IS WHERE LIFT WILL BE THE GREATEST AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PASSES TO THE NORTH. THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF COLORADO MAY SEE A COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. MOISTURE SHOULD HANG ON UNTIL EARLY AFTERNOON AND CAPES WILL CLIMB TO AROUND 1000 J/KG. BIGGEST QUESTION CONCERNING THE CONVECTION IS CAN IT BREAK THE CAP BEFORE THE DRY AIR MOVES IN. THE WINDY CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY TAPER OFF EARLY THIS EVENING. AIRMASS WILL BE DRY BEHIND THE SYSTEM AND EXPECT MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES FOR TONIGHT. LOWS WILL BE ON THE COOL SIDE DUE TO THE DRY AIRMASS. MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHEAST COLORADO WILL BE IN THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S. .LONG TERM...ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS PLANNED. NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THE OVERALL PATTERN FM YESTERDAY. COLORADO WILL BE UNDER A PERSISTENT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...WITH A TROF OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND A BUILDING RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE WEAKENING SOMEWHAT OVER COLORADO ON TUESDAY WITH A SHORT WAVE RIDGE OVER THE CWFA. DRIEST AMS WILL BE OVER THE MTNS. SELY SFC WINDS OVER THE PLAINS WILL USHER IN INCRG BOUNDARY LYR MSTR LATE TUESDAY AFTN/EVNG. BEST CHC OF TSTMS TUESDAY AFTN WILL BE IN THE VICNITY OF THE PALMER DIVIDE. ONLY CHANGE TO TUESDAY WAS TO HOLD OFF TSTMS FOR ZONES 44..45 AND 49 UNTIL TUESDAY NIGHT. INTERACTIVE SOUNDINGS KEEPS THE LOWER LEVELS FAIRLY DRY THROUGH THE DAY ALTHOUGH THEY WILL BE MODERATING UPWARDS TOWARDS 00Z WEDNESDAY...SO THE BEST CHC OF TSTMS WILL BE TUESDAY EVENING. ENOUGH OF AN INCREASE IN BOUNDARY LYR MSTR OVERNIGHT TO ADD THE POSSIBILITY OF PATCHY FOG AS WELL FOR LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. FOR THE REST OF THE PERIOD...TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE SLIGHTLY EACH DAY AS THE RIDGE BUILDS UP OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. NO SIGNIFICANT SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES MOVING OVER THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY...SO THE PATTERN WILL BE RELATIVELY BENIGN. THERE WILL STILL BE ENUF MSTR AROUND TO INCLUDE THE SLGT CHC OF TSTMS EACH AFTN/EVNG. THIS ALREADY REFLECTED IN THE GRIDS TO NO CHANGES NEEDED FOR THE LATER PERIODS AT THIS TIME. && .AVIATION...THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR LOW CLOUDS THROUGH 14Z. IF ANY LOW CLOUDS DEVELOP THEY SHOULD BE IN THE 1500 TO 3000 FOOT RANGE. THE BIGGEST ISSUE TODAY WILL BE THE STRONG WINDS. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS EARLY THIS MORNING WILL TURN SOUTHWEST BY MID MORNING AND THEN TO THE WEST BY LATE AFTERNOON AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PASSES TO THE NORTH. SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE 20 TO 30 KNOTS AND GUSTS COULD REACH AS HIGH AS 45 KNOTS. AIRMASS WILL BE UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT BECAUSE OF THE DRY AIR MOVING IN FROM THE WEST NO SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. MEIER/COOPER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 433 AM MDT MON MAY 24 2010 COZ030>051-241700- 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- 433 AM MDT MON MAY 24 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE STATE. WINDS WILL BE SUSTAINED AT 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. HIGH EXPOSED AREAS MAY SEE GUSTS TO 60 MPH. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS TODAY. IF STORMS DEVELOP THEY COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. OVER THE MOUNTAINS...THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FALL TO 9000 FEET BY LATE AFTERNOON. ANY PRECIPITATION THAT FALLS OVER THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE LIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MEIER/COOPER
The Denver radar (KFTG), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:44 UTC.
12 high wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2010
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: 228126, 228128, 228129, 228132, 228134, 228136, 228146, 228149, 228151, 228152, 228153, 228155, 224776.