Boulder wind info

Newly available! Wind roses for Boulder by month that show the prevailing wind directions and speeds. Provided by the National Resource Conservation Service.
Jan Feb Mar
Apr May Jun
Jul Aug Sep
Oct Nov Dec

Boulder has some of the highest peak winds of any city in the US. What follows is a list of significant Boulder area wind events and then a table of high winds per month.
Inconsistent reporting may mean that events are missing or that the wind speeds are not accurate.

For more recent events and for more detailed info, see: Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena in the US from NCDC (monthly publication)

Other links of interest

  1. Seasonal cycle of strong Boulder winds
  2. What causes wave clouds

All speeds in MPH unless indicated. Gust is peak gust in Boulder (or very near) unless indicated Dates with gusts greater or equal to 90 MPH are in bold

Date(s)     time of day gusts       comments
                in Boulder area

1966-67

1966Sep 13-14 unk 60+ snow,extensive tree damage
1967Jan 15-16 night 125 NCAR (75 city) Chinook

1967-68

1967Dec 6-7 8am-noon ~75

1968-69

19681Dec 4 midday >50
19681Dec 11-12 10pm-11am 50-75
1969Jan 7-8 evening 130 NCAR freq gusts >100 6-9pm 96 in Boulder 25 roofs blown off heavy damage in Boulder area
1969Mar 19 am 60-70 estimated 80-90
1969Apr 6-7 unk 50-60 started fires
1969June 25 10am-midpm 120 Table Mesa (70 Boulder)

1969-70

1969Dec 20 8:30-10:30p >100 NCAR: 60-70 Boulder and Rocky Flats widespread but moderate damage
1969*Dec 21 2130 115mph NCAR
1970Jan 24-25 aft to evening next day 122 wind 60-70 light widespread damage along front range
1970*Jan 26 0706 109 NCAR
1970Feb 2 3pm to 12am > 100 60 to 100
1970*Feb 3 1530,2100 115,102 NCAR
1970*Feb 17 0100 90 NCAR
1970Apr 14 45-60 most of state

1970-71

1970*Nov 21 1450 94mph Boulder
1970*Nov 25 0200 97mph NCAR
1970Nov 30 day > 60 80-90 in Boulder area
1970*Nov 30 2245 112 NCAR
1970*Dec 1 1230 107 NCAR
1970*Dec 28 2100 87 NCAR
1970*Dec 31 1400 92 NCAR
1971Jan 23 147 at NCAR ONLY. One wind gust.
1971Mar 31 pm m 45-65 foothills
1971Mar 6 7-11pm 69 69 at 7:30 and 64 at 11

1971-72

1972Jan 5 day 85
1972Jan 9-10 aft to morn 86 blew many trees down
1972Jan 11-12 morn-morn 97 much damage to cars, buildings, powerlines, etc. in Boulder
1972Jan 22 early aft 71 killed motorcyclist
1972Jan 24 aft 92 at 1:00pm
1972Jan 28 night 90 at 10:45

1972-73

1972Nov 29-30 50-60 foothills
1972Oct 24 morning 75 recorded at NIST
1972Dec 12 morning > 100 120 in area at 7:30am

1974-75

1974Nov 12 > 80 foothills area
1975Jan 5-6 5-6pm 5th > 75 house and business damage am 6th
1975Jan 18 XXXXX > 80 much damage along front range
1975Jan 20 XXXXX > 80 Boulder/Longmont/Denver
1975Apr 27-28 XXXXX > 85 85 evening 27th Fort Collins, Greeley
1975Jun 25-26 night unknown strong winds

1974-75

1975Oct 8 XXXXX > 100 gusts over 60 front range and one over 100mph in Boulder
1975Nov 30-Dec 2 XXXXX > 100 Chinook all along foothills gusts > 100
1976Jan 15 XXXXX 70-80 Chinook Wyoming to Co springs
1976Feb 7 XXXXX 90 gusts 46-49 NCAR and 70-90
1976Feb 17-18 XXXXX 30-60
1976June 14 daytime 82 ERL had 82 mph at 14:32 87MPH at Rocky Flats 99 200' above ground widespread damage

1977-78

1977Nov 22 morning 101 SW Boulder
1977Nov 26 midday 109 winds blew out windows and injured some. 90mph Rocky Flats
1977Nov 29 morning ? 85mph Wondervu
1977Dec 2 morning 103 60-103 in Boulder
1977Dec 3 all day 90 74-90 gusts in Boulder
1977Dec 6 afternoon 85
1977Dec 7 all day 115 much damage to trailers and cars
1977Dec 22 morning 93 Recorded at Table Mesa
1977Dec 23 morning 90
1977Dec 24 morning 70
1978Aug 14 1500-1700 101 92-101

1978-79

1978Nov 28 all day 60-90 foothills
1978Dec 4 afternoon ?150 50-150 Boulder area (unclear where the 150 was)
1978Dec 23-24 all day 90 90 in morning in Boulder 73 in afternoon
1979Feb 7 aft,eve 99 50-80 common along front range

1980-81

1981Feb 8 midday 50
1981Mar 29-31 all day 60-70 foothill canyons

1981-82

1982Jan 3-4 all day 85 Table Mesa
1982Jan 14 unknown 104 Chinook
1982Jan 16-17 night-aft 137 at NCAR 2:30am; 20 gusts > ;120 40% of all Boulder buildings damaged 136 Lyons
1982Jan 23 unknown 60-80
1982Jan 24 unknown 92 (mostly Fort Collins)
1982Mar 9 min 60-90 Chinook
1982Mar 12 unk 90
1982Mar 29-30 all day 90
1982Apr 2 all day 60-80 127 Rocky Flats
1982Apr 12 unk 60 100 Jeffco airport
1982Aug 20 eve 72 Thunderstorm SE Boulder

1982-83

1982Dec 18-20 midday 75-80 19th 62 evn of 20th
1983Jan 5-6 unk 60-75
1983Jan 9-10 unk 70-90
1983March 30 aft 82 at NCAR 2:30
1983March 31 aft 70
1983July 10 evn 70 thunderstorm

1983-84

1983Dec 5-8 all day 102 on the 6th. Also on 8th, 97 SE Boulder 60-70 in general
1984Jan 29 0100-0400 71
1984Apr 11 1430-1830 72 Rocky Flats; 70 in Boulder Chinook
1984May 12 evn 69
1984May 31 1843 67 thunderstorm 7 miles E Boulder

1984-85

1984Nov 28 mrn 60-80
1984Dec 22-23 all day 108 Table Mesa 339 am and 1030
1985Mar 26 1000-1700 76 widespread winds
1985Apr 19 all day 62 Longmont
1985Jun 21 0145 60 Longmont

1985-86

1985Oct 22 0800-1300 89 eastern Boulder
1985Dec 3 mrn 78 Table Mesa at 816
1985Dec 14 0710 61 Table Mesa
1985Dec 25 2051 68 Table Mesa (in snow)
1986Jan 2 mrn 82 Table Mesa (60-80 in Boulder)
1986Jan 4 1000 61 Longmont
1986Jan 18 1605 60
1986Jan 20 1100-2200 ? strong winds N Denver
1986Jan 28 1020 67
1986Feb 15 0000-1500 95 500 Boulder Chinook
1986Feb 16-17 all day 89 Table Mesa 2333 Chinook
1986Feb 22 1000-2000 60 Longmont
1986Feb 24 0606 65
1986Mar 9 0000-0800 60-70 N of col springs to Boulder
1986Apr 2 1730-1900 70 thunderstorm winds
1986Apr 13 1996 0300-1300 79
1986May 4-5 2000-1000 60-75 cold front

1986-87

1986Sep 24 all day 131 2200 Table Mesa; Davidson Mesa 118; IBM 92 trees down, power, out cars damages
1986Nov 15 evn 81 Table Mesa; Chinook winds 1925
1987Jan 28-29 all day 99 8 MST NCAR Rocky Flats 99 at night
1987Apr 19 1530-1900 50-70 all along front range from cold front

1987-88

1987Dec 7 mrn 93 NCAR at 8mst 76 in Boulder
1987Dec 10 all day 60-75 most of NE Colorado
1987Dec 21 mrn 97 NCAR at 1000; 78 Boulder, 85 Table Mesa
1988Jan 23 mrn 105 Table Mesa at 534; 80-90 other areas in Boulder broke many windows and power out
1988Feb 9 ??? 96 just east Boulder; 85 Rocky Flats at 1345; > ;60 many places bet 1000 and 1800
1988Feb 15 ? 75 615
1988Feb 21 evn 90 just east Boulder
1988Feb 22 mrn 83 0400
1988Mar 25 midday 75 NW out of mountains at 1500
1988May 7 mrn 110 Table Mesa 515; 12000 lost power 92 Rocky Flats; 91 Boulder

1988-89

1988Sep 18 evn 82 in Longmont 1800-2200
1988Oct 17 210 62 east Boulder
1988Dec 12 mrn 70 Table Mesa 722; 61 east Boulder
1988Dec 13 unknown 66</td>
1988Dec 22 midnight-1000 95 N Boulder 80 Table Mesa 3-5 72 Boulder at 1800
1989Jan 2 all day 60-70 along foothills
1989Jan 9 4-11 am 115 Chinook; 115 Boulder airport, 103 S Table Mesa 92 SE Boulder
1989Jan 16 midday-9 80 SW Boulder 2:28 100 Rollinsville
1989Mar 14 morning 105 just east Boulder; 100 N city

1989-90

1989Nov 6 afternoon 54
1989Nov 7 afternoon 60-70
1989Nov 8-9 afternoon to am ? 95 Rollinsville
1989Nov 24 afternoon 54 13:46
1990Jan 8 all day 92 in mrn Table Mesa
1990Jan 9 0000-0900 50-70 Longmont and along front range
1990Jan 10 0000-0800 85 Chinook; very high temps
1990Jan 29 0000-2100 94 Table Mesa winds 50-90
1990Feb 8 1000-1400 >50
1990Feb 10 0000-0900 93 Roillinsville; mostly higher in foothills
1990June 1 1405 55 Thunderstorm winds
1990June 1 1805 53 unknown cause

1990-91

1990Oct 13 1200-2000 96 NW Boulder 78 NCAR downslope winds
1990Dec 2-3 0800-0200 >50 downslope winds all along foothills
1990Dec 14-15 1030-1200 120 SW Boulder bora winds
1990Dec 30 0700-2100 91 Table Mesa downslope
1991Mar 3-4 0000-2100 106 Shanahan ridge

1991-92

1991Nov 6 0000 51 higher winds in foothills
1991Nov 26 0000-1200 45 in mrn; 51 Rocky Flat
1992Jan 24 0000-2100 143 93 N Boulder (the 143 may be in knots)
1992June 7 1350 52 Thunderstorm winds
1992Aug 3 1725 50 Thunderstorm winds

1992-93

1992Dec 1 0000-0600 71
1992Dec 9 0500-2200 95 Table Mesa
1992Dec 20 1800-2400 69 Table Mesa
1993Jan 20-22 0400-2000 55-65 75 at Rocky Flats
1993Apr 18-19 1000-1200 80 SW Boulder
1993May 26 1445-1500 90 Thunderstorm east Boulder
1993June 7 1300-2000 60-80 nonconvective winds
1993June 26 1615 80 Longmont thunderstorm

1993-94

1993Nov 20 2215 72 Table Mesa
1993Dec 5 0200-1130 68 Table Mesa
1993Dec 9 0635 73 Boulder
1994Jul 2 1810 57 Thunderstorm winds Boulder

1994-95

1994Sep 12 2115 58 Microburst winds Boulder
1994Oct 5 1544 52 Thunderstorm winds Lafayette
1994Oct 6 0500-0600 68 High winds above 9500
1994Nov 17 1050 57 High Winds
1994Nov 28 0630 63 High Winds Boulder
1994Nov 29 1500-1800 80 High Winds northern foothills
1994Dec 11 1130-1500 58kn High Winds Boulder
1994Dec 19 0130-2100 80kn Rocky Flats ; strong winds along front range
1995Aug 6 1645-1700 50 Microburst Broomfield

1995-96

1995Nov 9 0400-1300 50-57k Downslope winds Boulder area
1995Nov 11 0400-1400 84mph Downslope winds Boulder region
1995Nov 11-12 2100-0630 124 at NCAR; other reports 90k table Mesa Golden gate canyon 86kn, Rocky Flats 74k
1996Jan 3 0700 2100 90kts Boulder airport 85 s boulder 82 ncar chinook winds Front Range Foothills
1996Jan 27-28 2100-1730 75 kts NCAR part of pacific storm system
1996Feb 19 0300-0600 70-75 mph Table Mesa
1996Feb 23 0900-1300 61 kts Table Mesa
1996Apr 19 0500-1300 65 kts Jeffco 85kts Table Mesa front range foothills
1996Apr 24,25 1600m both 78 kts Table Mesa
1996Jun 5 1801 60 mph dry microburs
1996Jun 20 2145-2155 61 kts thunderstorm

1996-97

1996Oct 29 0430-1600 87 mph strong jet and A low in NE Plains: very strong
1996Dec 2 0500-0730 101mph upper table mesa,jeffco 101 winds front range foothills: winds unclear in Boulder
1996Dec 4,5 2215-1030 75 mph westerly flow: Shanahan ridge strong all over area
1996Dec 14 0345-1215 70 mph Table Mesa
1996Dec 15,16 2100-0600 70,75 mph Table Mesa
1997Jun 07 1200-1700 F1 Tornado Baseline resevoir

1997-98

1997Dec 27 0900-0200 70mph NCAR winds and snow
1998Feb 25 0340-1530 60mph S Boulder (bora)

1998-99

1998Dec 30 0130-1000 88mph Rocky Flats ; Boulder power outages
1999Jan 10 2230-0800 81mph NCAR 72mph Rocky Flats; large foothills area
1999Jan 14 0900-1700 74mph Boulder ; foothill region
1999Jan 18 0000-1300 72 Rocky Flats, 70 NCAR; downslope winds
1999Jan 26 1500-2300 82mph Boulder 79 Rocky Flats 72 NCAR;
1999Feb 02 1848-1015 103mph Rocky Flats, 97 Boulder, 93 NCAR; extensive damage; chinook windstorm
1999Feb 07 0030-1200 90mph NCAR chinook winds
1999Feb 17 2125-0030 90mph CU campus; 79mph NCAR: bora winds
1999Feb 22 0515-1530 80mph NCAR 75 Rocky Flates; bora
1999Feb 22 1815-0310 82 Rockly Flats; 80 NCAR; 75 CU campus localized chinook
1999Jun 06 0510-0600 87mph CU campus

1999-00

1999Nov 18 0545-1500 81mph NCAR: winds over a large region
1999Nov 25 0300-0950 77mph NCAR chinook winds
1999 2230-0935 72mph NCAR chinook winds redeveloped
1999Dec 15 0200-1500 77mph NCAR: strong upper level jet
1999Dec 16 0100-0830 83mph NCAR
1999Dec 18 1145-1400 72mph NCAR
2000Jan 3 2300-0800 81mph NCAR
2000Feb 25 0500-1630 84mph Rocky Flats Environmental Test Facility
2000Mar 5 2000-0300 88mph NCAR, 82 Boulder
2000Mar 7 2300-0930 92mph South Boulder 100 NWTC, 101 Rocky Flats envir test facility; some damage
2000Apr 5 1845 83mph NCAR
2000Apr 18 1700 71mph NCAR
2000May 17 1300-1900 88mph NWTC, 84 Boulder, 80 NCAR; winds along with intense surface low
2000June 19 05:53 PM 58kts Dry Microburst Broomfield 68mph NWTC
2000August 1 08:50 PM 60kts Tstm Wind Boulder

2000-01

2000Sep 29 04:51 PM 60kts Tstm Wind Boulder
2000Dec 15 0900 1000 72mph NCAR
2000Dec 16 0454-2300 72mph NCAR
2001Feb 04 2300-0130 75mph CU campus
2001Jun 13 0100-0200 76mph NCAR 72mph southern hills middle school

2001-02

2001Oct 31 1558-2200 74mph NCAR
2002Jan 12 1820-2155 82mph Hi winds Boulderl at NCAR
2002Jan 19 0100-0455 74mph NCAR
2002Feb 8 1745-2230 75mph NCAR high winds

2002-03

2003Jan 19 0600 75mph Natl Wind Tech Center
2003Jan 30 0100-1600 75mph Boulder : covered large region
2003Feb 09 1800-1133 73mph Natl Wind tech center
2003Mar 05 2325-1205 85mph US cam; 70mph Natl Wind Tech Center

2003-04

2004Mar 06 01:55-12:00 78kts 3 miles S Boulder: downslope winds: front range
2004Jun 10 16:25-10:30 73mph NCAR downloadp winds nbear Boulder: 82 mph NWTC

2004-05

2004Oct 29 11:48-15:00 73kts ??? Below 6000'
2004Dec 20 12:30-12:30PM 95mph very damaging downlope winds Front Range to Plains. roof damge, power
2005Nov 14 14:50-17:50 91mph Sugarloaf RAWS: locally strong winds
2005Dec 05 06:42-18:39 90mph NCAR. 98 Eldorado Springs. Front Range from Golden north. Major damage and power outages

2005-06

2006Jan 03 14:30-17:10 75-91mph Rocky Flats. Local high winds.
2006Jan 18 03:52-05:30 80mph SE Boulder, 81mph Superior. Fire started and spread near Plainview.
2006Feb 06 06:27-13:34 92mph Wind Technology Center. Brief high winds toward Golden.

2006-07

2007Jan 07 18:00-12:00pm 77-115 mph. Many highways closed. Blowing/drigting snow. Intense upper level jet and a strong pressure gradient. strong gusts Mountains.
2007Feb 16 02:00-17:00 101mph Natl Wind Teh Center. Roads closed from blowing snow. Largescale winds from Berthoud Pass to front range. 101m
2007Jun 06 08:15-09:00 92mph Boulder. 101 Carter Lake. Trees downed Frisco. From strong storm system.

2007-08

200801/05 04:30 AM High Wind 78 kts.
200801/25 19:20 PM High Wind 52 kts.
200802/08 23:10 PM High Wind 70 kts.

2008-09

200811/13 00:00 AM High Wind 77 kts.
200812/25 14:00 PM High Wind 70 kts.
200812/29-30 21:06 PM High Wind 96 kts. 2 days Chinook winds. 4th costliest wind event. 111 mph 3 miles n of masonville.
200812/31 20:27 PM High Wind 77 kts.
200901/01 00:00 AM High Wind 72 kts.
200901/07 03:32 AM High Wind 93 kts. downslope winds; started 2 fires. peak near mt audabon 101 mph
200901/27 23:10 PM High Wind 87 kts.
200902/09 05:37 AM High Wind 70 kts.
200902/17 09:00 AM High Wind 59 kts.

2009-10

201002/13 07:47 AM High Wind 89 kts. Winds ahead storm system
201005/04 03:30 AM High Wind 87 kts.
201005/04 05:26 AM High Wind 65 kts.
201005/24 10:04 AM High Wind 56 kts.

2011-12

201111/12 69 MPH gust. ?
201111/12 10:30PM 89.5 MPH gust. ?
201111/12 pre-dawn 68 MPH gust. ?
201112/12 ? 69 MPH gust. Mesa Lab
201112/12 22:30 89.5 MPH gust. Mesa Lab
201112/12 pre dawn 66 MPH gust. Mesa Lab
20121/3 pre dawn 60MPHMesa Lab
20121/18 multiday 64 Mesa Lab 64
20121/19 multiday 73,43 Mesa Lab, FootHills 73,43
20121/20 multiday 60 MPH gusts Mesa Lab
20122/22 all day 88 MPH gusts; 73mph Mesa Lab;FL
 
Number of Days with winds greater or equal to 70mph
Year 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 A B
Jan 2 3 1 8     4 1           7 4 1   1 2 1 3 4   1       3                               45 17
Feb   3           1     1             3   4   1           1                               12 7
Mar 1                       3 4 2   1 1     1   2                                         15 8
Apr             2             1   1   2 1           2     3                               12 8
May                                   2   1         1                                     4 3
Jun 1             1                                 1                                     2 2
Jul                             1                                                         1 1
Aug                   1       1                                                           2 2
Sep                                   1   1                                               2 2
Oct       1     1                   1         1           1                               5 5
Nov   4     1   1   2 1           1   1     1       1 1 3                                 13 10
Dec 2 2   1     2   7 3       3 4 2 1   3 2   3   2 1 1   5                               41 18
Total 6 3   10 1   10 3 9 5 1   3 16 11 5 3 11 6 9 5 9 2 3 6 2 3 13 1 1 16 9 3 3                   175 72
Year 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 A B
A: Number of documented events >70mph per month
B: Number of years with at least one day >70mph documented in month
[Pages are for curiosity only; there are no guarantees that the data is correct}

Boulder wind info

Newly available! Wind roses for Boulder by month that show the prevailing wind directions and speeds. Provided by the National Resource Conservation Service.

Jan Feb Mar
Apr May Jun
Jul Aug Sep
Oct Nov Dec

Boulder has some of the highest peak winds of any city in the US. What follows is a list of significant Boulder area wind events and then a table of high winds per month.
Inconsistent reporting may mean that events are missing or that the wind speeds are not accurate.

For more recent events and for more detailed info, see: Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena in the US from NCDC (monthly publication)

Other links of interest

  1. Seasonal cycle of strong Boulder winds
  2. Links to wind/weather teaching modules
  3. What causes wave clouds

All speeds in MPH unless indicated. Gust is peak gust in Boulder (or very near) unless indicated Dates with gusts greater or equal to 90 MPH are in bold