Tuesday, October 13, 2026

October 13, 1969: the high is 26 and the low is 3, so the date record just surrenders

1969 · Denver

After a second early snowstorm, the high on the 13th is two degrees colder than the previous record low for the date. The mercury bottoms at 3 degrees.

In mid-October 1969, Denver decided the fall was over.

A heavy snowstorm earlier in the week had already left nearly a foot at Stapleton. On the 13th the high temperature only reached 26 degrees — two degrees lower than the old record minimum for the date, which had been 28 degrees back in 1885. The low that night plunged to 3 degrees, breaking the previous record low by 25 degrees.

The National Weather Service still lists 3 degrees as the record low for October 13 and 26 degrees as the coldest maximum. The cold spell continued the next day with a low of 4. Trees that still had leaves took another beating. The date has never been that cold again.

Most Octobers, Denver is still arguing about whether it is sweater weather. In 1969 it skipped the argument and went straight to the heavy coat that lives in the closet until March.

Sources: National Weather Service Denver/Boulder records · Thornton Weather: This week in Denver weather history

1966: the first real snow of the season arrives wet, heavy, and still attached to the leaves

1966 · Denver

Stapleton measures 6.9 inches of heavy wet snow. Limbs come down across the metro. One woman in Denver is killed by a snow-laden tree branch while shoveling.

On October 13, 1966, Denver got its first measurable snow of the season and immediately wished it had waited.

The total at Stapleton International Airport was 6.9 inches of heavy, wet snow. North-northwest winds ran 20 to 25 mph and gusted to 45. South and east of the city, accumulations reached a foot. The trees still had their leaves. The combination produced the classic Colorado mid-season mess: limbs snapping, power lines coming down, cars getting dented by falling branches.

A woman in Denver was killed when a snow-laden tree limb fell on her as she shoveled her driveway. Several other people were injured by falling limbs. The storm was the kind that makes people look at a still-green tree and start calculating the odds.

Colorado has done this dance many times since. The 1966 version remains a reminder that “first snow” and “harmless” are not always the same sentence.

Sources: National Weather Service / Thornton Weather history

Boulder’s grand jury goes home and the JonBenét case stays open

1999 · Boulder

After 13 months, the Boulder County grand jury is dismissed. District Attorney Alex Hunter says there is not sufficient evidence to charge anyone in the 1996 killing.

On October 13, 1999, the Boulder County grand jury that had been examining the murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey finished its work and went home.

The child had been found dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder home on December 26, 1996. The case had produced a national media storm, endless theories, and sharp criticism of how the investigation was handled. The grand jury had been meeting since September 1998 and had been shown roughly 30,000 pieces of evidence.

District Attorney Alex Hunter stood outside the Boulder County Justice Center and said the jury had completed its work and would not return. He added that he and his prosecution task force believed they did not have sufficient evidence to file charges against anyone who had been investigated. No indictments were returned.

Years later, reporting based on grand jurors indicated the panel had voted to indict the parents on a charge of child abuse resulting in death, but Hunter declined to sign the indictment because he did not believe the case could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The case remains unsolved.

The date is a quiet one in the long, unfinished story of a Boulder neighborhood that has never quite stopped talking about that Christmas.

Sources: HISTORY: Grand jury dismissed in JonBenét Ramsey case · Boulder Daily Camera timeline and reporting · Washington Post, Oct. 14, 1999

Linda Brenneman is born in Wheat Ridge and later rides for the United States

1965 · Wheat Ridge

A future Olympic road cyclist arrives in Jefferson County. She will make the 1996 U.S. team in both the road race and the individual time trial.

On October 13, 1965, Linda L. Brenneman was born in Wheat Ridge.

She first excelled at roller speed skating, becoming a national champion, and took up cycling as cross-training. She made the U.S. national cycling team in 1990, won the overall classification at the Tour de Toona in 1991 and at the Redlands Bicycle Classic in 1993 and 1995, then retired in 1993 to have a child.

She came back and earned a spot on the 1996 Olympic team. In Atlanta she finished 36th in the women’s road race and 11th in the individual time trial. She retired for good after the Games and later worked in real estate.

Colorado has produced plenty of athletes who left for bigger stages. Brenneman is one of the quieter ones: a Wheat Ridge kid who showed up at the Olympics, did the work, and went home.

Sources: Olympedia: Linda Brenneman · Wikipedia: Linda Brenneman