Thursday, October 22, 2026

The East Troublesome Fire jumps the Continental Divide and sends Estes Park packing

2020 · Rocky Mountain National Park / Estes Park / Grand County

On October 22, 2020, the East Troublesome Fire—already swollen overnight—spotted across the Continental Divide into Rocky Mountain National Park and forced mandatory evacuations of Estes Park as it became Colorado’s second-largest wildfire on record.

The fire had started on October 14 east of Troublesome Creek in the Arapaho National Forest. By the morning of the 22nd it had already burned roughly 125,000 acres after an almost unheard-of run the day before. Between midday on the 21st and the evening of the 22nd it pushed about 25 miles east, growing from around 19,000 acres to more than 170,000. It generated pyrocumulonimbus clouds that rose to 45,000 feet and threw lightning of their own.

Embers jumped a mile and a half of tundra above tree line, from the head of Tonahutu Creek on the west side of the Front Range to the head of Spruce Creek on the east. A spot fire took hold near Mount Wuh and ran toward Estes Park. Trail Ridge Road became impassable under burned trees. Larimer County issued mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Estes Park just after noon; roads out of town filled with people who had been told, for once, that they still had time.

A cold front arrived late that afternoon and slowed the eastern side. Fuel treatments and firefighting work helped. The fire would eventually burn 193,812 acres, destroy 555 structures, and kill two people near Grand Lake who had stayed. On the 22nd itself it was still the second-largest fire the state had ever measured, and Estes Park was empty because the mountains had decided the calendar was optional.

Colorado already knew 2020 was a bad fire year. On this particular Thursday the fire proved it could cross the Divide without asking permission.

Sources: Wikipedia: East Troublesome Fire · CPR News (Oct. 22, 2020) · Colorado Encyclopedia

Denver’s biggest October blizzard dumps 16 inches between the 20th and the 22nd

1906 · Denver

From the evening of October 20 to the evening of October 22, 1906, Denver measured 16 inches of snow as part of a five-day storm that totaled 22.7 inches—the city’s heaviest October snowfall on record.

Rain changed to snow on the evening of the 19th and kept falling through the late afternoon of the 23rd. The heaviest 48-hour stretch, 8 p.m. on the 20th to 8 p.m. on the 22nd, produced the 16 inches. By the evening of the 23rd there was still 13.3 inches on the ground. It was the first snow of the season and the only snow of the month. North winds held at 20 to 30 mph and temperatures stayed in the 20s.

Newspapers later noted that the storm took down telegraph lines and isolated the city for a while. In 1906 that mattered more than it does now. The storm still ranks as Denver’s sixth-biggest multi-day snow total of any season, and the biggest that ever arrived while the leaves were still thinking about falling.

October snow is not rare here. Twenty-two and a half inches of it in four days is. The city has spent the rest of the century measuring other October storms against this one and usually coming up short.

Sources: Thornton Weather / NWS Denver history · Denver Post (biggest October snowstorms) · NWS Public Information Statement archives

Denver finally sees measurable snow and ends a 232-day drought

1887 · Denver

On October 22, 1887, Denver recorded its first measurable snow of the season, ending a 232-day streak without any—the longest such streak in the city’s records, tied only once since.

The last measurable snow before that had fallen on March 5. By the time flakes finally stuck on the 22nd, Denver had gone more than seven months without them. National Weather Service reviews of the old handwritten logs later confirmed the count: 232 consecutive days. The record stood alone until December 10, 2021, when another late first snow tied it.

It was not a big storm by later standards—just enough to end the drought and give the city its first real taste of winter. The next day brought more, totaling 3.1 inches over the 23rd–24th. For a city that now expects its first measurable snow around mid-October, the 1887 arrival was late even by 19th-century standards.

Colorado has always been better at extremes than at averages. In 1887 the extremes simply took their time showing up.

Sources: NWS Denver: longest snowless streaks · Thornton Weather / NWS history · Denver Gazette (2021 streak comparison)