DENVER — It was called Denver’s big snow. On December 1, 1913 snow began falling and didn’t let up for five days. When all was said and done, more than 45 inches of snow had accumulated on Denver streets. It was the biggest snowstorm to hit the city in recorded history.
As the calendar flips to March, which is typically the snowiest month of the year, we look back at the biggest storms to hit the Denver area.
The National Weather Service’s list of the top 24 snowstorms to hit the Denver area.
The 24 biggest Denver snowstorms (1881-Present) as compiled by the National Weather Service:
| 1. 45.7 inches | Dec 1-5, 1913 |
| 2. 31.8 inches | Mar 17-19, 2003 |
| 3. 30.4 inches | Nov 2-4, 1946 |
| 4. 23.8 inches | Dec 24, 1982 |
| 5. 23.0 inches | Apr 23, 1885 |
| 6. 22.7 inches | Oct 20-23, 1906 |
| 7. 21.9 inches | Oct 24-25, 1997 |
| 8. 21.5 inches | Nov 26-27, 1983 |
| 9. 20.7 inches | Dec 20-21, 2006 |
| 10. 19.3 inches | Jan 29-31, 1883 |
| 11. 19.0 inches | Apr 24-25, 1935 |
| 12. 18.7 inches | Mar 5-6, 1983 |
| 13. 18.5 inches | Mar 20-22, 1944 |
| 14. 18.2 inches | Apr 17-19, 1920 |
| 15. 18.0 inches | Apr 19-20, 1907 |
| 16. 18.0 inches | Mar 31-Apr 1, 1891 |
| 17. 17.7 inches | Nov 19-21, 1979 |
| 18. 17.3 inches | Apr 2, 1957 |
| 19. 16.9 inches | Mar 20-21, 1952 |
| 20. 16.8 inches | Apr 20-22, 1933 |
| 21. 16.5 inches | Sep 26-28, 1936 |
| 22. 16.0 inches | Oct 3-5, 1969 |
| 23. 15.9 inches | Feb 2-4, 2012 |
| 24. 15.8 inches | Apr 26-27, 1972 |
That 1913 storm shut down the city for days and it wasn't fully back on its feet for an entire month, according to the Denver Library Genealogy, African American & Western History Resources. City workers removed roughly six billion cubic feet of snow!
An article written by Brian K. Trembath on the library's website states the event caught the city off-guard. It started out with just a few inches a day, but by the fourth day, it began to dump, shutting down the city's entire streetcar system.
"Fortunately, Denver's other utilities, including phone systems, the electrical grid, and the water system worked without major problems," Tremboth wrote.
Photos on the Denver Library's archive shows just how much snow fell and how the city dealt with what -- unbeknownst to them at the time -- would be the city's biggest snowstorm.
