I forgot to do this yesterday. Did you know that on yesterday’s date in 1864, the Superintendent of the Denver Mint sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury to tell him that the mint had been robbed. The thief, a mint clerk, fled on horseback with $3,700, and would make it as far as the Arkansas River before being caught.
Another Arctic blast is swept across the Eastern Plains, bringing dangerously cold temperatures and snow.
Cold Weather Advisories are in effect through today morning, with single-digit highs and below-zero lows. Denver is forecast to hit -3 degrees—just one degree above the record low—while wind chill could drop to 30 below zero.
Light snow is possible on the plains today. Heavier mountain snow is expected to resume as well, leaving travel conditions hazardous and possibly causing closures at higher elevations.
The Denver area is expected to warm up starting Friday, clearing the way for a mostly sunny weekend with highs in the 50s and 60s.
And yesterday in Tennessee in 1884, an “Enigma Outbreak” of over 50 tornadoes in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana killed at least 39 people and injured 116 others. The final death toll was never determined, leading to the name.
Now on to today…..
On this day in 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Project Mercury’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.
Sicily’s famous Mount Etna erupted recently, which is fitting since its name means “I burn.” Skiers took advantage of the opportunity to ski near the lava flows.