The month of October certainly saw its fair share of varying temperatures. We seemed to go back and forth between unseasonably warm to unseasonably cold readings. The month also brought us our first measurable snow of the season and a good bit of precipitation.
The month started with comfortable readings and dry conditions. On the 9th of the month though things turned considerably colder and Thornton recorded 4.1 inches of snow.
We immediately rebounded though and warmer weather returned. A string of 70 plus degree days from the 16th to the 20th were quite nice. We also stayed dry until the last week of the month.
On the 25th we saw a record-setting high temperature but then 72 hours saw our coldest reading of the month (19.4 degrees). There again, we bounced back with a warm day on the 29th before finishing up with much colder weather the last two days of the month. We did see some minimal rain on the 26th and 30th to add to the precipitation total for the month.
Thornton saw an overall average monthly temperature of 48.6 degrees. This was a good ways below Denver’s long term October average of 50.9 degrees. Out at DIA where the Mile High City’s official measurements are taken, they were warmer with an average of 50.1 degrees.
Our mercury readings ranged from a high of 84.9 degrees on the 25th down to the 19.4 degree reading on the 27th. DIA saw similar extremes with a maximum of 84 degrees and a minimum of 13 degrees on those same dates. The reading of 84 degrees on the 25th was a record high for the date.
In terms of precipitation, Thornton recorded 1.71 inches. Denver lagged considerably with 0.96 inches for the month. Those put Thornton well above, Denver just below the October average of 1.02 inches.
Denver averages 4.0 inches of snowfall in October. Thornton bested that by just a bit with 4.6 inches, the majority of which came on the 9th. Out at the airport, they could only tally 2.8 inches of the white stuff.
Click here to view Thornton’s October 2017 climate report.
From the National Weather Service:
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
303 AM MDT WED NOV 1 2017
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2017...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2017
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 89 10/16/1991
10/10/1910
LOW -2 10/29/1917
HIGHEST 84 10/25 83 1 86 10/16
LOWEST 13 10/27 22 -9 25 10/20
AVG. MAXIMUM 64.5 65.3 -0.8 74.5
AVG. MINIMUM 35.7 36.6 -0.9 41.2
MEAN 50.1 50.9 -0.8 57.8
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.4 -0.4 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 11 8.5 2.5 3
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.17 1969
MINIMUM T 1934
TOTALS 0.96 1.02 -0.06 0.26
DAILY AVG. 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.01
DAYS >= .01 5 5.3 -0.3 3
DAYS >= .10 4 2.4 1.6 1
DAYS >= .50 0 0.5 -0.5 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.1 -0.1 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.35 10/09 TO 10/09 10/05 TO 10/06
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 2.8
TOTALS 2.8 4.0
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 455 440 15 231
SINCE 7/1 585 581 4 310
COOLING TOTAL 1 5 -4 17
SINCE 1/1 881 769 112 878
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/09 10/07
LATEST 05/05
.................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.3
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 2/232
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 46/300 DATE 10/14
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 59/300 DATE 10/14
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 11
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 15
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 5
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 48
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 3 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 1
LIGHT RAIN 8 FREEZING RAIN 1
LT FREEZING RAIN 1 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 4
LIGHT SNOW 4 SLEET 0
FOG 10 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 5
HAZE 6
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.