In 1995 with the opening of Denver International Airport, the National Weather Service moved the Mile High City’s official weather station to the new facility. This location, 12 miles from the old Stapleton site, oftentimes sees far different weather than what the majority of people in the Denver area see and it is reflected in our weather records.
We have long said that any claims of a weather record having been set since 1995 should include an asterisk, noting that the comparison is to the old locations and thus not really valid. Those 12 miles make a world of difference.
In the latest example of how our climate records are being altered, Denver supposedly set five all-time record high temperatures this summer. The reality? Not one of those days would have been record-setting had the station not been moved.
Retired National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Larison has long railed against the move of the weather station. In a recent letter to the editor in the Denver Post, he called out the media hype and the National Weather Service for the invalid comparisons. It is shared here with his permission.
Denver’s recent heat wave wasn’t really record-breaking and here’s why
Denver Post Opinion, August 21, 2024
Re: “100-degree sizzlers here to stay as summers get hotter,” Aug. 11 news story
Any discussion of Denver weather records must include the fact that the official recording site was moved to Denver International Airport (DIA) when it opened in 1995. This location has a different microclimate than the previous site of Stapleton Airport, situated 12 miles to the southwest of DIA. Before Stapleton, weather records were taken in downtown Denver dating back to 1872.
On Sunday, Aug. 4, the daily record high of 102 set at DIA would not have been a record at Denver Central Park (Stapleton) where the daily high was 96. In fact, none of the five daily record highs set at DIA this summer would have been records at the previous Denver sites. DIA has reached 100 degrees on six days in 2024, while the highest temperature recorded at Central Park has been 99.
With all the media hype of human-made climate change and record heat, we need to be careful not to compare apples and oranges with weather stats going out to the world representing Denver. Average annual precipitation also tends to run a bit lower at DIA, and snowfall is quite often less at the airport due to its proximity farther away from the mountains.
— Dave Larison, Longmont
— Editor’s note: Larison is a retired National Weather Service meteorologist
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