Tag Archives: record temperatures

Thornton Weather

Crazy August weather – Lots of moisture but overall still behind the curve

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If August 2008’s weather thus far had to be summed up in one word it would be WET!  Last Thursday a low pressure system began moving into the region from Saskatchewan, Canada.  Ahead of the system a cold front moved into northeastern Colorado and by Friday that low pressure had settled over Colorado. 

Over a three day period through Sunday morning, this produced lots of rain and record cool temperatures.  As it stands today in fact, August 2008 has climbed to # 3 on the all-time wettest August’s on record – and we still have 12 days left in the month. 

Denver’s top 5 wettest Augusts

5.85″   1979
4.47 ”  1951
4.03″   2008  (4.76″ recorded in Thornton)
3.87″   1923
3.69″   1991

While our August moisture has been great, it has not erased the deficit in precipitation overall for 2008.  Up until this month, we had nine straight months with below average precipitation.  Through the end of August, Denver historically averages 12.07 inches of precipitation.  As of today, even with our record setting August, we only have recorded 7.31 inches in 2008.  Certainly the recent storm highlights that we could easily catch up with one or two wet systems moving through but it does also serve as a reminder that we are still quite dry. 

Record temperatures too!  With the wet cold front came record setting cool temperatures too.  Friday, August 15th, Denver reached 59 degrees which demolished the previous record low maximum temperature of 68 degrees set in 1880.  Saturday, August 16th we reached 58 degrees which again broke the previous record low maximum for the date of 63 degrees set in 1890.  ThorntonWeather.com recorded 58 and 57.2 on August 15th and 16th respectively.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Signs of Fall approaching as cool and wet hit Thornton

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Updated Saturday, 8/16/08 @ 5:19am – Denver officially reached a high temperature of 59 degrees on Friday (Thornton reached 58).  This crushed the old record low maximum temperature of 68 degrees set in 1880.  Saturday has the potential to do the same with a forecast high of 56.

Updated Friday, 8/15/08 @ 2:25pm – A Flood Watch has been issued by the National Weather Service effective immediately through Sunday morning.  As always, keep up to date with our real time advisories and our NOAA All Hazards Radio system.

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From a record setting heatwave just a couple of weeks ago to cool and wet and possibly record setting temperatures at the other end of the spectrum too!  Colorado is nothing if not inconsistent!  🙂

A closed low has developed over much of Colorado and temperatures have dropped considerably and rain has fallen over much of the Front Range.  Rain showers and isolated thunderstorms will dominate the weather Friday as will cool temperatures.  Friday’s forecast high of 62 degrees is in fact 24 degrees below normal for this date.  If that forecast holds true, we could set a record for the lowest high temperature for the date as well – the previous record is 69 degrees set in 1933!  The same holds true for Saturday as well with a forecast high the same as Friday and the lowest high temperature on record of 68 degrees set way back in 1874. 

The rain brings much needed moisture to the Front Range but it will be slow in falling and shouldn’t pose much in the way of flooding problems.  As of this writing, the Rocky Mountain Weather Network is showing pretty consistent precipitation across the metro area with 0.29″ having fallen at ThorntonWeather.com so far.  The moisture will be on and off through Saturday night and then begin decreasing Sunday and into Monday. 

It looks like the first part of next week we will return to more seasonal weather and temperatures into the 80’s.

Thornton Weather

So much for forecasts! The streak continues!

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Here in Thornton our high thus far today has reached 88.3.  However, out at DIA where the official Denver measurements are taken, the temperature reached 91 degrees.  This of course extends the streak to 41 days.  From the National Weather Service:

The Denver heat wave continues.  At 243 pm the temperature at Denver International Airport reached 91 degrees.  This temperature extends our current streak of consecutive 90 degree days to 24 days in a row.   It is amazing that 24 consecutive 90 or above high temperatures were recorded breaking the 18 day streak last set 107 years ago in 1901.

So far in 2008 41 ninety degree days have been tallied.     2008 remains 9 days away from the 10th top seasonal total of 50 set in both 1960 and 1964.  

Click here to view the updated statistics about the streak and historical streaks.

Colorado Weather, Site News, Thornton Weather

The records keep coming & a new website feature

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Denver’s record of consecutive days with 90+ degrees continues as Saturday reached 103 degrees officially at DIA.  Here in Thornton we topped out at 98.6.  The temperature was quickly climbing and we were sure we were going to break 100 but early afternoon brought cloud cover to the Thronton area thus keeping us from reaching triple digits.

From the National Weather Service, four records were broken in the first two days of the month:

  • August 1st:   New record high:  104 degrees   Old record:  100 degrees last set in 1938
  • August 2nd:  New record high:  103 degrees   Old record:  100 degrees last set 130 years ago in 1878
  • August 2nd:  New record high minimum:  70 degrees   Old record  68 degrees  last set in 1938
  • August 2nd:  the consecutive 90 streak record continues with 21 consecutive days tallied.

Quite the start to the month! 

New website feature added today!  You can now view official National Weather Service “Local Storm Reports” directly on our website.  These reports are submitted by NWS personnel, trained spotters, law enforcement as well as other emergency responders.  They are a great way to see what is happening.  This new feature not only displays these reports for the metro area but also for all NWS offices across the country!  Special thanks to Curly at Michiana Weather for sharing the code that allows this to happen.

You can view the storm reports at any time by a new menu item added under the “Live Condtions” menu and the “Forecast” menu on the left.

Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

Record streak official. Heat Advisory and possible record temps to come.

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Denver\'s Record Breaking Heat Wave ContinuesIt is official – we have broken Denver’s 107 year old record of consecutive days with over 90 degree temperatures.  Thursday marked day 19 in the streak, moving past the old record of 18 days set way back in 1901 and 1874. 

At the current time, it looks like the 90+ degree heat will continue until Wednesday at the earliestso the streak could number around 24 days or so by the time it is done.  Thornton’s forecast calls for 101 degrees Friday, 100 Saturday and 98 on Sunday so the weekend will be a hot one for sure.  This gives us the potential to break Denver’s all-time record for August 1st and 2nd of 100 degrees (set in 1938 and 1878 respectively).  Thankfully it doesn’t look like we will break the overall all-time Denver temperature record of 105 so you can consider that a bit of a silver lining.  🙂  Continue reading Record streak official. Heat Advisory and possible record temps to come. →