Summer 2013 had been a relatively cool one – up until this latter half of August. The Mile High City set another record high temperature and while it was assuredly hot, questions continue to arise over the comparison of measurements at DIA with Denver’s historical records.
At 1:34 p.m. the mercury climbed to 99 degrees at Denver International Airport. This beats the previous record high temperature for the date of 98 degrees set in 1987 at the old Stapleton International Airport.
Here in Thornton we were just a bit cooler with the mercury topping out at 97.8 degrees at 2:23 p.m. This was in fact our second highest temperature of the year. On June 11 we measured 99.2 degrees. Click here to view Thornton’s 2013 temperature records.
At midnight tonight we may see yet another record fall. The record high minimum for today’s date is 67 degrees. This morning the temperature only dropped to 71 degrees at DIA. If by midnight we don’t drop to the 67 degree mark, that will be another record for the Mile High City.
Today’s record is the third in the past four days. On Sunday, August 18 we tied the record high for that date of 98 degrees. That followed a record-breaker on Saturday the 17th when the mercury topped 97 degrees, breaking the old record for that date of 96 degrees.
One thing these records do continue to teach us is how invalid it is to compare records at Denver International Airport compared to historical locations where Denver’s official temperature was measured prior to 1994.
Today for instance, the station at Denver City Park recorded 97 degrees.
Hot yes. Record-setting no.
Similarly, on Sunday the 18th City Park recorded 95 degrees versus DIA’s mark of 98 degrees. On Saturday when DIA recorded a record-breaking 97 degrees, City Park saw 96 degrees.
The difference in measurements is something we have seen repeatedly since 1994. The move of Denver’s official monitoring station is corrupting the city’s climate record and has wide implications.
With a location 14 miles east of where official temperatures were measured prior to DIA, it is in an entirely different microclimate and as a result it experiences different conditions – sometimes considerably different – to locations closer to downtown.
If we can’t accurately compare our temperatures, how are we to believe climate change alarmists that warn of global warming?
For more on the topic of Denver’s problematic weather station, see these previous stories:
Thank you for remaining true to scientific principal and questioning the data. A hypothesis can only be proven valid after repeated testing under the same criteria. If a variable changes, the data is invalid. It’s amazing to me how many people blindly accept the global warming / global cooling / climate change line without considering the bad science behind the headlines.