Denver and Thornton wrapped on the first month of 2008 dry.  Official measurements at Stapleton and at ThorntonWeather.com recorded only 0.08 inch of precipitation making it the 7th driest January since recordkeeping began in 1872.  This was 0.43 inch below the 0.51 normal, so a pretty big drop.  Only two days had measurable precipitation in the form of snow at Stapleton while in Thornton we recorded four. 

Officially only 3.1 inches of snowfall was recorded near the former Stapleton International Airport and in Thornton we recorded a bit less at 2.8 inches.  This was 4.6 inches below normal for Denver.  Thornton’s seasonal snowfall stood at 26.4 inches at the end of the month (the official Denver measurement was 29.5 inches) which is below the official normal of 33.3 inches for this period. There were no precipitation records set or tied during the month.

In regards to temperature, the normal average for the month is 29.2 degrees which we finished slightly below at 27.9 (28.2 in Thornton).  Illustrating the wide range of temperatures we experience in Colorado, we had a high temperature of 66 degrees on the 27th and a low of -1.7 on the 22nd (Denver recorded 63 and -3 on those days).  All but one day of the month, the 4th, recorded low temperatures below freezing and five days had high temperatures that never got above freezing.  While the month was below normal, it was still warmer than what it was just one year ago in 2007 when the average was 22.8 degrees! 

Some other interesting statistics…  We did have sunshine 79% of the possible time so it was pretty sunny at least.  Wind is of course a fact of life on the plains and we did have 12 days with wind gusts registering over 25mph.  On the 25th of the month we registered the highest gust of the month at 38mph. 

For a day by day log, click here to view our climate log for January 2008.