Thornton’s October was an unusually warm one with daytime highs more what we would expect in September. It would also have been a dry one were it not for three days of healthy rainfall in the latter third of the month.
The overall average temperature for the month in Thornton was 54.4 degrees. Out at Denver International Airport where Denver’s official readings are taken, the average was a good bit warmer at 56.5 degrees. The 30 year historical average for October is 50.9 degrees so both locations were considerably warmer than normal.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a maximum of 86.8 degrees on the 11th down to 30.5 degrees on the morning of the 28th. Denver’s high and low came on the same dates at 87 degrees and 28 degrees respectively. The high reading on the 11th was a record high for the date.
In terms of precipitation, 1.54 inches fell in Thornton’s rain bucket. Denver bested us with 1.76 inches. Both beat the October average of 1.02 inches.
Snowfall was non-existent during the month. On average the Mile High City sees 4.0 inches of the white stuff in October.
Click here to view Thornton’s October 2015 climate report.
From the National Weather Service:
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
315 PM MST SUN NOV 1 2015
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2015...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2015
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 90 10/01/1892
LOW -2 10/29/1917
HIGHEST 87 10/11 83 4 83 10/15
LOWEST 28 10/28 22 6 29 10/27
AVG. MAXIMUM 70.1 65.3 4.8 69.5
AVG. MINIMUM 42.8 36.6 6.2 40.7
MEAN 56.5 50.9 5.6 55.1
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.4 -0.4 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 1 8.5 -7.5 4
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.17 1969
MINIMUM T 1934
TOTALS 1.76 1.02 0.74 0.52
DAILY AVG. 0.06 0.03 0.03 0.02
DAYS >= .01 6 5.3 0.7 5
DAYS >= .10 3 2.4 0.6 2
DAYS >= .50 2 0.5 1.5 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.1 -0.1 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.87 10/20 TO 10/21
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTAL 0.0 4.0
RECORD OCTOBER 31.2 1969
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 274 440 -166 299
SINCE 7/1 301 581 -280 394
COOLING TOTAL 16 5 11 0
SINCE 1/1 877 769 108 701
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/28 10/07
LATEST 05/05
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WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.8
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 2/203
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 29/010 DATE 10/27
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 40/160 DATE 10/02
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 15
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 10
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 53
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 3
LIGHT RAIN 6 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 9 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 3
HAZE 6
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.