Mother Nature looks to mix things up again today. Instability courtesy of a disturbance coupled with a cold front will cool things a bit and offer up varying chances for showers throughout the day.

We start out with a good bit of cloud cover then should see some of a break in coverage as we head toward mid-day. Clouds will then increase in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures today will be topping out in the mid to upper 70s, a good ways below the average for the date of 88 degrees.

The morning hours may bring a sprinkle of rain here and there but nothing that should amount to much. This afternoon however, as daytime heating helps unsettle things, the opportunity for storms increases. Some brief, heavy rain will be possible along with gusty winds.

Some severe storms will be possible, most likely to our southwest, but the skies will bear close watching nevertheless.

It is taking some time but we gradually shaking off the cool, damp weather of much of the past week. Today brings some sun, warmer temps and less of a chance for storms.

We start out under partly sunny skies and will see that continue until at least the afternoon when some increased cloud coverage can be expected. Temperatures will climb steadily toward a high in the mid to upper 70s, warmer but still well below normal (89 degrees).

The morning will stay dry then this afternoon and evening do offer up some chances for storms, primarily driven by daytime heating. Best opportunity will come between about 3:00 and 6:00pm.

Overnight tonight lows will dip to the mid to upper 50s.

While the overall pattern will be warmer and drier today, that doesn’t necessarily mean we are done with the wet stuff. There still remains a good chance for activity, particularly in the late afternoon and evening.

We start out the day with mostly cloudy skies and while there may be an occasional patch of sun, overall the sky will be well covered today. Temperatures will be warmer today with highs in the low to mid-70s.

A few sprinkles of rain will be possible by mid to late morning then in the afternoon chances for activity increase and will last until midnight or so. Overnight lows will dip to the mid to upper 50s tonight. You can keep an eye out for those showers here.

August 6 to August 12: This week in Denver weather history

As we get further into the month of August severe weather is less common. It can however still strike as we see in our look at this week in Denver weather history. Everything from torrential rains to massive hail and even a tornado have been reported.

From the National Weather Service:

6

In 1877…a severe rain…hail…and wind storm struck Denver. The storm produced a one minute sustained wind speed of 75 mph. Rainfall totaled 1.00 inch in 25 minutes. The hail storm damaged vegetable gardens in the city.

In 1954…an unconfirmed tornado was reported in Westminster. A funnel cloud was sighted in the area…but it was not certain if it had touched down. No damage was reported.

In 1980…the temperature reached 100 degrees…setting a new record high for the date.

In 1982…3/4 inch diameter hail was reported in north Denver. Heavy rain caused street flooding in central Denver where 4 to 5 feet of water inundated I-25…closing the freeway for a while. Rainfall across metro Denver ranged up to 2.35 inches in just over an hour. An estimated 2000 basements were flooded. Only 0.01 inch of rain fell at Stapleton International Airport.

In 1991…heavy rain caused flooding at the junction of I-25 and I-70. Dime size hail was reported northeast of Boulder near Niwot.

In 1995…microburst winds gusting as high as 58 mph caused minor damage to an apartment complex in Broomfield. Some homes under construction were also damaged when the winds knocked over 2 by 4 wood beams along with some insulation and roofing materials…which broke a few windows. Microburst winds also overturned a camper near Barr Lake.

In 1996…hail ranging in size from 1 to 1 1/2 inches fell near Bennett.

In 2001…3/4 inch hail fell in the foothills near Conifer.

In 2008…a record daily rainfall record was set at Denver International Airport. The record of 1.29 inches in 24 hours broke the previous record of 1.10 inches set in 1929.

7

In 1948…a brief west moving tornado was sighted 3 miles north-northeast of Stapleton Airport. The white funnel silhouetted against a gray cloud background was very narrow…nearly vertical…and estimated at nearly 5 thousand feet high. A dust cloud formed on the ground around the funnel. No damage was reported.

In 1952…a thunderstorm wind gust to 52 mph was recorded at Stapleton Airport.

In 2014…severe thunderstorms produced large hail across western and southern parts of metro Denver. Near Centennial and Golden…hail up to quarter size was reported. Near Bennett…a peak thunderstorm wind gust to 65 mph was also reported. At Denver International Airport…a peak wind gust to 46 mph was recorded.

8

In 1874…swarms of grasshoppers invaded the city. Millions of them were seen cruising through the air. The insects were apparently picked up by a thunderstorm gust front and carried into the city. The grasshoppers had ravaged crops in surrounding counties for the last month.

In 1878…the highest temperature ever recorded in Denver…105 degrees…occurred at 3:20 pm. This temperature was equaled on July 20th in 2005.

In 1969…the temperature reached 100 degrees at Stapleton International Airport.

In 1976…in Thornton…a 13 year old boy riding a bicycle was struck and killed by lightning.

In 2000…lightning struck three homes in central Arapahoe County east of Denver. Damage was estimated at 47 thousand dollars.

In 2003…hail to 1 inch in diameter pelted Denver. Hail to 7/8 inch was measured in Boulder.

In 2008…heavy rain also caused flash flooding over south Denver and its nearby suburbs. Heavy rain…from 2.5 to 4 inches…fell in less than 90 minutes. Firefighters rescued 20 people as the water quickly rose along creeks…flooded roadways…and stranded motorists. Three people had to be rescued along Cherry Creek when the bike path flooded.  In Evergreen…a man suffered minor injuries when he was struck by lightning. It entered his finger…traveled down his body… And exited his foot.

In 2013…heavy rain caused localized flash flooding in Aurora. An undergound parking garage at an apartment complex was inundated with 3 to 4 feet of water. Flash flooding forced a road closure at East Mississippi Ave. and Alton St. Also… several people had to be rescued when three vehicles stalled in floodwaters at Alameda Ave. and Havana St. The stationary thunderstorms dumped 2.75 inches of rain in less than 45 minutes. In addition…large hail…up to one inch in diameter… was reported north of Roxbourough State Park. At Denver International Airport…just a trace of rainfall was observed.

8-10

In 1979…heavy thunderstorm rains on each of three consecutive days dumped a total of 2.22 inches of rain at Stapleton International Airport. The heaviest rain… 0.95 inches…fell on the 9th. Small hail to 1/8 inch diameter fell on the 8th.

» Click here to read the rest of August 6 to August 12: This week in Denver weather history

An almost fall-like day ahead for us. We will be under a steady cover of clouds with periods of drizzle, rain and thunderstorms being possible and temperatures well below normal.

The day starts with cloudy skies and you can expect similar coverage throughout. High temperatures today will only be in the mid to upper 60s offering one of our coolest days since May.

This morning some periods of rain will be possible then this afternoon and evening bring our best chance for precipitation coupled with perhaps some thunder.

Looking ahead at the balance of your week, you can expect temperatures to remain below normal with varying degrees of precipitation possible. Get a look at the extended forecast here.

The month of July might have seemed quite hot but in fact mercury readings were right near normal. What likely caused the misconception is the fact that we saw far less than normal rain.

High pressure did dominate for much of the month and while monsoonal flow did bring rain to eastern Colorado, it largely missed our area.  The Palmer Divide and southeastern Colorado were beneficiaries for much of the month but for us it wasn’t until the last week that we saw relief.

Thornton’s average temperature for the month came in at 74.1 degrees.  This is almost exactly matches Denver’s long-term July average of 74.2 degrees.  Out at DIA where the Mile High City’s official temperatures are taken, it shows a far warmer month with an average of 76.4 degrees.

Temperatures here ranged from a maximum of 99.2 degrees on the 19th down to a low of 50.1 degrees on the morning of the 1st.  Out at the airport, their highest reading was actually 100 degrees seen on the 6th and again on the 19th.  The low out there was 51 degrees on the 1st.

On average Denver receives 2.16 inches of precipitation during July.  Both Thornton and Denver fell far short of that mark.  We managed to record 0.61 inches in our bucket during the month, more than half of which fell on the second to last day of the month. At DIA, Denver recorded 0.47 inches.

Click here to view Thornton’s July 2017 climate report.

Thornton, Colorado’s July 2017 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)

Thornton, Colorado’s July 2017 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)

From the National Weather Service:

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
656 AM MDT TUE AUG 1 2017

...................................

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JULY 2017...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2017

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH             105   07/20/2005
 LOW               42   07/04/1903
                        07/31/1873
HIGHEST           100   07/19        99      -5      102  07/10
                        07/06
LOWEST             51   07/01        51       9       51  07/12
AVG. MAXIMUM     91.5              89.4     2.1     92.0
AVG. MINIMUM     61.3              58.9     2.4     60.5
MEAN             76.4              74.2     2.2     76.2
DAYS MAX >= 90     20              16.0     4.0       22
DAYS MAX <= 32      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MIN <= 32      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) 
RECORD
 MAXIMUM 6.41 1965
 MINIMUM 0.01 1901 
TOTALS 0.47 2.16 -1.69 1.07 
DAILY AVG. 0.02 0.07 -0.05 0.03 
DAYS >= .01         6               8.3    -2.3        6
DAYS >= .10         3               4.3    -1.3        4
DAYS >= .50         0               1.4    -1.4        1
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.7    -0.7        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.15   07/21 TO 07/21           07/01 TO 07/01
                                                          06/30 TO 07/01
                                                          07/01 TO 07/01

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS TOTAL      0.0
 TOTALS            0.0 2017         0.0

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL       0                 6      -6        0
 SINCE 7/1          0                 6      -6        0
COOLING TOTAL     360               289      71      356
 SINCE 1/1        533               444      89      544

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST                        10/07
LATEST                          05/05
..................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.6
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/204
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    45/120    DATE  07/15
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    53/120    DATE  07/15

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             21
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          4

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     45

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              9     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       3
LIGHT RAIN                9     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       0
LIGHT SNOW                0     SLEET                      0
FOG                       3     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      1
HAZE                      3

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

Today will offer near normal temperatures again however by the latter half of the day we will see things start to change. One front will arrive around noon bringing chances for storms and a second, reinforcing front, arrives tonight keeping things stirred up and offering much cooler temperatures tomorrow.

We start out the day today with mostly sunny skies and calm conditions. Clouds will slowly increase by mid-morning leading to partly sunny skies in the afternoon.

The first front will bring chances for showers and thunderstorms beginning at noon and lasting through the evening and overnight hours. Winds will be gusty at times with the frontal passage. Temperatures should top out near the average for today’s date of 89 degrees.

Tonight, clouds remain as do chances for storms until midnight. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s.

That second front that we mentioned will pull in cooler air and result in high temperatures tomorrow in the 70s.

As summer vacations wind down and families prepare to send their kids back to school in August, Colorado weather also starts to settle down. The chances for severe weather decrease markedly during August and by the end of the month daytime temperatures are dropping quite a bit as well.

Find out more about what lies ahead with Thornton’s August weather here.