November 2012 Thornton weather recap: Warmer, drier than normal

Thornton's November 2012 weather recapThe two key weather related words to describe the Denver area’s November 2012 of ‘dry’ and ‘warm’ hardly come as a surprise.  The month saw unseasonably mild temperatures and little in the way of precipitation despite it historically being our second snowiest month.

Above normal temperatures dominated the month from the start with eight out of the first nine days recording readings warmer than average.  Colder weather then arrived and brought Thornton and the Mile High City its first snowfall of the season.  The cooler temperatures did not last long and warmer weather returned for the majority of the balance of November.

Thornton saw an overall average temperature of 41.1 degrees.  Highs averaged 57.3 degrees down to an average low of 26.9 degrees.

Denver’s official average temperature of 43.5 degrees was slightly warmer than Thornton’s.  While mild, it was not warm enough to make it into the list of ‘top 10’ warmest Novembers on record.

Here in Thornton our warmest temperature of the month occurred on the 7th when the mercury climbed to 74.6 degrees.  The coldest morning occurred on Veterans Day (November 11) when temperatures dropped to a chilly 15.0 degrees.

Precipitation was lacking throughout the month as Thornton recorded a scant 0.37 inch in the bucket.  Denver officially recorded less at 0.27 inches.  Both measurements were below the average of 0.61 inch for November.

The season’s first snowfall occurred on the 10th of the month with 1.5 inches being recorded in Thornton.  Out at DIA they recorded slightly more at 1.7 inches.  On average Denver sees 8.7 inches of snow during November so we were well below average.

Click here to view Thornton’s November 2012 climatological report.

Thornton, Colorado November 2012 Temperature Summary

Thornton, Colorado November 2012 Precipitation Summary

Denver’s Official November 2012 Climate Summary

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2012...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2012

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              80   11/08/2006
 LOW              -18   11/29/1877
HIGHEST            77   11/07        67      10       69  11/24
LOWEST             13   11/11        -3      16       10  11/02
                                                          11/03
AVG. MAXIMUM     58.4              52.1     6.3     54.1
AVG. MINIMUM     28.5              24.5     4.0     24.8
MEAN             43.5              38.3     5.2     39.5
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX = .01         1               4.7    -3.7        2
DAYS >= .10         1               1.6    -0.6        2
DAYS >= .50         0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.0     0.0        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.27   11/10 TO 11/10           11/01 TO 11/02

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           42.6  1946
TOTALS            1.7               8.7

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     638               801    -163      757
 SINCE 7/1       1195              1382    -187     1252
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1       1236               769     467      964

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

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              8.4
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   4/205
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    29/220    DATE  11/09
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    37/220    DATE  11/09

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             24
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          1

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     44

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       0
LIGHT RAIN                0     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                1     SNOW                       1
LIGHT SNOW                2     SLEET                      0
FOG                       2     FOG W/VIS

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