November 2017 weather recap: Thornton sees very warm, very dry month

To say November 2017 was simply ‘warm and dry’ in many ways is an understatement.  Temperatures were far above normal, our warmest November in the past 10 years in fact.  It also was exceedingly dry with little precipitation and snow seen.

The month started off mild then cooled off for a few days from the 6th to the 9th. After that though, the vast majority of readings were above normal, some much higher than average.

Here in Thornton, we saw an average monthly temperature of 44.1 degrees. That is 4.7 degrees above our running 10-year average.  Temperatures for us ranged from a high of 77.6 degrees on the 27th down to a low of 20.2 on the 19th.

Denver’s official average came in a bit warmer at 45.3 degrees. That was well above the Mile High City’s November average of 38.3 degrees.  A reading of 81 degrees on the 27th and 22 degrees on the 15th were the highest and lowest readings at DIA.

Denver set two daily high temperature records.  On the 26th, as measured at Denver International Airport, the temperature topped out at 74 degrees, a record high for the date.  This was followed the next day with a record high setting of 81 degrees. The reading on the 27th also set a record for the warmest November ever on record.

In terms of precipitation, what little we saw came during the first half of the month.  Thornton saw a mere 0.20 inch in the bucket.  The airport saw a bit more with 0.29 inches. Both fall well short of Denver’s long term November precipitation average of 0.61 inches.

Snow was certainly lacking for the month as well.  In Thornton we saw 0.8 inches on the 7th, our only measurable snowfall of the entire month. Denver officially only recorded a trace. This is in stark contrast to Denver’s long term November snowfall average of 8.7 inches.

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

Thornton, Colorado's November 2017 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
Thornton, Colorado’s November 2017 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
Thornton, Colorado's November 2017 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
Thornton, Colorado’s November 2017 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)

From the National Weather Service:

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
733 AM MST FRI DEC 1 2017

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

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 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              81   11/27/2017
 LOW              -18   11/29/1877
HIGHEST            81R  11/27        73       8       80  11/16
LOWEST             22   11/15        -6      28       10  11/30
                        11/12
AVG. MAXIMUM     61.1              52.1     9.0     59.9
AVG. MINIMUM     29.4              24.5     4.9     30.4
MEAN             45.3              38.3     7.0     45.1
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32      0               2.3    -2.3        1
DAYS MIN <= 32     22              23.4    -1.4       15
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.6    -0.6        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         3.21   1946
 MINIMUM            T   1899
                        1901
                        1949
TOTALS           0.29              0.61   -0.32     0.52
DAILY AVG.       0.01              0.02   -0.01     0.02
DAYS >= .01         3               4.7    -1.7        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    0.23   11/17 TO 11/17

SNOWFALL (INCHES)           T       8.7

SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL    42.5    1946

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     586               801    -215      586
 SINCE 7/1       1171              1382    -211      896
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1        881               769     112      878

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

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.7
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/214
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    39/350    DATE  11/18
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    52/270    DATE  11/01

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR            5
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             21
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          4

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     50

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORMS             0     MIXED PRECIP             0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                     0
LIGHT RAIN                1     FREEZING RAIN            0
LT FREEZING RAIN          1     HAIL                     0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                     0
LIGHT SNOW                3     SLEET                    0
FOG                      10     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE    4
HAZE                      6

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

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