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Denver Climatological Preview - August 2010 |
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Preview of Thornton's August Weather - The Winding Down of Summer
At the start of the month Denver usually averages around 88 degrees for a high temperature. By the end of August that drops to 82 degrees. Similarly, nighttime lows drop from 60 to 53 from the start to the end of the month. Generally clear skies can be expected between midnight and noon but the afternoon often brings showers and thunderstorms. These storms typically develop over the foothills then bring precipitation to the Denver metro area. Despite that moisture, the chance for severe weather decreases considerably compared to the first two months of summer. Cooler air near the surface helps to create a stable atmosphere thus keeping thunderstorms from usually becoming too intense. After the middle of August, tornadoes and damaging hail are pretty rare. The slow movement of storms this time of year are more likely to produce potentially heavy rain. As the end of the month comes, we start to notice our daylight hours getting fewer and even a bit of a nip in the early morning air. Historical temperature extremes for August are somewhat interesting. First, the highest temperature ever reached in Denver was actually recorded in August - 105 degrees on August 8, 1878 (also tied on July 20, 2005). Second, while there has never been snow in Denver in August, twice the mercury has dropped to 40 degrees to serve as a reminder the white stuff isn't too far off - those occurrences were on August 22, 1904 and August 24, 1910. Looking back at August 2009 - Cooler but drier than average Last year August was a month that wasn't particularly notable and had a distinct lack of drama. Temperatures for the month were below average which many residents welcomed. The average temperature was 70.4 degrees - 1.3 degrees below average. Nine days saw temperatures of 90 degrees or warmer which is average. Here in Thornton we had an average temperture of 68.8 degrees with 8 days recording temps at 90 or above. The highest temperature for the month was 98 degrees recorded on the 23rd. This broke the previous record for the date set back in 1878. Lows of 47 degrees on the 16th and 17th were the coldest temperatures recorded for the month with the mark on the 16th tying a record. In terms of precipitation, the month ended quite a bit below normal. At the official station at DIA, 1.14 inch was recorded which is 0.68 inch below average. Twelve days had measurable precipitation with the most falling on the 6th when 0.47 inch fell. Thornton was a bit drier with exactly 1.0 inch being recorded during the month. Two of the days had heavy rain and 11 thunderstorms were reported, one of which did produce hail at the airport. Outlook for August 2010 The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures near normal for the month with precipitation normal to slightly below normal. Temperature Normals and Extremes for August Monthly Temperature, Rainfall and Snowfall Extremes for August
* Historical weather statistics gathered from the National Weather Service's Denver / Boulder forecast office data archives. |
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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. 
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