NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
1150 PM MST THU JAN 01 2003
...DENVER'S WEATHER SUMMARY FOR 2002...
...2002 FINISHES AS DENVER'S DRIEST YEAR EVER...
EACH OF THE 12 MONTHS OF 2002 RECORDED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IN
FACT...AS OF DECEMBER 2002...DENVER HAS EXPERIENCED 17 MONTHS IN A ROW
WITH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE LAST ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION
OCCURRED DURING JULY 2001. SINCE THEN...EACH MONTH HAS BEEN BELOW NORMAL
AND THIS HAS LEAD TO DENVER FINISHING WITH THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF ANNUAL
PRECIPITATION EVER RECORDED IN THE 130 YEARS OF WEATHER RECORDS KEEPING
FOR DENVER. RECORDS HAVE BEEN MAINTAINED SINCE 1872. 2002 FINISHED WITH
A DISMAL 7.48 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION...8.33 INCHES BELOW THE NEW NORMAL
OF 15.81 INCHES. THE OLD DRIEST RECORD WAS 7.51 INCHES RECORDED IN 1954.
THE WETTEST DENVER YEAR WAS 1967 WITH 23.31 INCHES. EVEN THOUGH 2002 WAS
THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD...NONE OF THE 12 MONTHS SET RECORDS FOR BEING
THE DRIEST AND ONLY TWO MONTHS MADE IT INTO THE TOP 10 DRIEST. APRIL
(0.23) WAS THIRD DRIEST AND DECEMBER (0.05) SIXTH DRIEST. THERE WERE 60
DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION BUT THAT WAS 29 BELOW THE 89 DAY
NORMAL. JUST LAST YEAR...2001...THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION VALUE STOOD AT
16.55 INCHES.
SNOW WAS ALSO WELL BELOW NORMAL BOTH FOR THE CALENDAR AND SEASONAL YEAR
NUMBERS. FROM JANUARY 2002 THROUGH DECEMBER 2002...ONLY 30.8 INCHES HAS
BEEN RECORDED WHICH IS 30.8 INCHES BELOW THE NEW NORMAL OF 61.6 INCHES.
FOR THE SEASONAL STATISTICS...FROM JULY 2002 THROUGH JUNE 2003...ONLY 8.7
INCHES OF SNOWFALL HAS BEEN RECORDED SO FAR (THROUGH DECEMBER 2002). THIS
IS 16.9 INCHES BELOW THE NEW NORMAL OF 25.6 INCHES. APRIL WITH A TRACE OF
SNOWFALL TIED AS THE 2ND LEAST SNOWIEST APRIL WHILE DECEMBER TIED AS THE
SECOND LEAST SNOWIEST DECEMBER WITH ALSO A MERE TRACE OF SNOWFALL.
TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 8 BELOW ZERO ON FEBRUARY 26TH UP TO 100 DEGREES ON
AUGUST 16TH. THE ONLY 100 DEGREE READING OF THE SUMMER SEASON BROKE THE
110 YEAR RECORD OF 98 DEGREES SET WAY BACK IN 1892. THIS WAS ALSO THE
LATEST DAY IN THE YEAR THAT 100 DEGREES HAS EVER OCCURRED. PREVIOUSLY IT
WAS AUGUST 14TH. JULY BECAME THE 9TH WARMEST JULY WITH AN AVERAGE READING
OF 73.3 AND AN AVERAGE DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 91.5 DEGREES. THERE WERE
NO 100 DEGREE READINGS DURING JULY BUT 99 DEGREES WAS REGISTERED TWICE.
THE BEASTLY 90 DEGREE THRESHOLD WAS EQUALED OR EXCEEDED 56 TIMES WHICH IS
THE THIRD HIGHEST NUMBER OF 90 DEGREES EVER RECORDED. THE NORMAL NUMBER
OF 90 DEGREE DAYS IN THE SEASON IS ONLY 33. OCTOBER BECAME THE THIRD
COLDEST OCTOBER IN DENVER WEATHER HISTORY WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF
43.9 DEGREES. THREE RECORD LOW MAXIMUM RECORDS WERE ESTABLISHED DURING
OCTOBER. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR FINISHED AT 50.1 DEGREES
WHICH AMAZINGLY WAS ONLY 0.1 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE LOW
FINISHED WITH 35.9 DEGREES AGAIN JUST 0.1 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. THE
AVERAGE MAXIMUM MERCURY READING WAS RIGHT ON THE NORMAL OF 64.2
DEGREES...A VERY NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURE YEAR.
THERE WERE 36 DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS AT THE DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
WHICH WAS 6 BELOW NORMAL. VERY LITTLE SEVERE WEATHER WAS OBSERVED WITH
ONLY ONE FUNNEL CLOUD AND 4 DAYS WITH SMALL HAIL. THERE WERE 28 DAYS WITH
DENSE FOG...VISIBILITY AT OR BELOW 1/4 MILE AND THE PEAK WIND GUST WAS 62
MPH RECORDED ON JUNE 21ST.
...DENVER WEATHER STATISTICS FOR 2002...
----------TEMPERATURE--------- PCPN SNOW HEATING COOLING
AVG AVG MONTH MONTH EXTREMES FALL DEGREE DEGREE
MAX MIN AVG NORM HIGH LOW DAYS DAYS
JAN 41.5 17.0 29.3 29.2 63 0 0.48 6.1 1098 0 JAN
FEB 47.6 19.1 33.4 33.2 72 -8 0.32 2.8 876 0 FEB
MAR 48.4 19.3 33.9 39.6 69 -4 0.53 12.5 960 0 MAR
APR 66.2 34.1 50.2 47.6 84 18 0.23 T 444 7 APR
MAY 70.6 41.7 56.2 57.2 93 22 0.94 0.7 302 34 MAY
JUN 87.2 55.0 71.1 67.6 97 42 1.45 0.0 26 218 JUN
JUL 91.5 61.0 76.3 73.4 99 53 1.39 0.0 0 355 JUL
AUG 87.1 55.9 71.5 71.7 100 48 0.78 0.0 5 214 AUG
SEP 77.4 49.8 63.6 62.4 94 38 0.58 0.0 118 84 SEP
OCT 56.4 31.4 43.9 51.0 81 12 0.49 4.8 646 0 OCT
NOV 49.5 25.6 37.6 37.5 72 0 0.24 3.9 816 0 NOV
DEC 46.7 20.6 33.7 30.3 63 6 0.05 T 966 0 DEC
ANN 64.2 35.9 50.1 50.0 100 -8 7.48 30.8 6257 912 ANN
***NOTE: BOTH SNOWFALL AND HEATING DEGREE DAYS ARE TOTALED ON A SEASONAL
BASIS (JUL 1 TO JUN 30)...NOT ON A YEARLY BASIS (JAN 1 TO DEC 31).
***NOTE: SNOWFALL AND SUNSHINE DATA MEASURED BY COOP OBSERVERS AT THE
FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
AVERAGE HIGH FOR THE YEAR 64.2 NORMAL 64.2 DEPARTURE +/- 0.0
AVERAGE LOW FOR THE YEAR 35.9 NORMAL 35.8 DEPARTURE PLUS 0.1
AVERAGE 2002 TEMPERATURE 50.1 NORMAL 50.0 DEPARTURE PLUS 0.1
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE 100 ON AUG 16TH
LOWEST TEMPERATURE -8 ON FEB 26TH
DAYS WITH MAX 90 OR ABOVE 56 NORMAL 33 DEPARTURE PLUS 23
DAYS WITH MAX 32 OR BELOW 29 NORMAL 22 DEPARTURE PLUS 7
DAYS WITH MIN 32 OR BELOW 175 NORMAL 156 DEPARTURE PLUS 19
DAYS WITH MIN 0 OR BELOW 5 NORMAL 9 DEPARTURE MINUS 4
TEMPERATURE RECORDS....
NUMBER OF DAILY MAXIMUMS TIED OR ESTABLISHED......... 8
NUMBER OF DAILY MINIMUMS TIED OR ESTABLISHED......... 6
NUMBER OF DAILY LOW MAXIMUMS TIED OR ESTABLISHED..... 4
NUMBER OF DAILY HIGH MINIMUMS TIED OR ESTABLISHED.... 3
COOLING DEGREE DAYS....
YEARLY TOTAL.... 912 NORMAL.... 696 DEPARTURE PLUS 216
HEATING DEGREE DAYS.... **SEE NOTE ABOVE FOR DATES**
JUL 1999 - JUN 2000 TOTAL 5282 NORMAL 6363 DEPARTURE MINUS 1081
JUL 2000 - JUN 2001 TOTAL 6438 NORMAL 6363 DEPARTURE PLUS 75
JUL 2001 - JUN 2002 TOTAL 5934 NORMAL 6128 DEPARTURE MINUS 194
JUL 2002 - DEC 2002 TOTAL 2551 NORMAL 2486 DEPARTURE PLUS 65
LAST FREEZE OF THE SPRING... 05/24/02 05/21/01 05/13/00 05/17/99
FIRST FREEZE OF THE FALL.... 10/04/02 10/05/01 09/22/00 09/28/99
LAST SNOW OF THE SPRING..... 05/25/02 05/21/01 05/18/00 05/11/99
FIRST SNOW OF THE FALL...... 10/24/02 10/05/01 09/24/00 09/28/99
FIRST 90 DEGREE DAY......... 05/30/02 06/10/01 05/29/00 06/25/99
LAST 90 DEGREE DAY.......... 09/07/02 09/04/01 09/17/00 08/27/99
PRECIPITATION (IN INCHES)....
YEARLY TOTAL............ 7.48 NORMAL 15.81 DEPARTURE MINUS 8.33
DAYS WITH .01 OR GREATER 60 NORMAL 89 DEPARTURE MINUS 29
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS.... 0.81 ON JUN 3-4
SNOWFALL (IN INCHES).... **SEE NOTE ABOVE FOR DATES**
**NOTE: SNOWFALL IS MEASURED AT THE COOPERATIVE WEATHER SITE NEAR THE
FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN DENVER COUNTY. 1961 -1991
NORMALS ARE LISTED THROUGH JUNE 2002. 1971-2000 NORMALS ARE LISTED
FOR THE JAN 2002 - DEC 2002 YEAR AND THEREAFTER.
JAN 2001 - DEC 2001 53.0 NORMAL 60.3 DEPARTURE MINUS 7.3
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS 9.5 APR 11-12 2001
GREATEST DEPTH 9 NOV 11 2001
JUL 2001 - JUN 2002 30.2 NORMAL 60.3 DEPARTURE MINUS 30.1
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS 6.5 MAR 1-2 2002
GREATEST DEPTH 5 MAR 23 2002
JAN 2002 - DEC 2002 30.8 NORMAL 61.6 DEPARTURE MINUS 30.8
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS 6.5 MAR 1-2 2002
GREATEST DEPTH 5 MAR 23 2002
JUL 2002 - DEC 2002 8.7 NORMAL 25.6 DEPARTURE MINUS 16.9
GREATEST IN 24 HOURS 2.2 OCT 29-30 2002
GREATEST DEPTH 2 OCT 30 31 2002
WINDS (IN MILES PER HOUR)....
AVERAGE SPEED 10.4 NORMAL 8.6 DEPARTURE PLUS 1.8
PEAK GUST 62 JUN 21
PEAK GUST DIRECTION (110 - EAST SOUTHEAST)
SEA LEVEL PRESSURE (IN INCHES OF MERCURY)....
HIGHEST 30.79 ON MAR 21
LOWEST 29.15 ON APR 15
MISCELLANEOUS WEATHER....
DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS 36 NORMAL 42 DEPARTURE MINUS 6
DAYS WITH HEAVY FOG 28 NORMAL 10 DEPARTURE PLUS 18
PERCENT OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE 72 NORMAL 69 DEPARTURE PLUS 3
DAYS WITH HAIL 4 NORMAL N/A
DAYS WITH TORNADO/FUNNEL CLOUD 1 NORMAL N/A
BENTON
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