February in Colorado typically brings to an end an extended period when average temperatures are at their lowest. Winter begins to loosen its grip and temperatures get warmer but precipitation is not a particularly common event during the month.
Thus far our snow season has been relatively dismal with the seasonal total in Thornton more than 10 inches below average. In the high country, the snowpack is not faring much better. February is only our sixth snowiest month so we may not see much snowfall for the balance of the month.
Temperatures however do usually see a nice rebound during the month. Average high temperatures climb from an average of 44 degrees at the start to 50 degrees by the end of February.
Finally! Our winter thus far had been quite dry so seeing some precipitation in January was a very welcome change. Temperatures were just a bit above normal.
Overall, the month was short on any sort of real weather drama with no major storms or particularly notable temperature extremes. However, a series of storm systems did give us a bit of a roller coaster of weather with five different snow events over the month.
January started out with a very cold New Year’s Day but soon saw warmer temperatures arrive. Our first snow came on the 11th and 12th. This was followed by some smaller events and finally our biggest snowfall of the month on the 28th.
Thornton’s average temperature for the month came in at 31.3 degrees. This was a bit warmer than Denver’s long term overage for January of 30.7 degrees. Out at DIA where Denver’s official readings are taken, it was a bit warmer with an average of 32.0 degrees.
Our mercury readings ranged from a low of 2.2 degrees on the 1st and the 2nd to a high of 61.1 degrees a few days later on the 4th. Denver’s lowest reading was 5 degrees below zero on the first and its warmest of 62 degrees came on the 4th.
In terms of precipitation, Denver averages 0.41 inches of liquid precipitation during January. Thornton easily bested that with an even 1 inch in our bucket. Denver was above average as well with 0.75 inches.
Snowfall in Thornton saw above normal levels with a total for the month of 10.9 inches. Denver, as usual, lagged with 6.2 inches of the white stuff. The 30 year average for Denver for January is 7.0 inches.
Thornton, Colorado’s January 2019 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)Thornton, Colorado’s January 2019 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
1026 AM MST FRI FEB 1 2019
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2019...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2019
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 76 01/27/1888
LOW -29 01/09/1875
HIGHEST 62 01/04 76 -14 68 01/09
LOWEST -5 01/01 -29 24 -4 01/16
AVG. MAXIMUM 44.6 44.0 0.6 49.2
AVG. MINIMUM 19.5 17.4 2.1 20.1
MEAN 32.0 30.7 1.3 34.7
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 6 5.5 0.5 3
DAYS MIN <= 32 29 29.4 -0.4 28
DAYS MIN <= 0 1 1.7 -0.7 2
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 2.35 1883
MINIMUM 0.01 1933
1934
1952
TOTALS 0.75 0.41 0.34 0.54
DAILY AVG. 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02
DAYS >= .01 6 4.1 1.9 5
DAYS >= .10 2 0.9 1.1 2
DAYS >= .50 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.0 0.0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.45 01/11 TO 01/11 01/21 TO 01/21
OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 6.2 7.0
RECORD 24.3 1992
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 1016 1063 -47 932
SINCE 7/1 3388 3531 -143 3082
COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0
SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
.................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.9
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 4/214
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 40/290 DATE 01/07
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 54/350 DATE 01/22
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 10
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 17
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 4
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 58
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
Thornton’s December was lacking in terms of any sort of real weather drama. Temperatures were relatively mild for much of the month and precipitation was fleeting.
Above normal temperatures were the general rule for the first part of the month. It was only the last week of the month when Arctic air arrived and we saw temperatures drop considerably. We saw only two measurable snow events, neither of which amounted to much.
Overall, Thornton’s average temperature for the month was 30.8 degrees. This was nearly a full degree above Denver’s long term December average of 30.0 degrees. Out at DIA where the Mile High City’s official measurements are taken, it was a good bit warmer with an average of 32.5 degrees.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a high of 60.6 degrees on the 21st down to a low of 4.5 degrees on the morning of the 29th. Denver’s warmest reading of 63 degrees also came on the 21st and its coldest, 0 degrees, on the 31st.
Denver averages 0.35 inches of precipitation during December. Thornton fell well short with a mere 0.07 inches. Out at the airport, even less was realized with 0.03 being recorded. This puts December 2018 into the books as one of the driest Decembers ever recorded.
Thornton recorded a mere 0.9 inches of snow during the month, the majority of which fell on the last day of the month. Denver saw 0.5 inches, all on the 31st. Both fall well short of the long term Denver average for December snowfall of 8.5 inches and put December 2018 on the list of the ten least snowy Decembers recorded.
Ten least snowy December’s in Denver weather history:
TRACE – 1905, 1906, 2002
0.1 – 1928
0.4 – 1890
0.5 – 1935, 2018
0.6 – 1995
0.7 – 1977, 1895
Thornton, Colorado’s December 2018 Temperature Summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)Thornton, Colorado’s December 2018 Precipitation Summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
936 AM MST TUE JAN 1 2019
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2018...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2018
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 79 12/05/1939
LOW -25 12/22/1990
12/24/1876
HIGHEST 63 12/21 62 1 69 12/12
LOWEST 0 12/31 -4 4 -4 12/24
AVG. MAXIMUM 46.1 42.8 3.3 48.3
AVG. MINIMUM 18.8 17.1 1.7 18.0
MEAN 32.5 30.0 2.5 33.2
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 4 5.8 -1.8 4
DAYS MIN <= 32 31 29.4 1.6 28
DAYS MIN <= 0 1 2.0 -1.0 1
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 5.21 1913
MINIMUM 0.00 1881
TOTALS 0.03 0.35 -0.32 0.21
DAILY AVG. 0.00 0.01 -0.01 0.01
DAYS >= .01 1 4.1 -3.1 4
DAYS >= .10 0 1.1 -1.1 1
DAYS >= .50 0 0.1 -0.1 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.0 0.0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.03 12/31 TO 12/31
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 0.5 8.5
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 999 1086 -87 979
SINCE 7/1 2372 2468 -96 2150
COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0
SINCE 1/1 1026 769 257 881
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 2/222
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 39/010 DATE 12/12
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 53/010 DATE 12/12
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 22
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 3
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 51
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
As we begin the new year the winter chill begins to set in. While January can see its share of extremes, the month historically sees stable temperatures and is usually relatively dry.
January ranks as the second coldest month in Denver next to December with average temperatures remaining virtually the same from the start to the end of the month.
In terms of snowfall, the month only ranks as the fourth snowiest and it is not uncommon for it to be quite dry.
What does January 2019 hold for us? Follow the link to find out.
Winter officially begins at 9:28am MST on Thursday, December 21, 2017. (NOAA)
Astronomical winter arrives in Thornton Friday afternoon and with the solstice also comes the shortest day of the year.
Winter officially begins at 3:23pm MST on Friday, December 21.
The Winter Solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted at its furthest from the sun – 23.5 degrees away. This results in the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here in Denver, with sunrise at 7:17am and sunset at 4:38pm, our day Friday will be 9 hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds long.
The following day, Saturday, it will be one second longer and each day from now through to the Summer Solstice in June will get gradually longer as well.
While we have a short day today, it is nothing like what will be experienced in the Arctic Circle. Areas north of there to the North Pole will have no direct sunlight at all. Conversely, areas south of the Antarctic Circle toward the South Pole will have 24 hours of daylight and have a midnight sun.
Did you know that there is a difference between the astronomical seasons that we are discussing here and meteorological seasons?
Meteorological seasons differ slightly and are geared toward matching the calendar with the annual temperature cycle. This is done primarily for meteorological observing and forecasting and in many ways it is more logical than the astronomical seasons.
For the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological spring covers the months of March, April and May. Summer brings the hottest months of the year and so meteorological summer is June, July and August. Meteorological fall then is September, October and November followed by the coldest months of December, January and February as meteorological winter.
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.
The month of April was one that failed to bring much in the way of snow or rain. This exacerbated the growing drought conditions, despite the end of the month bring some relief.
The first third of the month did bring a few days with light snow but nothing that ever amounted to much. Temperatures overall were a bit warmer than normal during the period and many days featured breezy winds serving to help dry things out.
We then put together three unseasonably warm days from the 10th to the 12th. The 13th saw things cool down but the majority of the snow in the region stayed well east of Thornton.
Perhaps the most notable event of the month came on the 17th when a strong upper level system passed over us. This brought extremely strong winds and resulted in Thornton recording its strongest wind gust in the past 10 plus years (62.1 mph).
Finally on the 20th we started seeing some precipitation with two of the next five days seeing light snow and the others having some rain. The month wrapped up with four straight days of temperatures well above normal.
Thornton’s overall average temperature for the month came in at 48.3 degrees. This was nearly a full degree warmer than the long term Denver average temperature for the month of 47.4 degrees. Out at Denver International Airport where the Mile High City’s official measurements are taken, it was slightly cooler with an average reading of 47.8 degres.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a high of 83.6 degrees on the 29th down to our coldest reading of 22.1 degrees on the morning of the 6th and the 7th. Denver’s maximum and minimum were similar with 83 degrees on the 29th and 21 degrees on the 6th.
In terms of precipitation, Denver averages 1.71 inches of liquid precip during April Thornton saw only 1.07 inches while Denver was even drier with 0.86 inches.
Snowfall at both locations fell short of the April average of 6.8 inches. Thornton recorded 3.9 inches while Denver only saw 1.5 inches.
Thornton, Colorado’s April 2018 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)Thornton, Colorado’s April 2018 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
1208 PM MDT WED MAY 2 2018
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2018...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2018
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 90 04/30/1992
LOW -2 04/02/1975
HIGHEST 83 04/29 79 04/14
04/13
LOWEST 21 04/06 24 04/10
AVG. MAXIMUM 63.2 61.5 1.7 63.2
AVG. MINIMUM 32.5 33.3 -0.8 34.5
MEAN 47.8 47.4 0.4 48.9
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.3 -0.3 1
DAYS MIN <= 32 16 13.0 3.0 15
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 8.24 1900
MINIMUM 0.03 1963
TOTALS 0.86 1.71 -0.85 0.98
DAILY AVG. 0.03 0.06 -0.03 0.03
DAYS >= .01 8 9.1 -1.1 10
DAYS >= .10 4 4.5 -0.5 5
DAYS >= .50 0 0.9 -0.9 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.5 -0.5 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.34 04/21 TO 04/21 04/29 TO 04/29
OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 1.5 6.8
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 509 529 -20 478
SINCE 7/1 5250 5731 -481 4803
COOLING TOTAL 2 1 1 0
SINCE 1/1 2 1 1 0
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/07
LATEST 05/05
.................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 12.5
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION M
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 46/320 DATE 04/13
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 70/280 DATE 04/17
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 17
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 7
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 49
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORMS 3 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 0 RAIN 2
LIGHT RAIN 9 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 2
LIGHT SNOW 8 FOG W/VIS <=1/4 MILE 1
FOG 8 HAZE 2
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
February in Colorado typically brings to an end an extended period when average temperatures are at their lowest. Winter begins to loosen its grip and temperatures get warmer but precipitation is not a particularly common event during the month.
Thus far our snow season has been relatively dismal with the seasonal total in Thornton more than 10 inches below average. In the high country, the snowpack is not faring much better. February is only our sixth snowiest month so we may not see much snowfall for the balance of the month.
Temperatures however do usually see a nice rebound during the month. Average high temperatures climb from an average of 44 degrees at the start to 50 degrees by the end of February.
With the last part of December fresh in our minds, it would not be surprising to think of the month as a cold one. However, reaching back, if you recall, we actually enjoyed a lot of mild days earlier and very little precipitation. As a result, December 2017 goes into the books as a warm and dry one.
The first half of the month was notable for stable conditions yielding above normal temperatures and no precipitation. Denver set a record high temperature on the 12th of 69 degrees which was also our warmest reading of the month.
Not long after the warmth came the cold. Arctic air infiltrated from the north on the 21st resulting in much cooler temperatures and a pre-Christmas snow. This was followed by another snow on the 23rd that lasted into the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. Single digit lows were seen for seven days from the 21st to the 27th.
We then saw a brief warmup for the 27th to the 29th but that was short lived. We closed out the month with the final two days’ high temperatures failing to reach even the freezing mark.
On average, Denver’s temperature for December comes in at 30.0 degrees. Both Thornton and the Mile High City came in above that with average readings of 31.8 degrees and 33.2 degrees respectively.
Thornton saw its warmest temperature reading of 69.1 degrees on the 12th and its coldest of 1.6 degrees on the morning of the 27th. Denver’s warmest reading of 69 degrees also came on the 12th and its coldest of -4 degrees came on the 24th.
In terms of precipitation, Thornton saw a mere 0.16 inch of liquid in its bucket for the month. Denver was a bit better with 0.21 inches. Both were below the long-term Denver average of 0.35 inches.
December on average brings 8.5 inches of snowfall to Denver. Thornton fell well short of that with 4.7 inches and Denver just a bit less with 4.0 inches.
Thornton, Colorado’s December 2017 temperature summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)Thornton, Colorado’s December 2017 precipitation summary. (ThorntonWeather.com)
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
645 AM MST MON JAN 1 2018
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 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 79 12/05/1939
LOW -25 12/22/1990
12/24/1876
HIGHEST 69 12/12 62 7 65 12/30
LOWEST -4 12/24 -4 0 -15 12/17
AVG. MAXIMUM 48.3 42.8 5.5 42.7
AVG. MINIMUM 18.0 17.1 0.9 12.9
MEAN 33.2 30.0 3.2 27.8
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 4 5.8 -1.8 6
DAYS MIN <= 32 28 29.4 -1.4 30
DAYS MIN <= 0 1 2.0 -1.0 4
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 5.21 1913
MINIMUM 0.00 1881
TOTALS 0.21 0.35 -0.14 0.78
DAILY AVG. 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.03
DAYS >= .01 4 4.1 -0.1 6
DAYS >= .10 1 1.1 -0.1 2
DAYS >= .50 0 0.1 -0.1 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.0 0.0 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.10 12/23 TO 12/23
STORM TOTAL 0.10 12/23 TO 12/23
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 57.4 1913
TOTALS 4.0 2017 8.5
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 979 1086 -107 1146
SINCE 7/1 2150 2468 -318 2042
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 10.0
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 2/214
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 37/270 DATE 12/04
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 48/280 DATE 12/04
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 8
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 18
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 5
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 49
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
FOG OR MIST 12
FOG VSBY LESS 1/4 MI 4
THUNDER 0
ICE PELLETS 0
HAIL 0
FREEZING RAIN DRIZZLE 0
DUST STORM 0
SMOKE OR HAZE 5
BLOWING SNOW 0
TORNADO 0
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
As we begin the new year the winter chill begins to set in. While January can see its share of extremes, the month historically sees stable temperatures and is usually relatively dry.
January ranks as the second coldest month in Denver next to December with average temperatures remaining virtually the same from the start to the end of the month.
In terms of snowfall, the month only ranks as the fourth snowiest and it is not uncommon for it to be quite dry.
What does January 2018 hold for us? Follow the link to find out.
February in Colorado typically brings to an end an extended period when average temperatures are at their lowest. Winter begins to loosen its grip and temperatures get warmer but precipitation is not a particularly common event during the month.
As we begin the new year the winter chill begins to set in. While January can see its share of extremes, the month historically sees stable temperatures and is usually relatively dry.
