As expected, temperatures across the Front Range climbed toward record-setting territory today and the Mile High City tied the 21 year old record high.
As measured at Denver International Airport, Denver’s high temperature today hit 99 degrees. That tied the old record high for the date set in 1998.
Here in Thornton, we matched that 99 degree reading at 1:49pm.
Following a cool June, summer heated up in earnest in July. Temperatures warmed as they always do in July and were a bit warmer than normal and were coupled with typical PM thunderstorms.
The first eight days of the month saw a few warmer than normal readings but nothing too extraordinary. We did also enjoy three days with some nice, wetting thunderstorms.
After that, the heat kicked on and we registered nine straight days of 90+ degree readings from the 11th to the 18th. The last two days of the period also saw our first two 100+ degree days.
We then had a bit of a break from the heat for a few days before stringing together another nine 90+ degree readings.
Thornton’s overall average temperature for the month came in at 74.7 degrees. This was above the long term Denver average of 74.2 degrees for July. Out at DIA where Denver’s official measurements are taken, it was a good bit warmer with an average of 75.7 degrees.
Thornton’s highs ranged from a maximum of 101 degrees on the 19th down to a low of 54.5 degrees on the 9th. Denver also saw its maximum of 101 degrees on the same day and its coolest reading of 52 degrees on the 10th.
Denver tied record high temperatures on the 18th and 19th of 99 degrees and 101 degrees (set in 1998 and 2005 respectively).
In terms of precipitation, Thornton saw 2.18 inches fall in its bucket while Denver notched a bit more at 2.42 inches. The Denver average for July is 2.16 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s July 2019 climate report.
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
724 AM MDT THU AUG 1 2019
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JULY 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 105 07/20/2005
LOW 42 07/04/1903
07/31/1873
HIGHEST 101 07/19
LOWEST 52 07/10
AVG. MAXIMUM 91.1 89.4 1.7 90.2
AVG. MINIMUM 60.4 58.9 1.5 60.3
MEAN 75.7 74.2 1.5 75.3
DAYS MAX >= 90 20 16.0 4.0 19
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 6.41 1965
MINIMUM 0.01 1901
TOTALS 2.42 2.16 0.26 1.03
DAILY AVG. 0.08 0.07 0.01 0.03
DAYS >= .01 9 8.3 0.7 8
DAYS >= .10 5 4.3 0.7 3
DAYS >= .50 2 1.4 0.6 0
DAYS >= 1.00 1 0.7 0.3 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.10 07/22 TO 07/22 07/23 TO 07/23
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 0.0 0.0
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 0 6 -6 0
SINCE 7/1 0 6 -6 0
COOLING TOTAL 339 289 50 326
SINCE 1/1 431 444 -13 615
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 3/190
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 55/280 DATE 07/22
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 80/290 DATE 07/22
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 2
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 50
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
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.
Find out more about what lies ahead with Thornton’s August weather here.
Colorado offers outdoor opportunities unlike any other state and while the summer heat settles in, photos of the amazing scenes across our state provide a view into why we love it here so much.
The weather this time of year has a pretty standard pattern of quickly warming temperatures followed by afternoon thunderstorms that can cool things down. These storms sometimes provide a good bit of ‘excitement’ and are a prime photo subject.
Recreationalists head outdoors and take advantage of urban, suburban and rural opportunities. As they do, our abundant wildlife that is found just about anywhere comes into focus.
Showcasing images captured by ThorntonWeather.com readers as well as some of our own, our monthly slideshow covers the entire gamut of weather and nature related imagery. Sunsets, sunrises, wildlife and of course every type of weather condition are vividly depicted.
To learn more about how to send your photo to us for inclusion in the slideshow, see below the slideshow.
| [flickr_set id=”72157709442635051″] |
What is missing in the slideshow above? Your photo!
Our monthly photo slideshow is going to feature images that we have taken but more importantly images that you have captured. The photos can be of anything even remotely weather-related.
Landscapes, current conditions, wildlife, pets, kids. Whimsical, newsy, artsy. Taken at the zoo, some other area attraction, a local park, a national park or your backyard. You name it, we want to see and share it!
Images can be taken in Thornton, Denver or anywhere across the extraordinary Centennial State. We’ll even take some from out of state if we can tie it to Colorado somehow.
We’ll keep the criteria very open to interpretation with just about any image eligible to be shown in our slideshows.
What do you win for having your image in our slideshow? We are just a ‘mom and pop’ outfit and make no money from our site so we really don’t have the means to provide prizes. However you will have our undying gratitude and the satisfaction that your images are shared on the most popular website in Thornton.
To share you images with us and get them included in the slideshow just email them to us or share them with ThorntonWeather.com on any of the various social media outlets. Links are provided below.
So come on, get those camera’s rolling!
From the National Weather Service:
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
0138 AM MDT THU JUL 18 2019
…RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SET AT DENVER CO…
A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 72 DEGREES WAS SET AT DENVER CO YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 71 DEGREES SET IN 1997.
Change is of course the one constant in Denver’s weather but come July, things actually get pretty consistent.
The standard formula for a day in July is a sunny morning, clouds developing in the late morning and early afternoon. Come mid-afternoon, thunderstorms are rolling off of the foothills and into the metro area and the eastern plains. These storms do occasionally reach severe status containing hail, gusty winds and heavy downpours of rain.
Check out our July weather preview for a complete look at what is in store for the month ahead.
Unsettled would be a good word to sum up Thornton’s weather for June 2019. We experienced a series of troughs and fronts that kept things unsettled and suppressed temperatures. That however did not translate into a great deal of precipitation.
Cooler than normal temperatures were seen across much of the month. Even the later part of June saw some days with high temperatures only in the 60s.
It wasn’t even until the 26th of the month that Denver and Thornton recorded their first 90 degree day of the year. This was in fact the fifth latest occurrence of a 90 degree day in Denver and the latest since 1982.
Thornton’s average temperature for the month came in at 65.7 degrees. This made the month the second coolest June Thornton has recorded in 13 years. Denver saw a virtually identical average of 65.6 degrees. Both readings were below the long term Denver average for June of 67.4 degrees.
Temperatures in Thornton ranged from a high of 98.5 degrees of the 28th of the month down to a low of 40.7 degrees on the morning of the 10th. Denver’s highest reading of 96 degrees came on the 29th and its coolest of 42 degrees on the 10th.
Denver averages 1.98 inches of precipitation during the month of June. This year, Thornton fell short of the mark while Denver exceeded it. Here in Thornton we tallied 1.51 inches while Denver saw 2.24 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s June 2019 climate report.
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
1129 AM MDT MON JUL 1 2019
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE 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 105 06/28/2018
06/26/2012
06/25/2012
LOW 30 06/02/1951
HIGHEST 96 06/29 104 -8 105 06/28
06/28
LOWEST 42 06/10 30 12 44 06/02
06/09
AVG. MAXIMUM 80.1 82.4 -2.3 88.8
AVG. MINIMUM 51.2 52.3 -1.1 56.0
MEAN 65.6 67.4 -1.8 72.4
DAYS MAX >= 90 5 7.9 -2.9 16
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 4.96 1882
MINIMUM T 1890
TOTALS 2.24 1.98 0.26 0.43
DAILY AVG. 0.07 0.07 0.00 0.01
DAYS >= .01 12 8.4 3.6 5
DAYS >= .10 6 4.6 1.4 2
DAYS >= .50 1 1.4 -0.4 0
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.3 -0.3 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.97 06/18 TO 06/18
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL MM MM
TOTALS 0.0 0.0
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 62 62 0 9
SINCE 7/1 6281 6058 223 5410
COOLING TOTAL 87 133 -46 241
SINCE 1/1 92 155 -63 289
FREEZE DATES
RECORD
EARLIEST 09/08/1962
LATEST 06/08/2007
EARLIEST 10/10 10/07
LATEST 05/22 05/05
.................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.7
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 3/182
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 43/180 DATE 06/02
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 56/200 DATE 06/02
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 1
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 26
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 3
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 54
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
HAZE 2
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
The month of June typically sees springtime severe weather reach its height of activity in northeastern Colorado.
This affords the opportunity to capture extraordinary images of amazing weather phenomena from monstrous supercell thunderstorms to heavy rain, hail and even tornadoes.
Showcasing images captured by ThorntonWeather.com readers as well as some of our own, our monthly slideshow covers the entire gamut of weather and nature related imagery.
Sunsets, sunrises, wildlife and of course every type of weather condition are vividly depicted. June brings some very dynamic weather and the photos are a great way to see the stunning variety.
To learn more about how to send your photo to us for inclusion in the slideshow, see below the slideshow.
| [flickr_set id=”72157708942513328″] |
What is missing in the slideshow above? Your photo!
Our monthly photo slideshow is going to feature images that we have taken but more importantly images that you have captured. The photos can be of anything even remotely weather-related.
Landscapes, current conditions, wildlife, pets, kids. Whimsical, newsy, artsy. Taken at the zoo, some other area attraction, a local park, a national park or your backyard. You name it, we want to see and share it!
Images can be taken in Thornton, Denver or anywhere across the extraordinary Centennial State. We’ll even take some from out of state if we can tie it to Colorado somehow.
We’ll keep the criteria very open to interpretation with just about any image eligible to be shown in our slideshows.
What do you win for having your image in our slideshow? We are just a ‘mom and pop’ outfit and make no money from our site so we really don’t have the means to provide prizes. However you will have our undying gratitude and the satisfaction that your images are shared on the most popular website in Thornton.
To share you images with us and get them included in the slideshow just email them to us or share them with ThorntonWeather.com on any of the various social media outlets. Links are provided below.
So come on, get those camera’s rolling!
Astronomical summer will arrive in Thornton this morning and with the solstice we will enjoy our longest day of the year.
Summer officially begins at 9:54am MDT this morning. The Summer Solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted at it closest to the sun – 23.4 degrees. This results in the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here in Denver the sun rises at 5:32am today and sets at 8:31pm. This will give us 14 hours, 59 minutes and 14 seconds of daytime.
Tomorrow it will be a bit less than one second shorter than today and each day from now through the Winter Solstice in December will get gradually shorter as well.
At the poles of the globe, the seasonal extremes will be quite notable. Areas north of the Arctic Circle to the North Pole will see 24 hours of daylight and have a midnight sun. On the opposite end of the globe, the South Pole will have no direct sunlight at all as they are in the depths of their winter.
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.
There is little doubt that looking back on the month the most notable feature was the cool, sometimes chilly, temperatures. Denver in fact saw one of its coldest on record. Precipitation for Thornton lagged but Denver itself was quite wet.
A seemingly endless series of storm systems impacted the state through the month. Overall, the first week was seasonal and dry. Temperatures then cooled for a couple of days and delivered us a light shot of snow. We rebounded with a series of 80 degree days from the 13th to the 16 before once again chilling out.
From the 18th to the 23rd, temperatures remained below normal and on the 21st we received a respectable 3.3 inches of snow. Temperatures during that period dropped to below freezing three times.
The balance of the month continued the roller coaster with a few mild days followed by cooler ones.
Thornton’s overall average monthly temperature for May came in at 51.9 degrees. This made it the coldest May since ThorntonWeather.com came online 13 years ago.
Out at DIA where Denver’s official measurements are taken, the month was comparable with a 51.6 degree average. That made May 2019 the seventh coldest May on record and the coldest since 1995.
Highs ranged in Thornton from a maximum of 89 degrees on the 15th down to a lowest reading of 29.8 degrees on the 22nd. Denver’s highest reading of 83 degrees and its coldest of 30 degrees came on the same dates.
Three temperature records were officially set in Denver. The record low for May 21st of 31 degrees was tied. Also on that day, a record low maximum of 39 degrees was set. The old record was 40 degrees set in 1891. Lastly, the low on the 22nd of 30 degrees broke the record low reading for the date of 32 degrees set in 1930.
In terms of precipitation, Denver averages 2.12 inches during the month. Thornton came close to matching that with 2.03 inches. Out at the airport, it was wetter with 3.23 inches being recorded.
Thornton saw a total of 4.1 inches of snow for the month while Denver saw a bit less at 3.9 inches. Both were well above the May average of 1.1 inches.
Click here to view Thornton’s May 2019 climate report.
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
753 AM MDT SAT JUN 1 2019
...................................
...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 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 95 05/26/1942
LOW 19 05/02/2013
05/03/1907
HIGHEST 83 05/15
LOWEST 30 05/22
05/01
AVG. MAXIMUM 63.9 71.5 -7.6 75.4
AVG. MINIMUM 39.2 42.7 -3.5 47.5
MEAN 51.6 57.1 -5.5 61.4
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.8 -0.8 4
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 7 1.9 5.1 0
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 8.57 1876 MINIMUM 0.06 1974 TOTALS 3.23 2.12 1.11 1.86 DAILY AVG. 0.10 0.07 0.03 0.06 DAYS >= .01 14 9.4 4.6 8
DAYS >= .10 7 4.8 2.2 5
DAYS >= .50 3 1.2 1.8 0
DAYS >= 1.00 1 0.2 0.8 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.07 05/20 TO 05/20
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
TOTALS 3.9 2019 1.1 (NCEI 1981-2018 AVG)
RECORD 15.5 1898
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 414 265 149 151
SINCE 7/1 6219 5996 223 5401
COOLING TOTAL 5 21 -16 46
SINCE 1/1 5 22 -17 48
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 1/090
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 35/310 DATE 05/17
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 50/310 DATE 05/17
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 3
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 16
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 12
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 64
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.