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 sunning 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.
In fact, the worst hail storm on record in Denver history hit western sections of the city on July 11th, 1990. Baseball and softball sized hail from this ferocious storm caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.
July is the most stormy month of the year in fact with thunderstorms occurring on average 11 days per month – or once every three days. These slow moving storms are one of the reasons July is Denver’s second rainiest month with an average of 2.16 inches of rain (second only to May). However, these storms are also often very localized and cause widely varying precipitation amounts across the metro area. It is not unusual for one area of down to be deluged while others remain entirely dry. With these severe storms, flash flooding remains a possibility.
This is beginning to sound like a broken record – pun intended. 🙂 As for Tuesday our streak of consecutive 90 degree days hit 17, moving us into a tie for second place. Assuming today reaches 90 degrees or more – and it almost certainly will – we will then tie the record that has been set twice previously (in 1901 and 1874).
An end in sight? Not yet. High pressure continues to hold over the area and temperatures are most likely going to actually climb to near 100 on Friday and through the weekend. Beyond that it is hard to say but things aren’t looking good to cool down anytime soon.
Certainly this streak is significant but we haven’t reached records for “hottest summer” just yet. Thus far we have had 34 days this year of 90+ degree temperatures. The number 10 slot for most 90+ degree days in a summer is held by 1960 when there were 50 days. The most? 2000 when there were 61.
As on Monday, Denver has seen 16 consecutive days with 90 degrees or higher temperatures. There was some hope the streak might be broken today but that quickly vaporized as we reached 95 degrees.
The current streak moves into a tie for fourth (with 2000). The record of 18 days consecutive set in 1901 and 1874 is looking to be sure to be broken before the heat eases. The next couple of days will see us remain in the mid 90’s and by Thursday and Friday we will be in the upper 90’s (possibly 100). The weekend shows no relief with temps well into the 90’s as well. At the current time it looks like we will thouroughly eclipse the 18 day record and there is no end in sight at this time.
As of today, Thursday, we are at 12 consecutive days with 90 plus degrees. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight although some coming days may drop just below the 90 degree mark.
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 sunning 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.
This is beginning to sound like a broken record – pun intended. 🙂 As for Tuesday our streak of consecutive 90 degree days hit 17, moving us into a tie for second place. Assuming today reaches 90 degrees or more – and it almost certainly will – we will then tie the record that has been set twice previously (in 1901 and 1874).