Bone Dry

The calendar says fall, but the weather has been anything but. Already setting several record highs (96 degrees last week), coupled with no rain in nearly four weeks, it is feeling a little more like the end of July than late September. The outlook is no different; warm sunny weather is expected through the period.

The long term forecast does not look much different. According to the National Weather Service there has been an emergence of La Nina in the Southern Pacific, which usually means a warmer and dryer winter than average for Colorado. The three month outlook recently released shows just that. So while it is not at all uncommon to see freezing temperatures and snow in September, it looks like it would be several weeks before we see either. The average first snowfall for Denver is October 19th.

HOT

Yesterday's heat broke the long-standing record by several degrees, and we have a pretty decent chance to do the same thing today (More here). The National Weather Service has posted Red Flag Warnings for almost the entire state of Colorado, calling for highs in the mid 90s and humidity levels in the single digits. A mild cold front should drop through the region this evening bring 70s and 80s for the rest of the week.

Sunshine Month

September is Denver's sunniest month of the year. It is also a month of transition, as the hot summer 90s slowly become more rare, and the nights become cooler and crisper. While traditionally a very pleasant and warm month, winter has been known to make an early appearance in September in the past. The earliest frost and earliest snowfalls of the season have both occurred in early September in Denver. On September 3rd, 1961 4 inches of snow was recorded at Stapleton International Airport (NWS).

This morning the air was about as cool and crisp as it's been in months. Many locations dropped into the upper 40s. The rest of the day will remain cool, with highs topping out in the low 70s, but the heat will return for the holiday weekend. By Sunday highs are expected to climb into the mid 90s for much of the region.