DENVER — While cities across Colorado set or tied record highs Wednesday, and after Denver broke its daily record high for Thursday before noon, Colorado is in for its first taste of fall this weekend when a cold front moves in Friday.
Denver reached 98 degrees just before 1 p.m. and had broken the Sept. 8 record high of 94, set in 1959, by 11:47 a.m. Thursday, when the high temperature was already 96 degrees. It ended up setting a high of 99.
Hey...it's us again...😬here to tell you that another record was broken for Denver today🌡 It hit 99, breaking the previous record of 94 set in 1959. The good news is that this is the LAST ONE, at least for awhile. #COwx pic.twitter.com/N3sVLgGDjq
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) September 8, 2022
Temperatures could reach the triple digits by the end of the afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Holyoke had already reached 104 degrees by just before 2 p.m. Heat advisories were in effect along the Front Range.
Denver also set new record highs on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
According to the NWS Boulder forecast and those from Denver7’s meteorologists, two fronts will drop high temperatures in northeastern Colorado up to 40 degrees over the next two days.
The first front is expected to arrive in Colorado starting around midnight ahead of the stronger main cold front that will arrive Friday night.
MORE: A look back at snowy Sept. 8, 2020, as Colorado endures more record-breaking heat
The initial front should push low temperatures Friday morning below 60 degrees, and highs during the day should only reach the upper 60s or lower 70s on the plains – “a lovely reprieve,” as NWS forecasters wrote Thursday morning.
The mountains and valleys will also likely see similar high temperatures before the secondary front arrives Friday night and pushes through the state into Saturday morning.
The second cold front will bring some light rain to the metro area and plains, and temperatures on Saturday should stay in the upper 50s or lower 60s – a welcome reprieve from what so far has been the hottest start to September on record in Denver.
So far this month, the average maximum temperature is 95.1 degrees, compared to a normal of 83.8 degrees. The average over all temperature so far this month is 79.3 degrees, compared to a normal of 68.9 degrees. The average minimum temperature so far this month is 63.4 degrees. All three average temperatures so far this month are records to this point.
The below-average temperatures are not expected to stick around for long. Highs are expected to be back in the upper 70s on Sunday. Temperatures will be in the 80s next week, with a chance for some rain early in the week as the remnants of Hurricane Kay move into the western U.S.
You can always get the latest forecasts and weather updates 24/7 on the free Denver7+ streaming app.
