Intervals of showers and thunderstorms will provide little relief from the searing, triple-digit temperatures assailing metro residents this afternoon.
At Denver International Airport, the mercury hit a record 104 degrees in late afternoon. The previous high for Aug. 1 was 100 degrees, set in 1938.
It’s so hot that the Weather Service issued an urgent heat advisory to residents in the area from 1 p.m. until 9 p.m.
A heat advisory means that hot temperatures combined with low relative humidity will create a higher risk of heat-related illnesses.
Residents are advised to drink plenty of fluids and stay out of the sun.
Jim Kalina , a meteorologist at the Weather Service in Boulder, says an upper level high-pressure system is hanging over the region, preventing monsoonal pressures from introducing rain and cooler temperatures.
As a result, we’re leaving behind “one of the hotter Julys we’ve ever had, says Kalina. “It was the third-hottest July on record.”
And it looks like the heat has staying power. After an overnight low of 66 degrees, Saturday’s high will spike to a spicy 100 degrees. Don’t expect the cloud cover to help you. Winds from the southwest will blow at 11 mph.
Sunday and Monday will stay hot, with highs near 97 and 94 degrees respectively. The chance of rain, which will hover at 10 percent through Sunday night, will climb slightly to 20 percent Monday.
If you, like Lance Armstrong, are training for the grueling Leadville 100 — also known as the Race Across the Sky — consider saving your hardest workout for Tuesday. At 89 degrees, it will be the first day in more than three long weeks that the afternoon high will stay below 90.
Overnight lows between tonight and Tuesday night will be in the low to mid 60s. Winds should stay calm during the next five days, except for Saturday night, when they are expected to blow between 12 and 15 mph from the northwest.
Liv Gold: 303-954-1311 or lgold@denverpost.com
