Denver’s hot streak fizzled Wednesday when the temperatures topped out in the high 80s, after 24 straight days hotter than 90 degrees.
The new record blew away a 134-year-old mark of 18 consecutive days of 90-plus heat.
The streak ended with a bang. Rain came in sheets across areas of Colorado, and tornado sirens roared a fortunately false alarm in north Denver near Lakeside Amusement Park just before 6:45 p.m.
Some areas saw as much as two inches of rain, just an inch and a half short of Denver’s total precipitation for the entire year to date before Wednesday.
Funnel clouds and puny tornadoes were spotted north of Denver and in Weld County, but no damage was reported.
The weather forced a two-hour delay in the Colorado Rockies game against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field, before officials called it on account of rain. The game will be made up as a doubleheader with today’s contest.
Flash flood warnings were in effect from Longmont to Fort Collins and on down to Monument Wednesday evening, though almost the entire Front Range was under some level of flood risk Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Road crews in Thornton will be inspecting flood-damaged roads Thursday, according to a statement from the city. Flash-flooding closed a number of roads in the city Wednesday evening, around and including Holly Street and Riverdale Road.
Weld County sheriff’s spokeswoman Margie Martinez told the Associated Press that at least one lane of U.S. 85 to Greeley was flooded by heavy rain, but no major traffic problems were reported. Wind from the storm also knocked down trees and a building under construction near Platteville.
Most of the metro region saw at least a quarter to half an inch of rain, forecasters said.
Though rainfall totals weren’t overwhelming, the rain came fast and rushed across terrain that has been parched into impervious surfaces by weeks of dry weather and intense heat.
The chance of rain Thursday and Friday falls to 20 percent, then just 10 percent Saturday and only a slight chance of rain Sunday.
Temperatures are expected to be in mid to upper 80s through the weekend. Forecasters expect a high of about 84 degrees Thursday, the a steady warm-up to 87 Friday, 88 Saturday and 89 Sunday.
