Yards covered in snow a week ago were basking in the warm glow of record heat Thursday as Denver notched its highest Nov. 5 temperature on record.
The mercury hit 77 degrees at 1:49 p.m. at Denver International Airport, besting the old record of 76 set in 1945 and 1916, according to the National Weather Service office in Boulder. The average high for Nov. 5 is 56 degrees.
The benefactor behind the unseasonable temperatures is a high-pressure ridge over the West, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Fredin. Last week’s weather was a product of the same meteorological roller coaster, he said.
“It’s pretty indicative of an active weather pattern across the Northern Hemisphere of high-pressure system and troughs,” Fredin said of the patterns that deliver uncharacteristic warmth, heat and precipitation.
The high today is expected to be in the mid- to upper 70s. But there is a chance of precipitation mixed with a low near freezing by Sunday night that could create scattered snowfall. Joey Bunch, The Denver Post
