Yards covered in snow a week earlier were basking in the warm glow of record heat today, as Denver notched the highest Nov. 5 temperature on record.
The mercury hit 77 degrees at Denver International Airport, the metro region’s official weather site, at 1:49 p.m. today, besting the old record of 76 set in 1945 and 1916, according to the National Weather Service office in Boulder.
The average high for this date is 56 degrees.
The benefactor behind the unseasonably pleasant 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.
He expects things to settle down starting next week, with snow looming again in the forecast late this weekend and later next week.
The high on Friday is expected to be back in the mid-70s under sunny skies and light breezes. The record high for Nov. 6 in 79 degrees set in 1935.
Saturday will see a high near 70 and Sunday a high of 60, according to the metro region forecast.
But Sunday night brings a chance of precipitation mixed with a low near freezing, which could create scattered snowfall, according the Weather Service.
Rain and snow could linger in Denver on Monday, which has a forecast high for 47 and a low around 27, forecasters said.
Metro temperatures are expected to warm into the 50s later next week.
The High Country should see highs in the 50s and overnight lows in the 30s under partly cloudy skies this weekend, then cool off to daytime highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s next week, according to the National Weather Service.
