Denver on Wednesday tied a record high temperature — the fifth high tied or set in eight days — and probably cinched last month as the hottest August on record, according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature in the city reached 98 degrees Wednesday afternoon, matching 1960 for the hottest Aug. 31 since the government started keeping weather records here in 1882.
If the weather didn’t cool much past the expected 63 degrees before midnight, the month’s average daily temperature would rise to just above the 76.8-degree average tallied in 1937.
The National Weather Service will make an official determination for the record books this morning, said Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Fredin.
Last month will still easily surpass second-place August 2007, when the average daily temperature was 75.4.
The 30-year average for August is 72.5 degrees, with daily highs in the mid-80s by late August, according to weather data.
Fall weather is on its way, Fredin said.
A cold front Friday should push the high temperature down to the low 80s, where the highs could stay, for the most part, well into next week, he said.
“We’re going to cool down and start moving into a more fall-like trend,” he said.
The National Weather Service’s 30-day outlook for September, however, calls for temperatures that are warmer and drier than normal for the Front Range.
Last year, the city sweltered into a tie with 1939 for the seventh-warmest September on record. Along the way, last September logged 25 days at or above 80 degrees, including four days that set or tied heat records in the mid-90s.
