The temperature in Denver soared to 104 degrees Saturday, setting a record for the second day in a row.
The record was reached just before 5 p.m., said Kari Bowen, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder. The previous high for June 23 was 102, set in 1954. “It was pretty warm today,” she said.
A series of days with triple-digit heat and forecasts of continuing dry, hot weather could help Colorado set a record for average daily temperature for the month of June, forecasters say.
On Friday, the high was 102, also a record for that date.
“There is a high-pressure system parked over us,” said Bernie Meier, Weather Service meteorologist.
Coupled with humidity levels in the single digits, the weather conditions don’t bode well for firefighters battling at least eight wildfires in Colorado.
Isolated thunderstorms with showers are predicted for this afternoon — and that could mean good and bad news for fire conditions, Meier said.
“The showers will be hit-and- miss — and mostly miss,” he said.
But the stormy weather will bring winds that could gust between 30 and 50 mph, increasing the danger that embers could be blown long distances and ignite spot fires. There is also a chance that lightning strikes could start new wildfires, Meier said.
Even though there will be a few isolated afternoon thunderstorms over the next week, temperatures will rise to the mid- to upper 90s through Thursday, he said.
“It’s going to be one of the warmest Junes on record,” Meier said. “It’s currently the fifth-hottest June on record. We’ll likely move up in the standings, possibly to the No. 1 spot this year.”
In 1994, which saw the hottest June in recorded Colorado history, the average daily temperature — calculated by averaging the daily high and low temperatures together — was 73.5 degrees, he said.
So far, this month’s average is 72.2 degrees, but it will rise with continued hot weather — and could herald, at month’s end, the state’s hottest June.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, or
