After a wet and sloppy morning commute, Denver enjoyed mostly sunny skies on Wednesday — but a slight chance of snow has moved into the forecast.
Showers cleared late Wednesday morning, and temperatures exceeded forecasts, with temperatures reached the low 70s by afternoon. Denver’s hottest temperature ever recorded on this date was 93 degrees, last reached in 1998.
The weather service calls for “increasing clouds” Wednesday night night with a low near 48 degrees and then for Thursday a 20 percent chance of showers with a high near 67 degrees.
A cold front will move in Thursday night, bringing a slight chance of snow showers before 9 a.m. Friday, turning to a chance for rain until noon Friday, forecasters said. The high on Friday is expected to reach 51 degrees.
“We’re not expecting any kind of major accumulations or anything like that,” Eric Thaler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said.
The snow would have to measure at one-tenth of an inch at Denver International Airport in order to count as an official snowfall, Thaler said, adding that the chance for snow is greater on the west side of town, near the foothills.
The last time Denver got measurable snow in September was in 2000, the weather service said.
“Snow in September is not completely impossible,” Thaler said.
The most recent memorable September snow in Denver was on Sept. 20-21, 1995, when 7.4 inches were recorded at Stapleton Airport, Thaler said. That storm, which officially occurred in summer, set a record low (27 degrees) and a record low max (36 degrees) for Sept. 21, Thaler said.
The earliest measurable snow on record in Denver was Sept. 3, 1961.
This week’s cold front will be short-lived, Thaler said, as temperatures are expected to rebound into the mid-70s by Saturday afternoon, and into the upper 70s for Sunday.
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or
