Denver broke its record high temperature Sunday afternoon, topping out at 79 degrees at 3:45 p.m., officials said.
The previous record was set in 2013 at 76 degrees, said Frank Cooper, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.
A ridge of high pressure has been hanging over the West, Cooper said, and that’s keeping things warm. “That’s going to be breaking down over the week, so we should get back to more seasonal temperatures in a few days,” he said.
Monday is expected to be another warm one at 75 degrees with sunny skies. Temperatures are predicted to drop to 54 degrees on Tuesday and then jump back up to 65 degrees Wednesday.
“That 20-degree drop is closer to normal for us,” Cooper said. “It’s just kind of a yo-yo thing going on this week.”
Despite the heat, Cooper said there is not a heightened fire danger so far. “Grasses are drying out in some places, but we’ve been doing well with precipitation and haven’t had that strong of winds,” he said.
While March has been fairly warm, Cooper said don’t expect it to stay hot all month.
“It’s kind of like last month. We had a really warm February, and then everything changed in the last two weeks,” he said. “I think we still have some systems that might bring some precipitation in March.”
