Denver saw a warm and wet July, continuing the soggy weather that’s been a hallmark so far in 2019.
Denver saw its warmest month in two years this July, although that number isn’t quite as impressive as it may sound initially. With an average monthly temperature of 75.7 degrees last month, Denver finished 1.5 degrees above average, and slightly warmer than July 2018 (75.3 degrees). Because July is Denver’s warmest month of the year by nearly 2 degrees, though, July is almost always the hottest month of the year.
In essence, this July was hotter than last July, and only marginally so.
That said, Denver has had its coldest start to a calendar year since 1983. Only January and April have featured above average temperatures so far this year, making July’s relatively warm weather perhaps feel a bit hotter than it might have in other years.
On the rainfall front, the official tally of 2.42 inches at Denver International Airport contrasts with Denver’s old Stapleton Airport observation site, which only saw 0.92 inches during the month. But, downtown Denver saw 3.21 inches — an indication of the hit-or-miss nature of the thunderstorms that often account for a large portion of the region’s summertime moisture.
The 2.42-inch official rainfall amount in Denver, though, is a tick above average. So far in 2019, Denver has seen exactly 12 inches of rainfall through the end of July. That’s already well over what we saw in all of 2018 and just shy of Denver’s full year average precipitation tally of 14.30″.
Big, firework-disrupting thunderstorms on the Fourth of July and a deadly flash flood in Lakewood on July 20 highlighted the stormy weather across the metro area during the month. Denver also hit 101 degrees on July 19th, the city’s warmest temperature in more than a year.
How does August look, at least to start? Warm, though there are signs it’ll turn wet as the monsoon kicks in. Temperatures will start at or slightly above average for the first few days of the month, before a potentially wetter spell next week.
