The Weather Wire

July 2006                                                                                                            Volume 14 Number 7

June 2006

Avg High 89.6

Avg Low 56.0

Snow - 0.0"

Season Snow - 30.4"

Precipitation - 0.12"

July

Avg High 88.0

Avg Low 58.7

Avg Snow -  0.0"

Avg Precip - 2.16"

What a Difference a Month Makes!!!

With high pressure stubbornly anchored over the western 1/3 of the nation for much of the month of June, record breaking heat and record dryness was the rule for the entire month.  June of 2006 set a record for the number of 90 degree days with 19.   A 102 degree reading was recorded on the 14^th of the month, also a record earliest 100 degree reading for the month. 

Moisture wise in June we just didn’t see any.  The month finished with only 0.12” recorded at DIA, making it the 4^th driest June since 1872.  We had plenty of thunderstorm days, but these were the dry type with gusty winds and lightning, but very little in the way of rain.

The reason for this hot and dry pattern was the location of the ridge of high pressure to the west.  It was centered over Nevada and Utah for much of the month, blocking any moisture from moving into Colorado from the west or the south.  It kept the storm track well to the north of the state. 

Now shift that high pressure area to the east and slightly to the south over Texas and Oklahoma and you have a totally different pattern for Colorado.  Moisture was now able to flow northward from Old Mexico and right into Colorado.  In addition with high pressure to the south and east cool air was able to drop into the state from the north giving us upslope flow over the eastern half of the state.  With the combination of moist tropical air moving up from the south and cool upslope flow over the east and the results were heavy rains over most of the Front Range.  Rains of 1-2 inches were common this past weekend with heavier areas in western Douglas County receiving as much as 4-5 inches of rain over the 3 day period. 

Some rainfall amounts reported over this ten day period include:

And although some parts of the state had mud slides, floods (West Creek) and a lot of fallen rock, for most the rains brought welcome relief from the very hot and very dry month of June.

Printing Newsletters Now Possible

We have received many requests over the years of how to print this newsletter.  Unfortunately, until now, the newsletter has been formatted for online and email viewing, and did not format properly for printing.  However, with the release of the new Microsoft Internet Explorer Internet 7 Beta version 2, this is now possible!  The new release of Microsoft Internet Explorer reformats the fonts to allow documents to be printed.  The latest beta release of Internet Explorer can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&categoryid=6 .  Although a Beta version, we have not had any problems using the new software.  Also, remember that older newsletters can be found on the www.skyview-wx.com website under newsletters, so you may print older newsletters!

Drought Update

More increases in drought conditions across Colorado was noted during May 2006, most of the state.

The map below shows forecasted temperature deviances for June 2006. As can be seen,  above normal temperatures are expected for the all of Colorado for June 2006.

The map below shows forecasted precipitation deviances for June 2006.  Below normal to well below normal precipitation is expected for all of Colorado for June 2006.

As can be seen in the below map, the Eastern third of Colorado as well as the Southern 1/3 of Colorado has returned to drought conditions.

June Summary

The high temperature at DIA reached 90 degrees or above on 19 days this month.  This takes June 2006 into the record books with the most days having 90 degrees or above.  The previous record was 17 days in 2002.  So far this year Denver has tallied 21 90 degree days with 2 occurring in May.  The record for a summer season of 90 degree readings is 61 which occurred in 2000.  Temperatures ranged from a record setting 102 degrees on June 14^th to a low of 44 degrees on the 1^st.  The 102 degree reading is significant because it is the earliest June date that registered a 100 degree reading.  The average high temperature fell just 0.4 of a degree shy of 90.0 degrees with an average of 89.6 degrees.  Six records were set or tied during the month.  Throughout most of the month, June 2006 was well in first place for the warmest June, but 3 high temperatures in the 70’s and several low readings in the upper 40’s to lower 50’s brought the average down enough to only tie for 3^rd warmest with an average of 72.8.  The warmest June occurred in 1994 with a 73.5 average.

June 2006 finished with only 0.12 inch of precipitation.  This ties June 1952 as the 4^th driest June since 1872.  So far 2006 has been drier than the driest June since 1872.  The driest year on record was 2002 with only 3.95 inches through the first 6 months of the year.  In 2006 so far through June we have only 2.72 inches of precipitation at DIA.  The normal amount through June is 8.09 inches which puts us 5.37 inches below normal.

It should be noted that the weather pattern shifted dramatically the fist week of July and many areas along the Front Range have been inundated with heavy rains.  So it is doubtful that we will see a record breaking dry year.  Which for many people is Good News!

June Stats

July Preview

Denver’s weather is notorious for being changeable.  However this is not the case during July.  Most July mornings are sunny with clouds developing during the late morning and early afternoon.  By mid-afternoon, thunderstorms develop over the foothills and drift across the Denver metro area and then onto the eastern plains.  Some of these storms continue to develop and reach severe status.  Severe thunderstorms containing large hail, strong gusty winds and heavy downpours are not uncommon during July for the Denver metro area.

July is also the month that Denver has the most 90 degree consecutive days.  There have been 14 times where consecutive streaks of 10 or more 90 days have either been entirely in July or at least started in June and finished in July or started in July and finished in August.  The highest consecutive streak of 90 degree days is 18 days and it occurred twice.  Once in 1901 from July 6th through July 23^rd 1901 and again in 1874 from July 1^st to July 18^th.  More recently we had 17 consecutive 90 degree days in 2000 from June 29^th through July 15^th.

Sunrise/Sunset (Denver area)

 Rainfall

May 2006 to September 2006