National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

000
CXUS55 KBOU 021303
CLMDEN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER, CO
702 AM MDT FRI NOV 2 2012...CORRECTED

...............OCTOBER 2012...BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE...............
.................SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.................

OCTOBER 2012 GOT OFF TO A WARM START AS UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE
DOMINATED THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. TEMPERATURE READINGS IN THE
EIGHTIES WERE RECORDED ON THE 2ND AND 3RD. MORE FALL LIKE WEATHER
RETURNED TO DENVER ON THE 4TH AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW
PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVED ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND
CENTRAL ROCKIES. THE FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON OCCURRED AT DENVER ON
THE 5TH...WITH 0.4 INCHES OF SNOW REPORTED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT. TEMPERATURES WERE ALSO MUCH BELOW NORMAL FROM THE 4TH
THROUGH THE 7TH...WITH A DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL OF MINUS 17 DEGREES.
TEMPERATURES REBOUNDED ON THE 8TH...HOWEVER TEMPERATURES STILL
REMAINED AT BELOW NORMAL VALUES THROUGH THE 13TH. A MOIST UPPER
LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKED FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THE
12TH INTO NORTHERN COLORADO ON THE 13TH. THIS STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT
MUCH NEEDED PRECIPITATION TO THE FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR ON THE
12TH AND 13TH. 0.55 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. A BENIGN WEATHER PATTERN RETURNED TO COLORADO
ON THE 14TH...AND CONTINUED THROUGH THE 23RD. THIS PERIOD WAS
DOMINATED BY NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WHICH PRODUCED DOWNSLOPE WINDS
ALONG THE FRONT RANGE. THIS RESULTED IN WARMER AND DRIER WEATHER
THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH EIGHT OF THE TEN DAYS BEING ABOVE NORMAL.
MUCH COLDER AND UNSETTLED WEATHER RETURNED TO NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
ON THE 24TH...AS A LARGE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE AND
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVED INTO COLORADO. THIS STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT
A DRAMATIC WEATHER CHANGE TO NORTHEASTERN COLORADO. ON THE 23RD THE
HIGH TEMPERATURE AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS 77 DEGREES. 36
HOURS LATER SNOW WAS FALLING WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 20`S. BY THE
MORNING OF THE 26TH...5.1 INCHES OF SNOW HAD FALLEN AT DENVER
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY WEATHER
RETURNED TO COLORADO THE LAST FEW DAYS OF THE MONTH...AS UPPER LEVEL
HIGH PRESSURE BUILT OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION.

TEMPERATURES:

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER WAS 49.0 DEGREES
WHICH WAS 1.9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE COLDEST OCTOBER ON RECORD
OCCURRED IN 1969 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 39.0 DEGREES. THE
WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD OCCURRED IN 1950 WHEN THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 59.9 DEGREES.

THERE WERE NO DAYS IN WHICH THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90
DEGREES. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 83 DEGREES WHICH
OCCURRED ON THE 3RD. THE COOLEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 24
DEGREES ON THE MORNING OF THE 27TH. ON THE MORNING OF THE 20TH...THE
LOW TEMPERATURE ONLY DROPPED TO 50 DEGREES. THIS TIED A LOW MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR THE DATE...WHICH WAS ALSO SET BACK IN 1939
AND 1947.

PRECIPITATION.

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER WAS 1.22 INCHES...WHICH IS
0.20 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL 0F 1.02 INCHES. THE WETTEST
OCTOBER ON RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 1969 WHEN 4.17 INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED. ONLY A TRACE OF PRECIPITATION WAS
RECORDED IN OCTOBER 1934...WHICH IS THE DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD.

5.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED DURING THE MONTH...WHICH IS 1.5
INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 4.0 INCHES. THE SNOWIEST OCTOBER ON
RECORD OCCURRED BACK IN 1969 WHEN 31.2 INCHES OF SNOW FELL.

THERE WERE 3 THUNDERSTORMS OBSERVED AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
THERE WERE THREE DAYS WITH DENSE FOG WITH A VISIBILITY AT OR BELOW
1/4 MILE DURING THE MONTH. A PEAK WIND OF 46 MPH FROM A SOUTHWEST
DIRECTION WAS RECORDED ON THE 12TH.
.....................................................................

...THE DENVER CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2012...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1872 TO 2012

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE  DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              90   10/01/1892
 LOW               -2   10/29/1917
HIGHEST            83   10/03        69      14       87  10/01
LOWEST             24   10/27        33      -9       14  10/26
                                                          10/27
AVG. MAXIMUM     62.2              65.3    -3.1     67.3
AVG. MINIMUM     35.9              36.6    -0.7     37.9
MEAN             49.0              50.9    -1.9     52.6
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32      1               0.4     0.6        1
DAYS MIN <= 32     11               8.5     2.5        9
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               0.0     0.0        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM         4.17   1969
 MINIMUM            T   1934
TOTALS           1.22              1.02    0.20     1.79
DAILY AVG.       0.04              0.03    0.01     0.06
DAYS >= .01         5               5.3    -0.3        4
DAYS >= .10         3               2.4     0.6        3
DAYS >= .50         2               0.5     1.5        1
DAYS >= 1.00        0               0.1    -0.1        1
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    0.60   10/24 TO 10/25           10/07 TO 10/08

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL           31.2   1969
TOTALS            5.5               4.0

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL     488               440      48      400
 SINCE 7/1        557               581     -24      495
COOLING TOTAL       1                 5      -4       23
 SINCE 1/1       1236               769     467      964

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     09/08/1962
 LATEST       06/08/2007
EARLIEST      10/05             10/07
LATEST                          05/05
..........................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.2
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   2/221
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    37/220    DATE  10/12
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    46/220    DATE  10/12

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.50
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           10
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             14
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY          7

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     48

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              3     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                       1
LIGHT RAIN                6     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                0     SNOW                       2
LIGHT SNOW                5     SLEET                      0
FOG                       7     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      3
HAZE                      6

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

$$