DENVER — Be ready for some record hot weather in Denver through Wednesday.
Temperatures soared to 99 degrees in Denver Monday afternoon - way above the average high of 82 degrees for mid-June, but shy of the record of 102 degrees, set on June 14, 2006.
Isolated thunderstorms may pop up early tonight, but the air is mostly just hot and dry, so little relief can be expected for most areas. Lows will drop to the middle 60s by morning, but will warm up fast with highs near 100 degrees Tuesday afternoon. Very few thunderstorms will develop on Tuesday. Highs will be in the triple digits across the eastern plains as well as out west in the Grand Valley around Grand Junction.
Little chance is expected for Wednesday with more extreme heat and few cooling thunderstorms. The record highs for Denver for June 15 and 16 are 97 degrees (in 1993) and 96 degrees (in 2020) - so this heatwave will be one for the record books.
Conditions will begin to improve starting Thursday as temperatures will be a little less hot and rain chances will begin to increase. By the end of the week and over the weekend, cooler weather and a better chance for thunderstorms can be expected.
It is a good thing our spring has been so wet over the eastern half of the state — drought conditions have pretty much ended for now. Western Colorado has not been as lucky and remains very dry. We are expecting dangerous fire conditions for western Colorado this week.
At the Denver International Airport, the total precipitation since Jan. 1 is about 10.5 inches — and that's a little over 4 inches above normal for the year to date.
The latest index shows drought-free conditions from Denver to Cheyenne and across northeast Colorado. Southeastern Colorado has also improved with nearly drought-free conditions around Pueblo. Western and central Colorado still need a lot of moisture to break free of the drought.
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