DENVER — Denver and the Front Range are preparing for intense heat that will start on Friday and persist through Sunday, the peak of the three-day heat wave.
Daytime temperatures are expected to soar to 101 to 104 degrees, with little relief at night. This extreme heat poses potential health risks, so it's crucial to stay hydrated and cool.
While the upcoming temperatures are significantly higher than the norm for this time of year, it's worth remembering that Colorado and Denver have endured their fair share of triple-digit misery.
The Mile High City has seen 106 instances of such extreme heat since 1872, according to the National Weather Service.
However, it's important to note that Denver rarely experiences consecutive days of 100-degree weather, with only 15 such occurrences on record.
On three occasions — June 2012, July 2005, and July 1989—Denver experienced five consecutive days of temperatures reaching 100 degrees or more, the most consecutive triple-digit days the city has seen.
According to NWS records, the last time Denver experienced a triple whammy of 100-degree days—what we will likely experience this weekend—was in June 2021.
The hottest temperature recorded in Denver was 105 degrees, which occurred only on five occasions since 1872. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Colorado was 115 degrees. That record occurred on July 20, 2019, near Lamar in southeast Colorado.
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Denver heat wave this weekend could break records with 100-degree temps expected
The last time Denver saw triple-digit temperatures was last month, when the city reached 100 degrees on June 25. It was the city’s first triple-digit reading for the season and the first time Denver got to 100 in two years, according to NWS records.
The warmest July occurred in 2012 when the monthly mean temperature reached 78.9 degrees. That summer of 2012 was also the warmest on record for Denver and the state.
