Denver temperature swing goes from high of 74 to low of minus 5 in less than 3 days
By
John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Feb 3, 2020 7:03 PM EDT
It’s been a weather roller-coaster ride of temperatures in Denver, Colorado. After record highs on Sunday, Feb. 2, temperatures plummeted well below freezing by Monday morning. It dropped 67 degrees in 36 hours. RELATED: 67-degree temperature drop possible along Front Range into Monday Today it should be cloudy with a steady temperature of about 27 degrees, the NWS said. Winds are expected to pick up with gusts up to 31 mph on Monday. The chance for precipitation will increase to about 70% in the late afternoon, the NWS said. Once the sun sets, the weather is expected to become more extreme with wind chill factors making it feel like -6 degrees Monday night. The chance for snow will continue to increase to 100% through the night, forecasters said.
Early Wednesday morning, temperatures in Denver plunged all the way down to minus 5 degrees F after a jarring cold front gripped the region. This below-zero thermometer reading came fewer than three days after the city saw temperatures soar into the mid-70s on Sunday, but didn't happen quickly enough to break a record.
The cold front also brought snow accumulations of around 3 to 5 inches in and around Denver, and a range of totals in the Boulder area of anywhere between 3 and 21 inches, depending on elevation, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Farther to the south, places around Colorado Springs saw a general 3 to 5 inches of snow, with a few pockets picking up a little bit more.
Sunday was an unseasonably warm day across parts of the western United States. In Denver, temperatures rose to 30 degrees above average, tying an 86-year-old record for the warmest Feb. 2 on record. With temperatures hitting 74 degrees, the Mile High City was also warmer than Miami on Sunday, which topped out at 68 degrees.
"These warm conditions were thanks to a dry, Pacific air mass that downsloped off the Front Range and through compressional heating, gave off those incredible temperatures," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
Mail carrier Tina Fisher uses an umbrella attached to her hat while delivering to her route as a winter storm drifts over the Intermountain West, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Denver. Just two days ago, temperatures were in the mid-70s there. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, a shift in the weather pattern pushed the warm weather out and brought in snow and wind to the Rocky Mountain region before temperatures took a tumble.
"Denver is notorious for having drastic temperature swings, especially as we approach the spring months," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said. "It can be in the 70s one day and then rapidly fall into the 30s in a six-hour period and sometimes an even shorter temporal period."
"The reason for this is partially due to location. A phenomenon, known as a Blue Norther, frequently occurs in the High Plains and southern Plains," Rossio said. "Sometimes, very cold, dense air masses spill into the northern High Plains and Upper Midwest associated with a Canadian high-pressure area. This cold, dense air then 'piles up' east of the Front Range and begins to accelerate southward, like a tidal wave. These are sometimes referred to as Blue Northers.”
By 3 a.m. MST Wednesday, the temperature in Denver was down to minus 5 F, a difference of 79 degrees from its peak on Sunday afternoon.
According to the record-keeping by the National Weather Service, this marks the second drop of 70 degrees or more in the span of four months. From Oct 9-10, 2019, temperatures plummeted from 83 F to 13 F.
Benz added that a shift in the jet stream allowed for cold air to surge down from the High Plains and the Rockies, which also helped shift winds from the west to the north.
Currently, the record two-day temperature swing for Denver is 76 degrees, which was set between Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, 2008.
The snow that hit Denver was part of a storm system that dumped double-digit snowfall totals farther west in Utah, along with 50-mph wind gusts in some places. In fact, according to the NWS, Salt Lake City International Airport picked up 8.6 inches of snow on Monday, shattering the Feb. 3 record of 7 inches, which had stood since 1936.
The storm continued its eastward March into Wednesday and forecasters cautioned that it could bring the biggest snowfall of the season to several cities across the central U.S. and Midwest.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Winter Weather
Denver temperature swing goes from high of 74 to low of minus 5 in less than 3 days
By John Murphy, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Feb 3, 2020 7:03 PM EDT
It’s been a weather roller-coaster ride of temperatures in Denver, Colorado. After record highs on Sunday, Feb. 2, temperatures plummeted well below freezing by Monday morning. It dropped 67 degrees in 36 hours. RELATED: 67-degree temperature drop possible along Front Range into Monday Today it should be cloudy with a steady temperature of about 27 degrees, the NWS said. Winds are expected to pick up with gusts up to 31 mph on Monday. The chance for precipitation will increase to about 70% in the late afternoon, the NWS said. Once the sun sets, the weather is expected to become more extreme with wind chill factors making it feel like -6 degrees Monday night. The chance for snow will continue to increase to 100% through the night, forecasters said.
Early Wednesday morning, temperatures in Denver plunged all the way down to minus 5 degrees F after a jarring cold front gripped the region. This below-zero thermometer reading came fewer than three days after the city saw temperatures soar into the mid-70s on Sunday, but didn't happen quickly enough to break a record.
The cold front also brought snow accumulations of around 3 to 5 inches in and around Denver, and a range of totals in the Boulder area of anywhere between 3 and 21 inches, depending on elevation, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Farther to the south, places around Colorado Springs saw a general 3 to 5 inches of snow, with a few pockets picking up a little bit more.
Sunday was an unseasonably warm day across parts of the western United States. In Denver, temperatures rose to 30 degrees above average, tying an 86-year-old record for the warmest Feb. 2 on record. With temperatures hitting 74 degrees, the Mile High City was also warmer than Miami on Sunday, which topped out at 68 degrees.
"These warm conditions were thanks to a dry, Pacific air mass that downsloped off the Front Range and through compressional heating, gave off those incredible temperatures," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
Mail carrier Tina Fisher uses an umbrella attached to her hat while delivering to her route as a winter storm drifts over the Intermountain West, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Denver. Just two days ago, temperatures were in the mid-70s there. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, a shift in the weather pattern pushed the warm weather out and brought in snow and wind to the Rocky Mountain region before temperatures took a tumble.
"Denver is notorious for having drastic temperature swings, especially as we approach the spring months," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said. "It can be in the 70s one day and then rapidly fall into the 30s in a six-hour period and sometimes an even shorter temporal period."
"The reason for this is partially due to location. A phenomenon, known as a Blue Norther, frequently occurs in the High Plains and southern Plains," Rossio said. "Sometimes, very cold, dense air masses spill into the northern High Plains and Upper Midwest associated with a Canadian high-pressure area. This cold, dense air then 'piles up' east of the Front Range and begins to accelerate southward, like a tidal wave. These are sometimes referred to as Blue Northers.”
By 3 a.m. MST Wednesday, the temperature in Denver was down to minus 5 F, a difference of 79 degrees from its peak on Sunday afternoon.
According to the record-keeping by the National Weather Service, this marks the second drop of 70 degrees or more in the span of four months. From Oct 9-10, 2019, temperatures plummeted from 83 F to 13 F.
Benz added that a shift in the jet stream allowed for cold air to surge down from the High Plains and the Rockies, which also helped shift winds from the west to the north.
Currently, the record two-day temperature swing for Denver is 76 degrees, which was set between Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, 2008.
The snow that hit Denver was part of a storm system that dumped double-digit snowfall totals farther west in Utah, along with 50-mph wind gusts in some places. In fact, according to the NWS, Salt Lake City International Airport picked up 8.6 inches of snow on Monday, shattering the Feb. 3 record of 7 inches, which had stood since 1936.
The storm continued its eastward March into Wednesday and forecasters cautioned that it could bring the biggest snowfall of the season to several cities across the central U.S. and Midwest.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo