Denver and Colorado Springs see record-breaking heat amid Utah wildfire haze

Max Levy, The Denver Post on Oct 5, 2024

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DENVER — Unseasonably warm weather broke or tied daily and monthly heat records across the state Saturday, with the National Weather Service reporting new highs in Denver, Colorado Springs and Burlington.

The NWS announced in a social media post at 2:27 p.m. that a temperature of 87 degrees had been recorded at Denver International Airport, breaking the previous 1997 record of 86 degrees for Oct. 5.

At 12:36 p.m., the agency reported that a temperature of 84 degrees was recorded in Colorado Springs, breaking the previous daily record of 83 degrees set in 1956 and tied in 2020.

“With several more hours of heating, this record may be broken again,” the agency noted.

A new record high of 95 was recorded in Burlington at 1:06 p.m., breaking the previous record for the day and the month of October in that city.

And in Pueblo, a temperature of 91 tied the previous record high for Oct. 5 set in 1947.

Much of the state remains under a Red Flag Warning, reflecting the fire danger posed by dry, windy conditions and unseasonal heat.

Despite this, the NWS and emergency services agencies were reassuring residents Saturday that a haze and smoky smell reported along the Front Range were being generated by fires outside of Colorado, particularly the Yellow Lake Fire in Utah.

Meanwhile, the possibility remains that plasma ejected by the sun could result in “minor to strong storming” in Earth’s magnetic field overnight, said Bryan Brasher, a project manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

While Basher said the event is less significant than the geomagnetic storms which enabled some Denver residents to photograph northern lights on the horizon in May, he said there is at least a chance that the phenomenon will be visible from the metro area between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.

“If you’re not doing anything else, you might have a good chance to see it,” Basher said.