After reaching a high in the low 90s yesterday, we are sitting at 61 in Denver this afternoon. The change developed in the middle of the night as a period of strong north winds lashed the trees and rattled the window shades. That potent cold front encountered warm, dry air along the Front Range and no rain or snow developed. By early this morning, our temperature bottomed out at 44 degrees F.
Accompanied by the usual clear, sunny skies, the cool air was just right for yard work, certainly more comfortable than the heat of yesterday afternoon! As the front moved eastward, tied to a low in central Montana, we experienced a brief period of "upslope" late this morning; the northeast winds forced air to rise across the topography of eastern and central Colorado, producing clouds and a few showers along the Front Range and north slope of the Palmer Divide.
By early afternoon, the wind had shifted from the northwest, down-sloping east of the Continental Divide and clearing out the skies. The temperature will stay in the sixties with this northwest flow but, by tomorrow, on southwest winds, we'll bask in the seventies once again. Throw in a stray thunderstorm or two and that would complete a typical summer sequence along the Colorado Front Range.
