Change is of course the one constant in Denver's weather but come July, things actually get pretty consistent. The standard formula for a day in July is a sunning morning, clouds developing in the late morning and early afternoon. Come mid-afternoon, thunderstorms are rolling off of the foothills and into the metro area and the eastern plains. These storms do occasionally reach severe status containing hail, gusty winds and heavy downpours of rain.
In fact, the worst hail storm on record in Denver history hit western sections of the city on July 11th, 1990. Baseball and softball sized hail from this ferocious storm caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.
July is the most stormy month of the year in fact with thunderstorms occurring on average 11 days per month - or once every three days. These slow moving storms are one of the reasons July is Denver's second rainiest month with an average of 2.16 inches of rain (second only to May). However, these storms are also often very localized and cause widely varying precipitation amounts across the metro area. It is not unusual for one area of down to be deluged while others remain entirely dry. With these severe storms, flash flooding remains a possibility.
Our hottest month, July daytime temps average 88 degrees and is when we typically see the most consecutive days above 90 degrees. 14 times 10 or more consecutive days above 90 degrees have been recorded entirely in July or at least partially starting in June or ending in August. The longest 90 degree streak last 18 days and actually occurred twice - once in 1901 from July 6th through July 23rd and again in 1874 from July 1st to July 18th.
Just eight years ago in 2000, 17 consecutive 90 degree days occurred from June 29th through July 15th. Many of us will hearken back to July 2005 which was a record heat setting month. Six record high temperatures were set, all in the 100's. In fact on July 20th the mercury soared to 105 degrees tying the all time Denver high temperature set on August 8th 1878 and breaking the 102 record for July 20th. Other records were 102 degrees on the 16th, 101 on the 19th, 105 on the 20th, 104 on the 21st, 102 on the 22nd, 102 on the 23rd, and 101 degrees on the 30th. July 2005 became the 2nd hottest July and also the 2nd hottest Denver month ever. In all there were 25 days registering 90 degrees or higher which ties the 3rd most ever with 1963.
For More Information:
For more details on July weather, historical statistics and more, please visit
ThorntonWeather.com for a complete preview.
ThorntonWeather.com is your local source for Thornton weather and weather related news. Provided as a service to the community, ThorntonWeather.com offers real-time weather information, forecasts, radar, statistics and more!