COLORADO, USA — The Front Range is just in the beginning of what could be a two-week stretch with high temperatures in the 90s or upper 80s, with a chance for a high below 86 degrees not coming until the final day of August.
But so far this year the heat waves have been few and far between.
Denver even broke a record cold temperature on Tuesday morning with a low of 49 degrees. Here’s a cool stat: The high temperature in Denver has been below 73 degrees 13 times this summer – the most cool summer days in 20 years.
In a way, our weather recently could shelter us from a concerning global heat trend that continues to rise.
Scientists with NASA and NOAA said that globally, this July was the hottest ever recorded. The ocean waters were also warmer than ever for July.
The added heat and water vapor in the atmosphere may be driving what’s been a year of extreme weather across the planet.
And the heat is forecast to build.
So far, 2023 is ranked as the third warmest year on record. And NOAA climatologists said there’s a 50% chance that it could take the top spot from 2016 as the warmest ever. Aided by the development of a strong El Niño weather pattern, which favors warmer weather.
NOAA said the driver behind the heat and extreme weather is the increase of carbon dioxide. The global heat average has risen in unison with the increase in CO2 since 1960.
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