Thermometer hits 85, Denver breaks a 119-year-old temperature record and the all-time reading for March
Our heat wave is surging over the Rocky Mountains, and Denver has just reached two remarkable weather marks:
- Denver smashed the all-time record high for the month of March, which was 84 degrees. The thermometer officially reached 85 degrees at the National Weather Service monitoring station at Denver International Airport Wednesday afternoon.
- Denver broke a 119-year-old record high for March 19. The old record high temperature for March 19 was 81 degrees set in 1907. The Mile High City broke that record when the temperature climbed to 82 in the middle part of the afternoon.
More record highs are projected to bite the dust this week before our heat wave comes to an end. Friday's record high is 80 degrees and our First Alert Forecast calls for a high in the middle 80s. If we make it there, it breaks another daily record high.
Saturday will be the hottest day of the multi-day stretch with a forecasted high in the upper 80s. The record for Saturday is 78 degrees, last set in 1995.
The prolonged heat wave is being caused by a slow moving, intense high-pressure dome. Ridges of this magnitude can be enhanced by La Niña, sometimes creating stagnant period of record high temperatures as sinking air compresses and increases heat.