John McGinley, Peak to Peak.

August 2020: Who could ignore day after day of highs in the mid 80s and virtually no rain. That and warm overnight lows kept up by incessant smoke from fires to the west combined to make the month nearly seven degrees above normal. A persistent, diabolical upper level ridge managed to steer storms to the north and at the same time cut off the monsoonal flow. The fire threat became dire until the 25th when a shot of moisture from the Pacific gave us seven days of precipitation that totaled an inch of liquid. Suddenly the forests became moist and we could breathe a sigh of relief for a few days. The second warmest August was in 2011 which was also dry.

Precipitation: Rainfall totaled 1.11 inches, well below the normal of 2.16 inches. We were way behind the eight ball up to the 24th when only 0.14 inches had fallen. A few Pacific tropical and mid-latitude storms injected moisture into our ridge and rain fell every day from the 25th on. During this period we got 0.97 inches. The heaviest day was 0.40 inches on the 26th. While we ended up short, the timing was good, reducing the fire potential.

Temperature: Another warmer than normal month with an average high of 82.2F and a low of 51.3F. These combined to make the month nearly seven degrees above normal. This is the sixth straight month of temperatures above normal. From the 3rd to the 27th we had highs in the 80s every day...the good news: we never hit 90F. The maximum high was 86F on several days and the lowest high was 64F on the 29th. The lowest low was 36F on the 31st. 

Winds: Fortunately, no windy days this month...a good thing with the tinder dry conditions.

Other Features: The upper level high stagnated over the Rockies and Desert Southwest for weeks, creating the hot dry conditions we experienced. The upper level wind circulation drove midlatitude storms north and drove the monsoon westward away from Colorado.

Outlook for September: A typical September day has a high of 66F and a low of 38F. Precipitation totals 1.75 inches and four inches of snow. A couple of windy days are possible. Big changes afoot in the second week. We will see the upper level high shift to the Pacific Coast and open the door for cool northwesterly flow that will bring in multiple surges of cool, polar air. We won’t see much precipitation, but it will feel like fall. The dry conditions this summer will possibly lead to an early aspen show. The cooler than normal trend will last until late in the month with warming likely. The month will be drier than normal.