September 2021: Sounds like a broken record with another dry and warm month, very similar to August. Both months had many days of smoky skies from the fires in the West. Thankfully there were no significant Colorado fires. We do need significant rain as we saw less than half our normal precipitation. We did see some moderate precipitation the first and last week of the month with many dry days in between. Temperatures were warm, ranking in the top 20% of all warm Septembers.

Temperature: Average high was 70F, with an average low of 45F. These averaged out to give us a month 5 degrees above normal, statistically significant. Highest high was 82F on the 10th; lowest high was 43F on the 30th (after a strong cold front). Coldest day was 29F on the 21st.

Precipitation: Rain totaled 0.82 inches, 0.92 below normal. Rainiest day was 0.41 on the 3rd. Most of the rain came from scattered thunderstorms. There was no snow during the month.

Winds: A rare event in Nederland: No winds (40+ mph)! The aspen leaves appreciated this.

Other Features: A few weak monsoonal surges early in the month and some weak westerly disturbances at the end of the month was about it. Denver had its hottest September day with 99F on the 10th. The aspen colors were excellent over most of the Peak-to-Peak region. Some said the best in years.

Outlook for October: First the normals: Average high is 54F, average low is 29. We get 1.26 inches of rain with 11 inches of snow. There are typically 7 windy days. The models are showing warm and dry conditions during the first week followed by arrival of some strong Pacific systems that will usher in some rain and then cooler and snowier conditions near the 11th. Another strong system arrives mid month with strong winds and snow showers. The long range outlook is for near normal temperatures and precipitation for the last two weeks.