Colorado Politics

Denver has warmest December day in 86 years

Denver doesn’t grow palm trees, but the Mile High City could consider it after experiencing very warm temperatures in December.

Just days before Christmas, Denver recorded a high of 76 degrees on Monday. The average high for Dec. 22 is 43 degrees, according to meteorologists with Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS.

The 76 degrees far exceeds the previous record for Dec. 22, which was 70 degrees in 1955. Monday marks the warmest December temperature since Dec. 5, 1939, when Denver reached 79 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.

As of 1:20 p.m., the temperature reached 76 degrees at Denver International Airport.

Denver is warmer this week than other major cities that are typically warm during winter.

Los Angeles, for example, was experiencing temperatures in the high 60s on Monday. Denver came close to Miami, Florida, which saw a high of 79 degrees.

“This has been wild,” 9NEWS meteorologist Chris Bianchi said in a social media post.

Monday’s is the fourth record-high daily temperature Denver has experienced in December, a month averaging 10 degrees above normal temperatures, according to Bianchi.

“There’s no real sign of this coming to a close any time soon,” Bianchi said. “This ridge of high pressure just won’t move and the result is it’s going to stay hot and dry like this all week long with our hottest Christmas on record likely.”

The Front Range remained under a Red Flag Warning until 5 p.m. Monday as 60 mph winds hit the foothills.

The warm December comes on the heels of metro Denver’s fourth-longest streak of no snowfall of 224 days, which ended on Nov. 29.

Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS contributed to this report.


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