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On June 15 and 16, the high temperatures in Denver are predicted to break records — and quite possibly hit or surpass 100 degrees during a month when triple digits are still relatively rare.
Scorchers like these naturally raise questions about whether global warming is responsible — and while the overwhelming majority of scientists and experts agree that climate change is absolutely happening, their answers and explanations can be exceedingly complex for the average person to comprehend.
But here's some easy-to-understand evidence from the National Weather Service: Of the thirty daily record high June temperatures in official Denver weather history, 23 happened in the last twenty years. And sixteen of those took place within the past decade.
The National Weather Service's Denver summer temperature statistics page reveals that the Mile High City has experienced a high temperature of 100 degrees or more just 89 times since 1872, when its record-keeping began. Seventeen days from that total were in June — and only six occurred prior to the year 2000. Here's the list, in chronological order.
6/23/1954 — 102
6/25/1991 — 100
6/26/1994 — 104
6/27/1990 — 102
6/29/1990 — 102
6/30/1990 — 102
6/14/2006 — 102
6/24/2007 — 100
6/18/2012 — 100
6/22/2012 — 102
6/23/2012 — 104
6/24/2012 — 102
6/25/2012 — 105
6/26/2012 — 105
6/11/2013 — 100
6/27/2018 — 101
6/28/2018 — 105
The hottest temperature ever calculated in Denver is 105 — a mark hit on only five days since 1872. Of those five, one dates back to August 8, 1878. But the other four fell within the 21st century: July 20, 2005, and three during June in the past decade (June 11, 2013, and June 27-28, 2018).
Denver's historic high temperatures by day in June tell much the same story. One record was set in the 1950s, two in the 1980s and four in the 1990s. The rest are all from the past twenty years. See them below:
June 1
Record high: 96
Year: 2002June 2
Record high: 93
Year: 2002June 3
Record high: 94
Year: 2006June 4
Record high: 96
Year: 2012June 5
Record high: 96
Year: 2020June 6
Record high: 95
Year: 2018June 7
Record high: 98
Year: 2006June 8
Record high: 98
Year: 1985June 9
Record high: 95
Year: 2018June 10
Record high: 99
Year: 2018June 11
Record high: 100
Year: 2013June 12
Record high: 97
Year: 1952June 13
Record high: 99
Year: 2006June 14
Record high: 102
Year: 2006June 15
Record high: 97
Year: 1993June 16
Record high: 96
Year: 2020June 17
Record high: 98
Year: 2012June 18
Record high: 100
Year: 2012June 19
Record high: 98
Year: 1989June 20
Record high: 99
Year: 2017June 21
Record high: 99
Year: 2007June 22
Record high: 102
Year: 2012June 23
Record high: 104
Year: 2012June 24
Record high: 102
Year: 2012June 25
Record high: 105
Year: 2012June 26
Record high: 105
Year: 2012June 27
Record high: 102
Year: 1990June 28
Record high: 105
Year: 2018June 29
Record high: 102
Year: 1990June 30
Record high: 102
Year: 1990
These stats don't offer definitive proof of global warming. But they'll certainly give you something to ponder over the next few days while you're blinking sweat out of your eyes.
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