Record breaking September in the books
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Sunny but hazy skies and temperatures approaching sixty degrees, again on their way to the low seventies, are over the Steamboat Springs area this Sunday noon. Smoke from the Lake Fire in the Unitas will come and go during the workweek as high temperatures hover in the low to mid-seventies, along with occasional clouds as Pacific moisture sneaks into the area. The benign weather will allow more space in this weather narrative to list some of the Steamboat Springs temperature records broken in September.
The temperature records are due to a stubborn ridge of high pressure established in mid-September that is still centered over the West. Not only were several high temperature records set in September, but we just had another one this last Friday as the 81 F recorded at the official weather station behind the high school broke the old record of 80 F set in 1945.
The highlight of September occurred around last weekend of the month when the high temperature reached 86 F on Friday, surpassing the old record of 83 F set in 2001. And the 85 F records set on both Saturday and Sunday broke the previous 83 F records set in 2010 on Saturday and 2019 on Sunday.
Combined with the unseasonably warm temperatures preceding and following that weekend, the last week of September was the hottest measured since record-keeping began in Steamboat Springs in February of 1893. These seven days broke three records and tied two, averaging a high temperature of 82.9 F compared to the old record of 81.7 recorded in 2001. The ten days straddling the start of October between September 26 and October 5 averaged a high temperature of 81.9, which also broke the previous record of 79.3 set in 1897.
Though we had some cool days, including a high temperature of only 61 F on Tuesday, September 17, the average high temperature of September was the ninth hottest on record, with an average of 78.4 F, well short of the 82.1 F set in 1897. In fact the three hottest Septembers were in 1897, 1896 and 1893. Imagine moving here as a settler in the early 1890’s and experiencing the three hottest Septembers in the next 130 years, and counting! Trying to plan for the future years based only on that short-term experience could have proven fatal.
If the average daily temperature is considered, which averages both the high and low temperature of the day, September moves up the list as the fourth warmest on record at 58.1 F, compared to the record of 58.9 set in 1998.
The temperature records look to be safe this week as high temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-seventies, especially the 89 F record set on October 9, 1910! That was also the hottest temperature recorded in October, followed by the next hottest of 84 F set two days earlier on October 7, 1910 and tying the high temperature set two years earlier on October 8, 1908. And 1908 had some warm days, as the highest September temperature of 93 F was set on September 7.
While the mid-seventies sounds cool relative to the high-temperature records, it is still around ten degrees above our average of 64 F. Some Pacific moisture may sneak under the dominant western ridge of high pressure for some occasional clouds, but smoke from the Lake Fire burning in northeast Utah may prove to be the most noticeable element of the workweek weather. Check the NOAA Smoke Plume model, also available via the See the latest NOAA smoke model forecast link under the Purple Air widget on the SnowAlarm home page for the latest smoke forecast. The model is run four times a day through forty-eight hours, and currently predicts some smoke abatement on Monday before another pulse approaches our area on Tuesday.
There was earlier hope of a storm around next weekend, but the weather forecast models have backed off that prediction for now. So enjoy another warm fall workweek, and check back for the latest details on the coming weekend weather in my next regularly scheduled weather narrative on Thursday afternoon.
