Colorado weather: Fort Collins set to smash record high temperatures

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Updated ·2 min read

Update: Tuesday's high reached 86 degrees breaking the record of 80 and marking the earliest in the year it's been this warm. Previous earliest was 88 degrees April 21, 1989, and last year Fort Collins reached 86 degrees April 22, Russ Schumacher, state climatologist, wrote on his Twitter account.

Wednesday's high of 85 degrees broke of one of the city's oldest records of 82 degrees set in 1908.

Original story

A week ago, Fort Collins' high was 42 degrees. Tuesday's forecast high doubles that.

Wait, did we just go from winter to summer?

Here's a look at our record-breaking heat:

Record high temperature Tuesday will get smashed, Wednesday's high likely to break 105-year-old mark

  • 84 degrees: That was the National Weather Service's forecast high for Fort Collins on Tuesday, which would break the record of 80 degrees set in 1982 and 1998.

  • 82 degrees: The weather service's forecast for Wednesday, which would break the record of 80 degrees set in 1908.

  • Fort Collins hasn't had a high of 84 degrees since Sept. 29.

Don't break out the annuals and tender vegetables just yet. Here are Fort Collins' last frost, freeze dates

  • There is a 50% chance of a hard freeze (28 degrees) April 18 and a 10% chance May 2.

  • The average last frost (32 degrees) is around Mother's Day, which is May 14 this year.

Four of Fort Collins' 10 largest snowfalls have happened in April

  1. March 18-19, 2003: 32.2 inches

  2. May 5-7, 1978: 27.8 inches

  3. April 15-17, 2013: 22.4 inches

  4. Nov. 2021, 1979: 22.1 inches

  5. Oct. 28-29, 2009: 21.7 inches

  6. April 3-5, 1983: 21.4 inches

  7. March 29-31, 1970: 21.4 inches

  8. April 2-3, 1957: 20.8 inches

  9. April 13-17, 1945: 20.2 inches

  10. Dec. 20-21, 2006: 19.9 inches

April has produced some whacky Colorado weather

  • 75.8 inches of snow fell April 15, 1921, at Silver Lake. It's the highest one-day snowfall ever recorded in the U.S.

  • That same day, Idaho Springs received 4.8 inches of precipitation, which is a monthly record.

  • Las Animas hit a high of 100 degrees April 30, 1992.

  • Fraser had a low of minus 30 degrees April 4, 1970.

  • Last year in April, wind gusts topped 100 mph and set records in many northeastern Colorado towns.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado weather: Fort Collins set to smash record high temperatures