July 2024 was the hottest month in recorded global history, continuing more than a yearlong consecutive streak of record-setting temperatures. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average global temperature in July was 2.18 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average. It was just 0.05 degrees warmer than July 2023 — now the second-hottest month on record.

But amid record-breaking heat waves in the U.S. that were concentrated along the West Coast and interior Southwest, Colorado’s western regions were mostly spared. 

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In central and northern mountain areas, “temperatures were pretty close to normal — maybe a hair below normal” — in July, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bernie Meyer. 

In Dillon, for example, the average recorded temperature was 55.8 degrees, just shy of the 56.6 degrees that is considered normal, according to Meyer, who is based out of a station in Boulder. 

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But the month was also drier, with the Dillon station clocking 1.37 inches of total rainfall in July, slightly below normal, Meyer said. 

Across Colorado’s Western Slope, conditions were hotter and drier than normal but didn’t break records, said Grand Junction National Service Meteorologist Megan Sanders. 

Of the 10 climate-reporting stations spread across the western half of the state, which includes areas west of Vail Pass, eight were anywhere between half a degree to almost four degrees above normal, Sanders said. 

The biggest temperature shifts were around the four corners region in southwestern Colorado, “While along the I-70 corridor, for the most part, they were closer to normal,” Sanders said. 

Most stations reported below-average precipitation. A station near Rifle, for example, recorded rain totals that were almost three-quarters of an inch below normal. 

The hottest days of the month were during a heat wave in mid-July. Grand Junction, for example, broke 104 degrees between July 12 and 14, though it did not surpass its highest recorded temperature of 107, Sanders said. 

During this period, the reporting station in Dillon reached 84 degrees, “which is pretty warm for a location that has never recorded a 90-degree day,” wrote Colorado Climate Center Director Russ Schumacher in a July 23 blog post. 

“Averaged across the entire state, it ranked as the 14th hottest four-day heat wave since 1951,” Schumacher stated.

As human-driven emissions continue to cause the planet to warm, extreme heat waves are becoming more frequent in Colorado, though not necessarily more extreme, Schumacher stated.

“Record-smashing events are very rare even in a warming climate, and when air masses are hot enough aloft to have the potential for record-breaking heat, they often have just enough moisture to produce clouds and storms that reduce the surface temperature by a degree or two,” Schumacher stated. “Instead, what we’re seeing is a steady increase of heat: heat waves that would have been few and far between in the 20th century are now becoming commonplace.”

The remainder of August could see the heat tempered by ongoing monsoonal conditions defined by intense thunderstorms and heavy precipitation, though temperatures still have a chance of being above average.

According to the Climate Prediction Center’s eight to 14-day outlook, Colorado’s mountain and Western Slope regions have a 50% to 60% chance of seeing above-normal temperatures through Aug. 26. At the same time, those regions have a 33% to 40% chance of seeing above-normal precipitation. 

Consistent rain showers led to an increase in moisture and slight drop in daytime temperatures last week in what forecasters primarily attributed to the monsoon season wherein moist air from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California is drawn north toward the southwestern U.S., including Colorado. 

“Usually, the monsoons start to wane come late August and into September,” said Meyer, the Boulder station meteorologist, who added this year’s pattern was slightly delayed and could be weaker than usual. 

“But we still have two-thirds of August to go,” he said.