Labor Day was hottest Sept. day ever for more than 50 locations

More than 50 temperature recording stations across Colorado, including in Denver, reported that Labor Day was the hottest day ever reached in September, the Colorado Climate Center reported Tuesday.

Of the temperature records set, 13 were above 100 degrees, said Becky Bolinger, assistant state climatologist for the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.

The highest temperature anywhere on Monday in Colorado was 105 degrees in Lamar, Bolinger said.

Denver broke its record for September when the high temperature peaked at 100 degrees on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.

Denver’s all-time September heat record was only a day old at the time because the record was snapped Sept. 1 when the high reached 98 degrees, the climate center said.

“The fact that the heat record for September was set for so many reporting stations is quite remarkable,” Bolinger said. She added that not all of the state’s reporting stations have called, so the tally of community records set likely will climb.

September heat records were broken from Fort Collins, which topped out at 99 degrees, to Pueblo, which reached 102 degrees, Bolinger said. Grand Junction climbed to 100 degrees and Greeley hit 101, she said.

Records also were broken in the mountains, Bolinger said.

The temperature in Lake George, at an elevation of 8,550 feet, hit a record for September of 85 degrees on Labor Day, the climate center reported. Estes Park reached 88 degrees, Bolinger said.

“You want to go to those mountain communities to cool off when it gets hot in the city,” she said. “But 88 degrees is definitely not cool.”

Bolinger said it’s difficult to attribute any one weather event to climate change.

“Days like we had Monday are becoming more likely in September and the fall because of climate change,” she said.