The Mile-High City is gearing up for a scorcher this week, with temperatures expected to rise above the seasonal average. The National Weather Service indicates that, starting today, Denver will bask in the sunny glory of a high near 95 degrees. However, a brisk south southeast wind blowing 6 to 16 mph may offer some respite with gusts reaching up to 25 mph. Tonight, Denverites can expect partly cloudy skies with a balmy low around 63 degrees, and the breeze is maintaining its pace with gusts as high as 24 mph.
Into the following days, the pattern of heat continues unabated. As reported, Tuesday promises partly sunny skies and a high creeping up to 96, with light south winds at the helm. In an all too familiar dance for the weekdays, Wednesday and Thursday won't relent, with nearly identical highs edging towards a sweltering 98 by Thursday.
Air quality, however, is footing the bill for these unyielding sunny days. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has activated an Ozone Action Day Alert for the Front Range Urban Corridor, stretching until 4 p.m. Monday. Ozone concentrations will stay in the Good to Moderate range on Sunday, the alert states, with Monday's conditions reaching levels that are "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups." This impacts a broad swath from western Denver northward to Fort Collins.
In light of these conditions, the public health advisory underscores the potential health impacts. Increasing likelihood of respiratory symptoms and breathing discomfort in active children and adults and people with lung disease, such as asthma, the warning expounds, recommending that those at risk reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.
Despite the looming heatwave and air quality concerns, meteorologists have sprinkled a ray of hope for the weekend, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms slated for Saturday. Until then, Denver will be simmering steadily under the high-summer sun, a stretch of days marked by the clear, unforgiving azure of a sky that seems to promise endless warmth.
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