The cold weather that Southeast Colorado experienced on Saturday, October 10th was an exceptional event, something that can be expected in this region only once every 40-50 years.
The culprit was a strong arctic cold front that moved quickly from Central Canada into the Northern Rockies this past weekend. It was a relatively shallow layer of very cold air, so the high country west of Interstate 25, which normally would be colder, was as much as 30 degrees warmer during this past weekend.
Here are some of the records set yesterday for the date of October 10:
In Pueblo, a new record low maximum temperature of 32 degrees was set. This "high" temeprature occurred shortly after Midnight; then the temperature actually fell during the daytime. The old record "low maximum" was set in 2005 at 42 degrees. This is the earliest date in the last 120 years that the high temperature was at or below freezing. Prior to Saturday, the earliest date for a freezing high temperature was October 21, 1906.
A record low temperature was also set in Pueblo; 24 degrees. The previous record low was 26 degrees, set in 1992. The average temperature on Saturday was only 28 degrees.
In Colorado Springs, a record low maximum temperature was also set on the 10th: 25 degrees, which occurred around 1:00 AM. The previous record for lowest maximum temperature was set in 2005 at 36 degrees.
The average temperature in Colorado Springs Saturday was 23 degrees. This was the lowest average temperature that has occurred before Columbus Day in the past 60 years. The last early cold outbreak occurred on October 12, 1969, when the average temperature was also 23 degrees.
Record Low maximum temperatures were also set at both Colorado Springs and Pueblo on Sunday the 11th: 28 and 34 degrees respectively.
Warm weather should return to Southern Colorado beginning tomorrow, Wednesday the 21st, but this past weekend has certainly given the area an early taste of Winter!