July 2026 along the Front Range was relentlessly hot, dry, and devoid of storms, dominated by stubborn upper‑level ridging that fueled long, punishing heatwaves and pushed Denver and Boulder into one of their hottest months on record. Occasional pulses of monsoonal moisture did break through, producing slow‑moving thunderstorms and localized flash flooding near vulnerable burn scars, while wildfire smoke from the West periodically dimmed skies and degraded air quality early in the month. With meaningful rainfall largely absent, Colorado’s severe drought deepened, cementing a July defined far more by heat and haze than by the usual rhythm of afternoon thunderstorms.

Here’s a graphical look at how July 2026 unfolded across Boulder, Denver, and the Front Range — and how it compared to climatology.

July 2026 Temperatures:


July 2026 Precipitation:

Precipitation totals during July 2026 across the Boulder-Denver Metro area


How does July 2026 fit into the last 76 years?


How does July 2026 fit into the last 12 months?


Drought Update

Colorado remains deeply entrenched in drought, with only a spall portion of northeast Colorado that received flooding rains this summer being the exception.

Colorado’s Front Range from Fort Collins to Trinidad saw 1 to 2 categories of drought degradation during the month, the worst of which being around Colorado Springs. The northeast corner of the state saw continued improvement after receiving repeated rounds of slow-moving soaking thunderstorms throughout July.


July 2026 retold via our Twitter X timeline:

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BoulderCAST Team

BoulderCAST Team

This post had major contributions from at least two members of our team. The more meteorologists the better, right?

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