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Denver Matches All-Time High of 105°F; Heat, Pollution Spread East This Weekend

 United States

This photo provided by the Department of Homeland Security Emergency Management shows a wildfire burning near Forbes Park in southern Colorado, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Hot, dry and windy weather has raised the fire danger across much of Colorado as well as Utah and parts of Arizona and Nevada. Credit: DHSEM via AP

All-time record highs matched or toppled from Colorado to Scotland

The dome of heat building into the Northeast U.S. gripped the Rockies on Thursday. Denver’s high of 105°F on Thursday matched its all-time high in data going back to 1872. The other dates that saw 105°F in Denver were June 25 and 26, 2012; July 20, 2005; and Aug. 8, 1878. Two other nearby cities set daily records that came within 1°F of their all-time highs: Colorado Springs, CO (100°F) and Cheyenne, WY (99°F). Amid the intense heat, a wildfire in the Sangre de Cristo range of southern Colorado surged to envelop more than 14,000 acres by Friday morning, closing a major travel route (U.S. Highway 160).

All-time heat records will be a bit less likely across the central and eastern U.S., but many daily record highs and record-warm minimums can be expected. Triple-digit highs aren’t out of the question by Sunday in upstate New York, where such readings are very uncommon. The last time Albany, NY, got up to 100°F was on Sept. 3, 1953.

Parts of Europe are also suffering through an intense early-summer heat wave, especially the United Kingdom.