SOUTHERN COLORADO -- With only three days left in the meteorological summer, southern Colorado is set to see its warmest summer of all time.
Meteorologists categorize summer as June, July and August. The average high in Colorado Springs for the summer of 2012 has been 88 degrees, which shouldn't change much based on the forecast for the last three days. Pueblo's average is 94.9 degrees, which also isn't expected to move much.
Should both of those average highs hold, 2012 would be the warmest summer in both cities. The average high in Alamosa, which sits in the San Luis Valley southwest of Pueblo and is generally cooler, has been almost 85 degrees, which marks the second warmest summer on record.
Another unique record was broken in Colorado Springs Tuesday and could be broken in Pueblo Wednesday. Tuesday's high of 92 in Colorado Springs marked the 45th day of 2012 with a high of 90 degrees or higher, breaking the record for most 90+ degree days in the city in a single year. There were 44 in the city in 2011.
Pueblo has had a similar pattern with 100 degree days. There have been 28 so far in 2012, tying the record set in 2003. Wednesday is Pueblo's best chance to break the record for the foreseeable future, though the National Weather Service is only forecasting a high of 99.
Alamosa likely won't break its record for most 90+ degree days in a year, which was 20 back in 2003. But the valley has already seen 11 90+ degree days, which ranks second all-time, and that number may still grow.
Colorado Springs saw an all-time high of 101 degrees during the Waldo Canyon Fire.
Along with the heat, Pueblo has also seen its second driest summer on record with only 1.22 total inches of rain so far.
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