Denver Weather: High temperatures and dry conditions to continue in heat wave

If you remember the hot stretch of weather we had in early July, get ready for a repeat this week as a ridge of high pressure builds across the southern Rockies. Dry desert air will also flow into the state from the west and southwest. The dry airmass and the high pressure will mean several days of hot, dry weather ahead.

All of the lower elevations in Colorado, both east and west, will spend several days with highs in the upper 90s and low 100s. In Denver specifically, there is the potential to see at least three days with temperatures approaching the daily record high.

Monday, July 29 - record high is 99° set in 2005 and previous years

Tuesday, July 30 - record high is 101° set in 2005

Wednesday, July 31 - record high is 100° set in 1889

One big wildcard in the days ahead, with regard to if we reach the records or not, will be how much wildfire smoke moves into the region. There are dozens of wildfires burning in the western US and Canada and they are producing a lot of smoke.

When it comes to the afternoon high each day, the thicker the smoke, the lower the high will be. Northern Colorado will be on the edge of some thicker smoke plumes over the next few days. We will have to just wait and see how that may (or may not) impact the potential daily highs.

With this new heat wave, we'll also have to worry about fire danger at times. Luckily, we aren't expecting widespread high wind. But it doesn't take much wind to spread a fire when it will be this dry and hot. We already have red flag warnings posted for portions of western and northwest Colorado.

Over the next few days, even if your area is not under a fire weather warning, conditions could still allow for any new fires to spread quickly, so if you see smoke, please report it just to be safe.

SUNDAY: Sunny, breezy and hot, high 97; mostly clear overnight, low 62.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny with near-record heat, high 98; mostly clear overnight, low 64.

TUESDAY: Mostly sunny with near-record heat, high 99; partly cloudy overnight, low 66.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny with near-record heat, high 98; mostly clear overnight, low 65.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny and hot, high 96; partly cloudy overnight, low 64.

FRIDAY: Mostly sunny and hot with a few stray afternoon storms in the mountains, high 95; partly cloudy overnight, low 64.

SATURDAY: Mostly sunny and hot, high 93; partly cloudy overnight, low 62.