Preliminary numbers from the National Weather Service have Denver running 1.2°F below normal for the month of August, a welcome break from the heat after June and July. The heat instead has been focused along the coasts, with much of the northern and southern plains states cooling a bit over the last month.

Officially, Denver will likely end the month well below normal in the precipitation department. While the city proper saw two good rainfalls over the last few days, Denver International Airport missed on both occasions. So, while our station (Weather5280) will end August (barring additional rainfall today) with 1.70" of rain (above average!), the airport has recorded just 0.22", which is 1.43" below normal.

Last night's storm was by far the most impressive of the month, and really the savior in the precipitation-shortage department in the city. We recorded 0.61" at our station on the south side of downtown, with some folks seeing upwards of 1.0" in a short amount of time. As you can see in the chart above, the first 2/3 of the month were quite dry, a continuation from July, despite the more frequent cold fronts.

Colorado Springs hammered

Meanwhile, Colorado Springs has had quite a month. Many locations are now reporting more than 5" of precipitation over the last 30 days, with some locales picking up 3"+ on Monday alone! The city, often cited as one of the great hail cities of the country, has also seen its fair share of incredible hail this month, including piles feet deep on Monday (image above).

Below is the month-to-date precipitation totals for northeast Colorado. Note the dry pocket to the east of Denver proper (that's DIA), and all the heavy rainfall totals around the Colorado Springs area. The northern urban corridor did "okay", but many locations there saw totals at or below normal, and following a dry June/July, these numbers won't help the drought conditions there.

Week ahead
We'll keep storm chances in the forecast off and on over the next week or so, with really no large-scale weather makers for our region to speak of. While overall the forecast doesn't look too wet through the weekend, we should see a few days with 20% precipitation chances or so, which will lead to a few storms firing across the region once more.

Related: What is Denver's weather like in September?

For temperatures, expect highs to be in the low to mid 80s through the weekend, with overnight lows cooling into the 50s to near 60 degrees. In all, a pretty classic look to a late August/early September forecast.