Sterling heat ties or breaks records as northeast Colorado swelters

Sterling climbed to 105 to 106 degrees Sunday as the National Weather Service kept a Heat Advisory in place for all of northeastern Colorado until 9 p.m., with temperatures expected to run from 95 to 109 degrees. In Logan County, that meant the kind of afternoon that turned the Logan County Fairgrounds into a place where shade, water and shorter trips outside mattered for fairgoers, 4-H families, livestock exhibitors and the crews working around them.

A Big Dawg NE CO Storm Chasers post put Sterling at 106 degrees and said, "Sterling got to 106° with old record being 107°!" Another post from the group said Colorado had already tied or set new record high temperatures on July 26, underscoring how close northeastern Colorado came to historic heat even if different observers described the record status slightly differently.

For Logan County, the bigger story was the practical strain on daily life. A Heat Advisory for all of northeastern Colorado until 9 p.m. put the county in a 95 to 109 degree range, and that is the kind of heat that makes time outside harder on people working in the sun and on families spending hours at the fairgrounds. It also raises the risk of heat illness for anyone who cannot get regular breaks, water or air conditioning.

The broader heat was not limited to Sterling. The Denver Post said triple-digit temperatures were roasting the Front Range and Eastern Plains on July 26, after Denver cracked 100 degrees for the first time in 2026 on July 20. Colorado Public Radio had already warned earlier in the month that western Colorado could run 10 to 15 degrees above normal, with 104 degrees possible Saturday and 106 Sunday.