Colorado cities with the coolest Summers? (Denver, Colorado Springs: employment, income, living in)

[TheSecondHalf]

Colorado is on my list of potential places to relocate, but I am very heat sensitive. I like weather in the mid to low 70s. Which Colorado cities come closest to those Summer temperatures? Thanks.

[vegaspilgrim]

Boulder, like the rest of the Front Range, gets many days in the '90s every summer. If you want average summer highs in the low 70's, you need to live in a mountain town above 8000ft elevation minimum.

[karatemomx4]

Also keep in mind that the higher you go, the stronger the sun is. So while the temp might be inthe 70's, it will feel warmer because of the thinner air.

[vfrpilot]

If living in a small high altitude town does not appeal to you, you might consider Palmer Lake. It's a cute little town west of Monument. It nestles at the base of mountains so the sun disappears around 3pm in the summer. Plus Colorado Springs is 20 minutes away and Denver is within an hour.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Boulder, like the rest of the Front Range, gets many days in the '90s every summer. If you want average summer highs in the low 70's, you need to live in a mountain town above 8000ft elevation minimum.

Well... not enough days in the 70s as far as I am concerned. I live at 8300'-- moved here to escape the heat of Boulder. We actually get plenty of summer days in the 80s. The sun is so strong at this elevation that it feels hotter than the actual temp. I've had family visit from TX and they can't believe how HOT 80 feels up here!

To the OP, go to http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/s...tes-of-America and search.

[MtnLion512]

Of the major metro areas along the Front Range, Colorado Springs may be the coolest. It's proximity to Pikes Peak protects it from weather extremes. If you can handle lots of winter snow, Woodland Park is 20-30 min from Colorado Springs, and it's at ~8500 ft. It's a mountain town, but easy commute to C/S, and definitely a mild & cool summer.

[CosmicWizard]

It's gonna be hard to find what you're looking for in Colorado. Summer temps in the 70s points you to the smaller towns in the higher elevations...where summer is very brief. For many months of the year you'll be dealing with snow, slippery roads, and very cold temperatures. Also be aware that a decent paying job in those small mountain towns is HARD to come by.

Northern Maine might be a better alterantive for you than Colorado, but even Northern Maine will have summer time temps in the 80s. I can recall 80 temps way up north in Cariboo, just a few miles from the Canadian border. Another alternative might be a coastal town like Eureka in northern California. But I believe that you will encounter the same difficulty of deriving a decent income form those local economies, just as you would in Colorado. Consider Duluth Minnesota if you are drawn to live in a larger population center. It migth be slightly easier to find employment there...but than you'd have to deal with winter in northern Minnesota. Good luck!

[qfrost]

San Francisco, Seattle, Portland all come to mind. Large cities with plenty of job opportunities, with cool temps more the norm.

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by karatemomx4

Also keep in mind that the higher you go, the stronger the sun is. So while the temp might be inthe 70's, it will feel warmer because of the thinner air.

Is there really a discernible difference between, say, Denver (5200 ft) and areas around 8000 ft?

(By the way, the sun is not "stronger" at higher elevations. Solar intensity is indeed a function of the distance between the sun and the object. But, compared to the Earth-sun radial distance, a change of 3000-5000 ft. in elevation has a negligible effect on the total intensity of the sun. There is just less filtering of the UV (and IR) radiation higher in the atmosphere, which will increase the chances for sunburn).

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by wxjay

Is there really a discernible difference between, say, Denver (5200 ft) and areas around 8000 ft?

Yes. I think the rule of thumb is ~3/3.5 degrees for every 1,000'. I live almost 3,000' higher than Boulder and our temps tend to be around 10 degrees cooler. Depends on a lot of factors, that's an average. Nice thing in winter when there are inversions is that we can have days when we are warmer. One of the many reasons we moved up here.

(I just checked and right now our temp is 48 while in Boulder it is 63)