The Official Colorado Front Range Weather Thread (Denver, Pueblo: motel, move)

[denverian]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

I hear you Denverian, this is not the pretty snow, it is the ice and cold stuff that makes me want to stay home, eat cookies and watch things that I never do, like Oprah or Ellen. I went to the gym at 5:00 this morning and the roads were fine but as I headed out to work in Aurora after the gym, the roads became a skating rink. What is that saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", well I am really missing Summer at the moment.

5 a.m.??? I'd drop weights on my head! I'm a lunchtime gym person myself.

I run two miles per day, so last night I went for my run at 7 p.m. (yeah, you have to bundle up a bit) and the ice was treaturous. I refuse to become a fat slob in the winter, just because it's dark, icy and 20 degrees outside!

I doubt if the amount of snow we've had is abnormal, just that it seems to keep snowing just enough to keep the sidewalks and side streets a bit of a mess. After last winter, I'm just scared I might not see the asphalt on my street until March! Hopefully next week we'll get some decent melting.

[DenverAztec]

I have to go to the gym that early before my body wakes up and I realize what the hell I am doing! So true about just staying inside and gaining weight. One of my friends moved Portland and though it is all green and lush, it is wet, gray and depressing. He has gained 30 pounds since the move and consequentially changed the name from Portland to Porkland.

I concur that this is not abnormal, but I prefer to drive in 6 inches or more verses the ice. When it is 6" to a foot, I am fine as your car doesn't slide as much. Additionally, I don't think Aurora uses Magnesium Chloride on their roads. I still see them sanding the roads. They have not done either this morning, yet, in Aurora. I am always fine with the Denver roads but once I get to Leetsdale and Quebec, the road conditions worsen.

[nelumbo]

So far, December has been 0.9F lower than average in temperature (at the Denver recording station, which is at DIA), with 6.1 inches of snow prior to today. .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/include/...?product=wrkf6

For comparison, last month was +3.9F above normal for the month, and last December was +1.4F

The mean December snowfall at stapelton is 8.7", so we aren't there yet.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/cli/normals.php .
Boulder's mean Dec snowfall is 13.1", and we are fairly in line with that right now (I don't have the month to date snowfall on hand attm).

I like to walk home (2 miles) after work, but with the icy sidewalks and darkness, it is too dangerous. I fell last year more than once last winter, and have come close several times this week.

[DenverAztec]

Thank you for the researched information Nelumbo!

[suzco]

Remember the first week of this month people were commenting about how warm it was? December 4 it was 72º. That's only 10 days ago.

Originally Posted by Charles

I'll admit I've only been here since May 06, but does the weather we've had since summer seem unusually mild? Again today I was playing basketball outdoors in shorts and T-shirt and it was really warm ten miles east of COS. It was a little breezy. Where I live near Monument at 7300 feet, we're expect a rain/snow mix later this week. Just seems exceptionally warm and mild.

In our climate the average temperature reflects great variations in the temperatures; while the average might be 40 for example, it doesn't mean we get lots of 40º days; we get 20º days and 60º days; 10º days, and 70º days.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by nelumbo

So far, December has been 0.9F lower than average in temperature (at the Denver recording station, which is at DIA), with 6.1 inches of snow prior to today. .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/include/...?product=wrkf6

For comparison, last month was +3.9F above normal for the month, and last December was +1.4F

The mean December snowfall at stapelton is 8.7", so we aren't there yet.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/cli/normals.php .
Boulder's mean Dec snowfall is 13.1", and we are fairly in line with that right now (I don't have the month to date snowfall on hand attm).

I like to walk home (2 miles) after work, but with the icy sidewalks and darkness, it is too dangerous. I fell last year more than once last winter, and have come close several times this week.

Thanks for the numbers! I check NOAA once in a while, especially the prior month's stats. I thought it seemed a little chilly so far this month. But you never know, it cold swing back the other way for the second half of the month. Hopefully I'll be sippin' beer on the front porch on Christmas, like in '06. On the bright side, we're already starting to add a minute of daylight in the afternoon every few days. Not that you'll really notice the added light until mid January though.

[DenverAztec]

Originally Posted by denverian

...Hopefully I'll be sippin' beer on the front porch on Christmas, like in '06...

Since you will be on your porch, chugg the beer, don't sip! You can down more this way and won't care if it is warm or cold outside!!!

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by suzco

Remember the first week of this month people were commenting about how warm it was? December 4 it was 72º. That's only 10 days ago.

In our climate the average temperature reflects great variations in the temperatures; while the average might be 40 for example, it doesn't mean we get lots of 40º days; we get 20º days and 60º days; 10º days, and 70º days.

when do we see those 70 days, I have seen 30 degrees several days in a row, now there is some wind too burrrr

[DenverAztec]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

when do we see those 70 days, I have seen 30 degrees several days in a row, now there is some wind too burrrr

Wasn't it just like 68 degrees last Monday or the Monday before? I believe we set a record that day? It is too cold to think right now and I am experiencing brain freeze!

[suzco]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

when do we see those 70 days, I have seen 30 degrees several days in a row, now there is some wind too burrrr

I posted this on another thread on 12/05/07(the day after it was 72º on 12/04/07). It includes a link to official temperature records for all dates in December:

Originally Posted by suzco

Here's a link to a chart of December record temperatures in Denver. NWS Denver/Boulder, CO - Product Viewer

The highest temperature ever recorded in Denver in December was 79 on December 5, 1939. Seventeen December dates have records above 70 (now 18, because yesterday set a new record). Record highs for all December dates range from 65 to 79. Notice that the record lows for the month range from -6 to -25. Brrr. There's a difference of 104º between the record highs and lows for December. December 22 and December 24 both show nice symmetry; on both of those dates, the record high is 70º, and the record low -25º.