How Cold Does Colorado Get? (Denver, Colorado Springs: home, theater, schools)

[songgirl]

I don't like cold weather, but I am interested in moving to Colorado. So my question is how cold does it FEEL in the winter months? I grew up in the Northeast and hated winters and I don't ski.

I do like snow but not bone chilling wind chill factors of -10 kind of thing. I spent some time in the mountains in California (Ramona) and loved the weather there. Even when it was snowing, I didn't feel cold somehow.

I do love the outdoors though and I don't want to be in a city. My husband is in IT and I stay at home with the little one, so schools are up at the top of the list too.

Do you think Colorado is for me? And what areas would you recommend?

[Todd TCE]

Avoid Alamosa.

[MattDen]

Yeah, Alamosa, Gunnison and Leadville all are very cold cities that have lots of sub-zero mornings and they sit in valleys are so the cold gets trapped in those valleys in the winter time.

No matter where you are in Colorado though you will probubly have sub-zero wind-chills and even occasionally sub-zero air temperatures once in a while.

As far as winter-time temperatures in the state: The Mountains and the San Luis Valley are the coldest in the state.

Grand Junction and the western slope tend to have slightly colder winter-weather then the eastern part of the state. I believe alot of this because they dont have the warming chinook winds as much but I dont think their cold fronts are as bad as front range either. Grand Junction will probubly have lots of winter-days where it starts in the low 10s and goes into the low and mid 30s and will have some slightly warmer days then that in the winter.

As far as eastern Colorado winters. Greeley, Northeast Colorado (Fort Morgan, Sterling) probubly have the coolest winters on the eastern plains they dont have the chinooks as much because they are away from the mountains and they have quite a bit of wind because it sort of the plains out there.

As far as the front range because the downsloping winds the areas near the mountains tend to be warmest. Fort Collins, Boulder, West Denver, West Colorado Springs, Pueblo West, Canon City, Walsenburg and Trinidad all have the warmer winter temperatures in Colorado they get the most days with chinooks although they will still have a few sub-zero mornings in the winter.

Probubly the area around Pueblo just to the west has the warmest winters in the state out towards Canon City seems like they have many 60s and 70s in the middle of the winter (this happens usually when the chinook winds are blowing which happens a couple dozen times a winter usually) out there although I am sure the average winter temperature for highs is around 45-50 down there in Canon City/Pueblo and even when it gets cold they tend to be the warmest in the state.

When it gets cold on the front in the winter it usually means and this happens several times each winter lasts for usually a few days and warms right back up. Temperatures during the cold snaps will usually be in the 10s for high temperatures although usually Pueblo, Canon City, Trinidad even during the cold snaps unless its a very artic one still get up to 20 degrees or so although because its a dry climate when these short winter cold snaps the temperature tend to really plunge in the even to below 0 for all the front range and eastern plains. These days usually happen about a dozen times or so depending on the winter and because its Colorado vary widely.

But the one thing about the Front Range of Colorado from Fort Collins through Denver to Pueblo is that the temperatures tend to quite cold in the morning the average winter high for Denver is about 45 but the average lows are in the mid 10s so its usually quite cold until the mid morning. When the sun comes up in Colorado it tends to warm up very fast!

[songgirl]

Thanks for your replies. I was thinking about the Fort Collins-Denver areas anyway since the most IT jobs appear to be there. Glad to hear you get some warm days in the middle of winter. The monotony of cold, cold, cold for months on end in the Northeast is what did me in!

[tfox]

Colorado can be cold and snowy, no question about that. The Fort Collins - Denver - Colorado Springs - Pueblo (aka the Colorado Front Range) areas are not that severe from my perspective though. The average high in Denver in the wintertime is around 45F, but it can be as high as the 60s on an especially warm day, although we also usually do get a week or two of arctic cold to endure every winter. In midwinter the sun is usually shining during the day, and with the exception of an occasional spectacular storm like we got this winter, the winter is not usually a particularly stormy time of year. If you're from the northeast I think you'll find the "feel" of the winter fairly tame, but on the other hand it's not southern Arizona either.

[Nadine]

I live in Canon City, there is a small amphitheater area that is protected more that just out of it but regardless, on the norm, we are warmer than Pueblo in the winter and cooler in the summer. If you get east more than a few miles, it begins to become more prairie and less protection. Penrose 15 miles east falls into this but less so than Pueblo or Pueblo West. Pueblo is about 40 miles east into the plains, Canon City is backed up against the Wet Mountains. In my opinion the weather in Pueblo, Trinidad cannot be consider similar to Canon. Walsenburg, I cannot comment on because I have not lived there nor visited much. Denver, Boulder etc farther north, even Colorado Springs are colder in the winter and do receive more snow. Canon does get a few below 0 during the winter but seldom. Summer we can hit 100 but again seldom. As to feel like temp. Pretty close to what the temp is. So as the others have said. Pick your poison, there is all types of weather. But no matter where you live in Colorado you will have 4 seasons as the norm. A friend of mine from MI said our seasons are not as defined as she was used to. Whatever that means.

[CosmicWizard]

songgirl

This past winter was my first Colorado winter in more than 30 years. Temperature-wise it was much colder in Grand Junction than my previous 16 winters in Virginia Beach....BUT...and this is B-I-G BUT...comfort wise I prefer winter in Colorado. There's alot more sunshine and the air is much drier so the cold temperatures are not as bone chilling as they are in a more humid climate. To me, the SUN makes a big difference. I'll take a cold, sunny day with a temp of 25 degrees in Colorado over a cloudy 50 degree day in Virginia Beach any day.

It comes down to a matter of preference. I have no way of determining how it will FEEL for you. You can only answer that for yourself.

Best Wishes.....Franco

PS: I have an IT related job in Grand Junction, though IT jobs are scarce here.

[BabyBoomers2]

We live in Parker, CO and it can get darn cold and snowy there in the winter. Now, this weather doesn't happen all winter long, but there are definitely times you will feel like you are absolutely FREEZING and the snow will pile up to where you will need a shovel or a snow blower.
Just remember: The Denver area isn't So California, Florida or a mild winter area like Charlotte, NC.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by songgirl

I don't like cold weather, but I am interested in moving to Colorado. So my question is how cold does it FEEL in the winter months? I grew up in the Northeast and hated winters and I don't ski.

I do like snow but not bone chilling wind chill factors of -10 kind of thing. I spent some time in the mountains in California (Ramona) and loved the weather there. Even when it was snowing, I didn't feel cold somehow.

I do love the outdoors though and I don't want to be in a city. My husband is in IT and I stay at home with the little one, so schools are up at the top of the list too.

Do you think Colorado is for me? And what areas would you recommend?

I visited my family in NYC in 82' during Denver's "Blizzard". When I left NY it was 32 F and I arrived at Stapleton Airport when it was 7 F. It felt warmer in Denver than it did in The City. What more do ya need to know?

[jazzlover]

Read the general synopsis of Colorado Climate here:

Colorado Climate Center - Climate of Colorado

Weatherbase has very good climate summaries for almost every town in the U.S.

Colorado temperature extremes (official):

Highest: 118 Degrees F. at Bennett, 1888
Lowest: -61 Degrees F. at Maybell, 1985

My personal outside ambient temperature extremes in Colorado (unofficial):

Highest: 108 Degrees F. near Delta, 1977
Lowest: -55 Degrees F. at Gunnison, 1974

By the way, Gunnison and Delta are only 90 miles apart and can have temperature differentials between the two towns of 50 degrees or more at the same time.