Moving to Denver area ???'s (Colorado Springs, Evergreen: hotels, traffic, liberal)

[ocsuxx]

Hello,
I live in OC (please dont hold it against me). I have been the worlds biggest Broncos fan forever, love wildlife and the outdoors, love severe weather, hike, camp, fish, and always loved the mountains and most of all hate where i live! Heres my question(s), My GF and i are planning on moving to Denver area or actually just outside of it. What is the deal with traffic and weather delays particularly in the winter? I have friends in the area (CO Springs) they say they never hit traffic and never have been delayed due to snow on the ground but certain cities get more snow then others. They have to drive slow and careful but say it is not bumper to bumper driving like it was here in Cali. My GF has found articles online of horror stories of road closures and people having to stay overnight in hotels or shelters due to severe weather. I am trying to explain that it is rare (from what i hear) and the lower elevation such as Denver and CO Springs do not experience such delays! Am i correct?? Is living there in the winter time fairly easy other then careful driving??? Thank you for your help...............

[tfox]

Actual highway closures in town are rare, though during heavy snow traffic on I-25 can be difficult. Most of the closures you probably found are on the major interstates leaving town, particularly going west into the mountains, but also heading east from Denver onto the plains. I-25 is often closed at Monument Hill between Denver and Colorado Springs due to heavy snow.

So, I would think that you'd only have such occurrences affect your daily life if you live far outside the metro area, say, in Evergreen, or perhaps in Monument. In town, you'll have to deal with snow, but massive closures only perhaps a few times per decade.

[hippitahoppita]

I think the biggest myth about Denver is that we get snow all the time. It doesn't snow much at all and Denver is very dry. You will not have anything to worry about. We had maybe 5 storms that dropped more than 4 inches of snow this season. It's all melted the next day in most cases.

[mv5841]

We do get snow, though it isn't often and rarely ever is on the ground for more than two days or so.

You do need to be aware that sometimes we get hammered. A car with AWD or 4 Wheel Drive would be preferential, though not required. Last year during Christmas we got something like 3 feet of snow in a two week period. They got behind on plowing and the city became a real mess.

Having said that, I think I would reconsider living it Colorado Springs. I'm biased because I'm one of those Liberal tree-huggers you'll probably encounter at some point. I don't care for Colorado Springs....at all.

[ocsuxx]

Thank you guys for your feedback, thats pretty much how i figured it would be but there are so many articles and different perspectives on the net!!!!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by tfox

I-25 is often closed at Monument Hill between Denver and Colorado Springs due to heavy snow.

I think we all agree the Palmer Divide gets the most snow but I-25 getting closed "often"? I've only lived in CO two years but I think it has been closed maybe once or twice for a couple hours each??? I may be wrong but I'm going on my Some-Zheimers memory here.

[Katiana]

Just heard on the news that I-70 was closed 70 times this winter. Of course, most of those closures are only for a few hours and not all are in the metro Denver area.