been monitoring mountain weather conditions.... (Denver, Aurora: apartment complex, power lines, insurance)

[onthamove]

in areas like evergreen and i am just wondering is it typical to get these mornings near 32 degrees and highs later in the day near mid 70s? guess fall is definelty a go in the mountains now seems sort of early, is it?

[BarryK123]

It's not unique to the mountains. Here near Philadelphia, it's now 40 degrees and supposed to be in the 70s this afternoon.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by onthamove

in areas like evergreen and i am just wondering is it typical to get these mornings near 32 degrees and highs later in the day near mid 70s? guess fall is definelty a go in the mountains now seems sort of early, is it?

Yes, this is typical. No, it isn't early. There is sometimes snow in metro Denver now, followed by a long "Inidan Summer".

[DanBev]

When we moved to CO. in '71 we stayed at Chief Hosa camp ground in tent camper and on Labor Day had snow.

































day

[Market Mama]

the higher the alitude, the earlier fall comes. In fact, prime "leaf peeping" time is coming up in the next couple of weeks when the aspen turn gold and half the population of the Front Range drives up into the mountains to gawk. In a good year the color can be absolutely astonishing. Here's one informative link Mike's Favorite Drives To Find Colorado Gold - Weather News Story - KMGH Denver.

[onthamove]

denver snow in sept? hmm, wouldnt surprise me for the mtns but that is bizzare for the high plains!!!!!

[Katarina Witt]

I posted this on another thread.

Taken from Welcome to The Weather Underground : Weather Underground

This week in Metro Denver weather history...
16-19 in 1971... a record breaking early fall snow storm caused
extensive damage to trees and utility lines. The heavy wet
snow occurred with little wind... but caused record breaking
cold temperatures for so early in the season. Snowfall
totaled 15.6 inches at Stapleton International Airport
with most of the snowfall... 12.0 inches... occurring on the
17th. This was the heaviest first snow of the season.
The maximum snow depth on the ground was 13 inches. Record low temperatures were set on three consecutive days:
31 degrees on the 17th... 23 degrees on the 18th... and 20
degrees on the 19th... which was also a new all-time record
minimum for the month at that time. Record low maximum
temperatures were set on 4 consecutive days: 48 degrees
on the 16th... 35 degrees on the 17th... 40 degrees on the 18th...
and 42 degrees on the 19th.
In 1993... a severe thunderstorm rolled through southeast Metro
Denver. Dime size hail was reported in many areas.
Straight-line winds from the thunderstorm... measured by a
weather spotter at 70 mph... tore the roof off 6 apartments
of an apartment complex in Aurora. Heavy rain which
accompanied the winds caused major damage to the
apartments as well as the contents. Many trees... fences...
and power poles were knocked down by the strong winds.
Heavy rain flooded roadways in Denver and Aurora.
Thunderstorm rainfall totaled 1.08 inches and north winds
gusted to 44 mph at Stapleton International Airport where
the visibility was briefly reduced to as low as 1/4 mile
in heavy rain.
In 1996... a late Summer snowstorm struck the northern
mountains and Front Range eastern foothills. Golden
Gate Canyon received 6 inches of new snow with 5 inches
reported at both Nederland and Blackhawk. Thunderstorms
produced heavy rain across Metro Denver... which was mixed
with snow by late evening. Rainfall totaled 0.83 inch
at the site of the former Stapleton International Airport
and 1.22 inches at Denver International Airport where
northwest winds gusted to 39 mph.
In 1983... an unusually strong cold front roared through
Metro Denver during the afternoon hours. At Stapleton
International Airport... the temperature dropped 51 degrees...
from a sunny 86 degrees to a snowy 35 degrees... in just 7
hours. Strong winds and a wall of blowing dust followed
the front. Northeast winds gusting to 36 mph briefly
reduced the surface visibility to 1 mile in blowing dust
at Stapleton International Airport where only a trace of
snow fell later.
In 1983... the cold front on the 19th brought an unusually cold
air mass into Metro Denver for so early in the season. The
temperature dipped to a daily record minimum of 28 degrees
on both days.
In 1995... a vigorous late Summer storm brought the season's
first heavy snow to portions of Metro Denver. Millions
of trees were damaged and power lines downed as 4 to 8
inches of heavy wet snow settled on fully leafed trees in
the Boulder and Denver areas. Branches snapped and trees
split under the weight of heavy snow... Downing power lines.
Firefighters responded to numerous transformer fires.
Around 100 thousand people were left without electricity
in Boulder and Denver areas alone. It took over a week
to fully restore power to some areas. Insurance claims
were estimated to be around 6 million dollars to homes
in Metro Denver and about 500 thousand dollars in damage
to automobiles. It was estimated that about 80 percent
of 125 million dollars Worth of city owned trees in Denver
were damaged. Snowfall totaled 7.4 inches at the site of
the former Stapleton International Airport where the
greatest depth of snow on the ground was only 4 inches
due to melting. Temperature records were set on the
21st when the thermometer dipped to a record low reading
of 27 degrees and climbed to a high of only 36 degrees...
setting a record low maximum for the date. North winds
gusted to 29 mph at Denver International Airport on the
20th.
21 in 1951... 4.2 inches of snow fell at Stapleton Airport...
where northeast winds gusted to 27 mph. This was the
first snowfall of the season in Denver... marking the end
of the second shortest snow-free period on record... 109
days... from June 4th through September 20th. A trace of
snow fell on June 3rd.
In 1895... rain changed to snow overnight and totaled 11.4
inches in downtown Denver. This was the first snowfall
of the season and the second heaviest first snowfall of
the season on record. North winds were sustained to 27
mph with gusts to 30 mph on the 21st.
22 in 1913... a thunderstorm produced northwest winds sustained
to 40 mph with gusts to 44 mph.
In 1946... a trace of snow fell in downtown Denver. This
marked the start of the longest snow season on record...
263 days through June 11... 1947... when a trace of snow
also fell.

September snows are infrequent, but not rare.


I have seen some of these Sept. storms. We have a maple tree in our back yard that split during one of them. My DH roped it back together; it lived and the rope has become part of the tree! It almost always snows in metro Denver by Halloween.

[hello-world]

in the mountains, it gets a bit cooler a bit earlier. what you described doesn't seem unusual. and the range of temperatures tends to be a bit typical with so little humidity, clouds, and air (not much to hold onto heat and release into the night, e.g.). denver got a little chilly a little earlier this year than i've seen. fall is often a lot like summer, but little cooler (but not the northeast or upper midwest, e.g.), with some intermittent days-long bouts of colder, wetter (more wintery) weather along the front range and foothills as the jet stream takes southward dips, until the "bout" sticks around for longer in the actual winter. keep in mind that 70 in the mountains can feel quite a bit warmer than that in the direct sunshine (the sunshine's pretty intense at those altitudes, though the air's thinner, pulling away less heat from your skin, and reading lower than it feels).

[onthamove]

hmm, yea i guess it makes sense for fall to start earlier the higher up you go, guess it'll be winter in areas over 10thousand feet in a few days lol

[onthamove]

yea sun was what i noticed most when i was there, i was in evergreen/conifer at 8000' the sun was a lot more than i am used to even here in the south eastern part of the country.