Is Denver's winter "mild" the same way many describe Seattle's rainy season as mild? (living in, shop)

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by denverian

Don't come back KaBoom. It's -47 and snowing right now, with multiple snow tornadoes ravaging the city! Then tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 125! I'm dead right now as I type this!!

Hahahaha! Talk about extremes.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Again, those are extremes.

From the NWS website:

First Measurable Snow Last 10 Years:
October 2, 2013 (Had to look this one up, wasn't on the site)
October 5, 2012
October 25, 2011
November 15, 2010
October 21, 2009
November 14, 2008
October 22, 2007
October 18, 2006
October 10, 2005
November 1, 2004

Date of Last Measurable Snow Last 10 Years:
May 12, 2014 (Had to look this one up, wasn't on the site)
May 2, 2013
April 3, 2012
May 11, 2011
May 12, 2010
April 27, 2009
May 14, 2008
April 14, 2007
May 10, 2006
May 2, 2005

May snowstorms, yes, but September? Not in the last decade.

September 13, 1992
September 21, 1993
September 25, 1996
September 24, 2000
September 17, 2003
September 9, 2005
September 23, 2006
September 21, 2009

Weather History for Denver, CO | Weather Underground

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

September 13, 1992
September 21, 1993
September 25, 1996
September 24, 2000
September 17, 2003
September 9, 2005
September 23, 2006
September 21, 2009

Weather History for Denver, CO | Weather Underground

That's it, I am moving.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

September 13, 1992
September 21, 1993
September 25, 1996
September 24, 2000
September 17, 2003
September 9, 2005
September 23, 2006
September 21, 2009

Weather History for Denver, CO | Weather Underground

• 9/13/1992 - 87/57 - no snow
• 9/21/1993 - 85/48 - May have been some flurries, but no measurable snow
• 9/25/1996 - 66/32 - May pan out. Late PM cold front. Rain & snow. No measurable accum. on 9/25 but 1" on 9/26
• 9/24/2000 - 42/28 - This one pans out. ~1" of snow between 9/23 and 9/24. Was 65 on 9/25 and 70 on 9/26.
• 9/17/2003 - 82/35 - Late PM cold front brought rain and flurries. No measurable snowfall.
• 9/09/2005 - 89/61 - Must have listed the wrong year or day.
• 9/23/2006 - 56/33 - Rain, possible flurries, no measurable snowfall.
• 9/21/2009 - 54/38 - Rain, possible flurries, no measurable snowfall.

According to the NWS, measurable snow means accumulation/melting of at least 1/10th of an inch of the white stuff.

So twice in the last 20 years there's been measurable snow in September. Again, the exception, not the rule.

[ktqtp]

Interesting thread here.

As an outsider myself, I would not call Denver's winters "mild."

I think I would call LA winters mild. Or Florida winters mild, or heck even GA. NC - which I just moved from - also pretty mild (though they do get nasty freezes and temps can get pretty low). Portland & Seattle I would also say have mild winters (despite the rain, temps rarely get below the teens in temp and I don't think I have ever seen a below 0 day in the PNW). I would also assume TX have mild winters outside of the rare snowstorm, though I have never lived in TX.

Here? Only if you are moving from Canada, the midwest or the NE would I then say winters are mild here.
I heard (from locals, anecdotal) that this past winter was an especially warm one. If that's true, I don't want to see what a non-warm winter is. There were week long stretches where I just didn't want to go outside. However, the rule seems to be that the weather in winter can do anything it wants (hot or cold) at anytime. And it's true, you can get very warm days in winter - but without sunshine (at night, hur hur) it will pretty much always be cold in temp. There were also many times where I felt colder than I have ever felt in my entire life, including at Lambeau Field in the dead of winter!

Perhaps the trouble is, I never see anyone mentioning wind chill whatsoever, which is surprising considering how windy it is? Actual recorded temps never reflect wind chills. This past winter, I saw many times (granted, Broomfield) where the wind chill was in the negative temps (I recorded -37 as the lowest temp all winter with wind chill calculated in, according to intellicast).

On another note, while my friends in PDX were struggling in early/mid spring with cold bouts, we had nice sunny/warm weather (with the exception of a lil snow in May). It has been blazing hot the past week or so, with some nice rain/Tstorms mixed in. Yesterday it got down to 43 degrees here and it was cloudy so you could actually feel the coolness.

I also have to say, if you are extremely fair-skinned, you might find your proximity to the sun a little uncomfortable. There's a tradeoff to having no clouds/bugs etc! Of course you could always bathe in sunblock

[vfrpilot]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

• 9/13/1992 - 87/57 - no snow
• 9/21/1993 - 85/48 - May have been some flurries, but no measurable snow
• 9/25/1996 - 66/32 - May pan out. Late PM cold front. Rain & snow. No measurable accum. on 9/25 but 1" on 9/26
• 9/24/2000 - 42/28 - This one pans out. ~1" of snow between 9/23 and 9/24. Was 65 on 9/25 and 70 on 9/26.
• 9/17/2003 - 82/35 - Late PM cold front brought rain and flurries. No measurable snowfall.
• 9/09/2005 - 89/61 - Must have listed the wrong year or day.
• 9/23/2006 - 56/33 - Rain, possible flurries, no measurable snowfall.
• 9/21/2009 - 54/38 - Rain, possible flurries, no measurable snowfall.

According to the NWS, measurable snow means accumulation/melting of at least 1/10th of an inch of the white stuff.

So twice in the last 20 years there's been measurable snow in September. Again, the exception, not the rule.

I would've truly enjoyed snow on a day that reached 80+ degrees. That would be the ultimate in great weather!

[denverian]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

September 13, 1992
September 21, 1993
September 25, 1996
September 24, 2000
September 17, 2003
September 9, 2005
September 23, 2006
September 21, 2009

Weather History for Denver, CO | Weather Underground

Just looking at the history on 9/21/09, I'm going to call BS on this. It snowed at higher elevations, not in the city. I lived in Denver in 1996 and yes, it snowed that year in late September. And it was the heaviest snowfall of the entire winter season. I don't know where these "statistics" came from, but I give NOAA credibility.

According to NOAA:

First Measurable Snow Last 10 Years:
October 5, 2012
October 25, 2011
November 15, 2010
October 21, 2009
November 14, 2008
October 22, 2007
October 18, 2006
October 10, 2005
November 1, 2004
November 5, 2003

[denverian]

Originally Posted by ktqtp

Interesting thread here.

As an outsider myself, I would not call Denver's winters "mild."

I think I would call LA winters mild. Or Florida winters mild, or heck even GA. NC - which I just moved from - also pretty mild (though they do get nasty freezes and temps can get pretty low). Portland & Seattle I would also say have mild winters (despite the rain, temps rarely get below the teens in temp and I don't think I have ever seen a below 0 day in the PNW). I would also assume TX have mild winters outside of the rare snowstorm, though I have never lived in TX.

Here? Only if you are moving from Canada, the midwest or the NE would I then say winters are mild here.
I heard (from locals, anecdotal) that this past winter was an especially warm one. If that's true, I don't want to see what a non-warm winter is. There were week long stretches where I just didn't want to go outside. However, the rule seems to be that the weather in winter can do anything it wants (hot or cold) at anytime. And it's true, you can get very warm days in winter - but without sunshine (at night, hur hur) it will pretty much always be cold in temp. There were also many times where I felt colder than I have ever felt in my entire life, including at Lambeau Field in the dead of winter!

Perhaps the trouble is, I never see anyone mentioning wind chill whatsoever, which is surprising considering how windy it is? Actual recorded temps never reflect wind chills. This past winter, I saw many times (granted, Broomfield) where the wind chill was in the negative temps (I recorded -37 as the lowest temp all winter with wind chill calculated in, according to intellicast).

On another note, while my friends in PDX were struggling in early/mid spring with cold bouts, we had nice sunny/warm weather (with the exception of a lil snow in May). It has been blazing hot the past week or so, with some nice rain/Tstorms mixed in. Yesterday it got down to 43 degrees here and it was cloudy so you could actually feel the coolness.

I also have to say, if you are extremely fair-skinned, you might find your proximity to the sun a little uncomfortable. There's a tradeoff to having no clouds/bugs etc! Of course you could always bathe in sunblock

Winter seemed about normal to me this year. Other than the two arctic air occurrences were longer than they normally last, but we lucked out copared to the cold that kept hitting the eastern 2/3 of the country.

[Mezter]

I find Denver's winters to be pretty mild.

[jpjays]

I'd say they are pretty mild. I've lived in the Bay Area and Michigan and much prefer Denver's winters to either of those. It got fairly cold in CA (30-40 deg in the morning) and just rained all winter long. Michigan, while we didn't get a lot of snow, was really cold (and particularly cold this year, of course), cloudy, gloomy, and generally miserable.

Denver, on the other hand, isn't usually very cold and is pretty sunny. We'll have a few days in a row where it gets well below freezing, but the sun is usually out, so at least it's not gloomy. We'll get a few big snow storms each winter, but in general, if it snows, it snows in the morning, and by noon, the sun will be out and melt all the snow off the streets and sidewalks. It's actually very nice if you like to have the change of seasons.

I'm a fan.