Are people delusional about Denver's climate? (Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock: restaurants, build, population)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by hiapr

Interesting data. For the sake of comparison, in the same date range, Chicago had 35 days above 50 degrees and NYC had 63. Using the same data source (https://www.wunderground.com/history/), Denver had 49 days above 50.

Another interesting stat. During the same date range, Denver had 20 days that didn't reach at least 32 degrees, Chicago also had 20 days. I'm using Chicago because it seems to be fairly agreed upon that Chicago has pretty harsh/rigorous winters.

Denver's climate is more extreme than a lot of places in the winter. You will see more extreme high temperatures with occasional 65 degrees in January and some stretches where the temperature barely gets above zero during the day. If someone tends to focus on the warm days in the winter and they moved from a consistently cold climate, they will probably view Denver as having mild winters. If someone tends to focus on the cold stretches and moved from a truly mild winter climate, the winters will probably seem pretty harsh.

I think some of the confusion about the winters being mild comes from the fact that many people equate mild winters to places like central AZ (where we moved from), Albuquerque and much of the southwest. Those places have a truly mild winter season with no real extreme cold snaps and not much snow. From our experience, winter on the front range is still a real winter, albeit slightly more mild on average (not always) than other places that also experience a true winter.

In 36 years here, I have never seen a stretch of more than 3-4 days like that at most, and not every winter, either. If someone can find some data that shows otherwise, I'll believe it.

Originally Posted by Timmyy

Do you mean the AFC divisional game against Baltimore? That was brutal. If they would have won that game they would have played at home in 60 degree weather.

That was a wicked cold game. We were there. Triple overtime, too! BRRR!

[Kar54]

Originally Posted by Metairie

Update on original post: I've experienced 4 hail storms now in my 4 months here and this one damaged my husbands new truck. The weather is wonderful.

Sorry, but get used to it.

[hiapr]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

In 36 years here, I have never seen a stretch of more than 3-4 days like that at most, and not every winter, either. If someone can find some data that shows otherwise, I'll believe it.

That's been my experience as well, 3-4 day stretches, not necessarily weeks.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by hiapr

That's been my experience as well, 3-4 day stretches, not necessarily weeks.

Usually happens no more than once a year.

[hiapr]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

Usually happens no more than once a year.

That's been my experience as well. However, in truly mild winter climates, this type of weather simply doesn't happen. Not to mention the days in the teens and 20s which are somewhat common. I wouldn't classify the winters here as consistently harsh, but they aren't near as mild as most of the western US. I think that's where the disappointment comes from for a lot of people who move here. They hear the word "mild" and expect truly mild winters, not mild compared to North Dakota. It's still winter, just a more mild version than some other places with four seasons.

[maciesmom]

Originally Posted by hiapr

That's been my experience as well. However, in truly mild winter climates, this type of weather simply doesn't happen. Not to mention the days in the teens and 20s which are somewhat common. I wouldn't classify the winters here as consistently harsh, but they aren't near as mild as most of the western US. I think that's where the disappointment comes from for a lot of people who move here. They hear the word "mild" and expect truly mild winters, not mild compared to North Dakota. It's still winter, just a more mild version than some other places with four seasons.

Again, if they are expecting mild in the sense of coastal California or mid-Atlantic, they haven't really paid attention or done real research. They are hearing what they want to hear.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by hiapr

That's been my experience as well. However, in truly mild winter climates, this type of weather simply doesn't happen. Not to mention the days in the teens and 20s which are somewhat common. I wouldn't classify the winters here as consistently harsh, but they aren't near as mild as most of the western US. I think that's where the disappointment comes from for a lot of people who move here. They hear the word "mild" and expect truly mild winters, not mild compared to North Dakota. It's still winter, just a more mild version than some other places with four seasons.

Yes, mild compared with North Dakota. Are you serious?

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 18°F to 89°F and is rarely below 5°F or above 97°F. . . .The cold season lasts from November 20 to March 6 with an average daily high temperature below 51°F. The coldest day of the year is December 15, with an average low of 18°F and high of 41°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/30...-United-States (Denver)

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 4°F to 86°F and is rarely below -15°F or above 96°F. . . . The cold season lasts from November 24 to March 10 with an average daily high temperature below 36°F. The coldest day of the year is January 23, with an average low of 4°F and high of 23°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/29...-United-States (Bismark, ND)

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 2°F to 82°F and is rarely below -17°F or above 92°F. . . .The cold season lasts from November 24 to March 7 with an average daily high temperature below 31°F. The coldest day of the year is January 9, with an average low of 2°F and high of 18°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/30...-United-States (Minot)

The summer high temps are similar, but the winters are much colder in ND.

[nick4242]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

In 36 years here, I have never seen a stretch of more than 3-4 days like that at most, and not every winter, either. If someone can find some data that shows otherwise, I'll believe it.

December 25-31, 2015 - below freezing for 7 days. Not only that but THE LOW WAS BELOW 5 DEGREES for 6/7 OF THOSE DAYS.

PEOPLE DIED

Also, IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MARCH, the low was BELOW FREEZING EVERY SINGLE DAY.

When that sun hits the pavement, sure, it feels pretty cozy in March, but the second a cloud moves over or you go to the wrong side of a building, it feels freezing. March basically felt freezing every single day other than 2pm-4pm when the sun shined and you were lucky enough to be in the right spot.

[hiapr]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Yes, mild compared with North Dakota. Are you serious?

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 18°F to 89°F and is rarely below 5°F or above 97°F. . . .The cold season lasts from November 20 to March 6 with an average daily high temperature below 51°F. The coldest day of the year is December 15, with an average low of 18°F and high of 41°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/30...-United-States (Denver)

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 4°F to 86°F and is rarely below -15°F or above 96°F. . . . The cold season lasts from November 24 to March 10 with an average daily high temperature below 36°F. The coldest day of the year is January 23, with an average low of 4°F and high of 23°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/29...-United-States (Bismark, ND)

Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 2°F to 82°F and is rarely below -17°F or above 92°F. . . .The cold season lasts from November 24 to March 7 with an average daily high temperature below 31°F. The coldest day of the year is January 9, with an average low of 2°F and high of 18°F.
https://weatherspark.com/averages/30...-United-States (Minot)

The summer high temps are similar, but the winters are much colder in ND.

Sorry, but I wasn't comparing Denver to ND. Obviously it's much colder there. My point is that many people consider Denver mild because they moved here from the upper mid western states. Having moved to the front range from a place that experiences truly mild winters (about 10 degrees warmer on average), I wouldn't classify front range winters as mild or harsh, IMO they are somewhere in between.

[sammy87]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

Do you mean the AFC divisional game against Baltimore? That was brutal. If they would have won that game they would have played at home in 60 degree weather.

Yeah forgot it was a divisional game. It was stupid cold that day. But yeah the weather changes a lot.....back East you're not outside in shorts in February.