Winter (Denver: inexpensive, summer, residents)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by maciesmom

In my experience having been here more than 20 years, there isn't really so much as "normal" as much as "not unusual". I don't think this winter is unusual so far.

35 winters for me. Just when I think I've seen everything, I see something new. I was here for the non-winter winter of 1980-81, before the ski areas put in snowmaking. That winter was a wake-up call for them. I was here for the Christmas blizzard of '82, when the city pretty much shut down. I've seen winters with record snow, record heat, record snow cover, etc. Keeps life interesting.

[smarino]

My wife's sister lives in Denver, and has for maybe 20 years. She doesn't drive, and takes the bus everywhere. I don't know how she does it. People were complaining in the grocery store about how cold it was going to be in a few days here in St Pete, Fl (lows of 50, highs of 65). Right now it's 87, w/ a heat index of 94. I had to turn on the A/C full blast just now when I got home. Quite a difference.

[BabyBoomers2]

We were living in Englewood when the blizzard of April 2003 hit. Couldn't even see the vehicles that were parked in the apt. complex.........completely covered in snow. Everything was at a standstill for a couple of days. We actually seen a front-loader fill dump trucks with snow from the drive areas in the complex.

Were living in a house in Parker when the Christmas Blizzard of 2006 happened. I heard some folks, where I was working at, ask others "sure hope we get some snow for Christmas", a week before this blizzard hit. The company I worked for closed for 2-days. When I was finally able to get back to work in downtown Denver, I asked my Supervisor/Director what he thought about the blizzard. This is what he said, "Guess folks will watch what they wish for!"

We've got video and photos of the snowstorms and blizzards we encounter while living there from mid 2002 thru Oct. 2007. But, those photos and video won't stop us from moving back to south Denver metro in a year/half. By then, we will both be retired.

Yes, will be leaving northeastern Florida to go back to the winter of Denver. Today, it was 79 degrees here, but we've seen it 45 degrees at noon and 24 degrees at 6AM with a thin coat of ice on the old vehicle windshield.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Timmyy

We flew out to San Diego a few days before the first storm and when we came back we had to dig our car out of US Airport parking. Luckily our neighbors shoveled half of our driveway.

Ha! I flew to California today and parked in the garage! I'm not paying for it. No need to risk my car getting buried!

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by DenverBrian

Yep, newbies wouldn't remember the incredible snowfall on September 20, 1995, when about 50,000 trees were damaged or destroyed because they were still in full leaf...

...or the March/April dumps of 30-35 inches, one especially in March 2003 that threw 38" onto my driveway...

...or the classic Christmas 1982 blizzard that got Mayor McNichols kicked out of office because of the horrible inefficiency of the snowplows and the resulting paralysis of the entire metro area... Massive Christmas blizzard buried Denver 30 years ago, in 1982

...and I'm sure there are more.

You forgot the horrible blizzard in Oct 27, 1997. Twenty one inches. The road to DIA was partially closed (or closed for a time, I can't remember.)

[Suzatlarge]

Originally Posted by DougStark

You forgot the horrible blizzard in Oct 27, 1997. Twenty one inches. The road to DIA was partially closed (or closed for a time, I can't remember.)

Was that the one that really buried the Front Range but didn't dump much in areas to the West? IIRC, cars were trapped on I-25 - even pretty far south of Denver. That was a crazy one.

I remember it because just after that storm - after shoveling a lot of snow to clear my driveway - I set off on a westbound road trip. I was interested to note that I hadn't gone very far into the mtns on I-70 before I was seeing very little evidence of recent snowfall, unlike what I'd left behind in the Denver area.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by DougStark

You forgot the horrible blizzard in Oct 27, 1997. Twenty one inches. The road to DIA was partially closed (or closed for a time, I can't remember.)

That was the blizzard that almost stranded the Broncos. I remember seeing players being driven to the airport on snow mobiles. I was not living here at the time so it made national news.

[bostonguy1960]

I'm yearning for just an inch or two of snow in Boston...but I'd settle for temps not 50-65! Seems most love a Boston Christmas without snow or cold, though.

Last year, 12/25 in Boston was over 60 degrees, and it appears we'll hit 60 again. Uggh.

Boston rarely has snow on Christmas or the week leading up to it, at least in the last 20-30 years. Very hard to get into a true holiday spirit.

Your low temps some nights so far of 11, 14, 19 and such astound me this early in the season. I checked last night and Denver was 2 degrees, but 15 a few hours later...was the 2 degrees on AccuWeather a mistake?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

I'm yearning for just an inch or two of snow in Boston...but I'd settle for temps not 50-65! Seems most love a Boston Christmas without snow or cold, though.

Last year, 12/25 in Boston was over 60 degrees, and it appears we'll hit 60 again. Uggh.

Boston rarely has snow on Christmas or the week leading up to it, at least in the last 20-30 years. Very hard to get into a true holiday spirit.

Your low temps some nights so far of 11, 14, 19 and such astound me this early in the season. I checked last night and Denver was 2 degrees, but 15 a few hours later...was the 2 degrees on AccuWeather a mistake?

No. The jet stream lifted in the early evening and changed the winds.

[Lost Roses]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

No. The jet stream lifted in the early evening and changed the winds.

Sure made a difference in the temps. I started out my errands this morning wearing a down vest and had to shed it before long. 45 and sunny now.