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Yeah, I don't know why Denver/the Front Range is praised as having idyllic weather. It's a continental climate subject to all the extremes. It gets intense blizzards, wildfires, tornadoes/severe thunderstorms, heat waves, subzero weather, drought, ice storms, etc. Snow can occur as late as June and as early as September. The one difference is that it is an arid climate overall so not humid, which does make a difference in the summer. Of course, there's a lot that's appealing about Denver, especially outdoorsy stuff. But its weather is very, very unpredictable.
Like whatever weather you want, but lets try to be accurate.
Blizzards - Yes
Wildfires? - There are no forests in Denver
Tornados? - LOL, Severe storms come in over the mountains at high altitude. They are normally well east of Denver before sinking down to 5000ft. on the eastern plains.
Thunderstorms? - I wish, but very rare.
Heat waves? - If you call mid 90's in July a heatwave...ok? Long periods of high 90's - very rare
Subzero? - Average January Lows are closer to 15 above, Denver's Lowest temp so far this year was 3 above.
Drought - Occasionally - like every other SouthWest State. But nothing like AZ. or Cali.
Ice Storms - Yes
Hail - Yes :-(
I've been here 14 years and have never seen snow (in Denver) in June or in September. So again, very rare.
Tornados? - LOL, Severe storms come in over the mountains at high altitude. They are normally well east of Denver before sinking down to 5000ft. on the eastern plains.
Thunderstorms? - I wish, but very rare.
Drought - Occasionally - like every other SouthWest State. But nothing like AZ. or Cali.
Ice Storms - Yes
Hail - Yes :-(
I've been here 14 years and have never seen snow (in Denver) in June or in September. So again, very rare.
You can talk about averages all you like the truth of the matter is the weather in Denver is exceptionally extreme.
Yes facts are facts. And the links you provided prove my points quite nicely. - Thanks.
Wildfires happen in the mountains - NOT in the cities along the front range.
Heat Wave - You had to go all the way back to 2012 to find 9 whole days above 100. Like I said - Very Rare.
Subzero - LOL, This one was my favorite because Denver went sub-zero and was a big news story.
Check out any temp graph you want. Denver doesn't get many below zero temps.
Tornados - The one you linked about was over Aurora which is south and east of Denver and didn't even touch down. The Denver post has a nice interactive map that covers tornados through the Denver area for the past 63 years. Go through this year by year and you'll see tornados often pass over and don't land, (green dots) and when they do land it almost always in the east. Adams county etc.
First - Since the thread was "Which CITY has the worst weather" including the entire front range for weather comparisons is intellectually dishonest since the front range technically goes all the way to the continental divide, 14000ft. I live at 8000ft., and our weather is very very different than Denver's 5800ft.
Second - I don't need to be a "Denver Booster" , but thanks for the chuckle.
Folks are coming here in droves jacking up our traffic and our home prices. If I could dissuade them, I would.
Yes facts are facts. And the links you provided prove my points quite nicely. - Thanks.
Wildfires happen in the mountains - NOT in the cities along the front range.
Heat Wave - You had to go all the way back to 2012 to find 9 whole days above 100. Like I said - Very Rare.
Subzero - LOL, This one was my favorite because Denver went sub-zero and was a big news story.
Check out any temp graph you want. Denver doesn't get many below zero temps.
Tornados - The one you linked about was over Aurora which is south and east of Denver and didn't even touch down. The Denver post has a nice interactive map that covers tornados through the Denver area for the past 63 years. Go through this year by year and you'll see tornados often pass over and don't land, (green dots) and when they do land it almost always in the east. Adams county etc.
First - Since the thread was "Which CITY has the worst weather" including the entire front range for weather comparisons is intellectually dishonest since the front range technically goes all the way to the continental divide, 14000ft. I live at 8000ft., and our weather is very very different than Denver's 5800ft.
Second - I don't need to be a "Denver Booster" , but thanks for the chuckle.
Folks are coming here in droves jacking up our traffic and our home prices. If I could dissuade them, I would.
I know people are moving there in droves. I personally think it's a great place to live, I'd move there if the timing is right. But let's not pretend the weather isn't bat **** crazy. Yes I posted metro area data because that's the preferred metric on this site. Not everyone who relocates to Denver ends up in the city proper. It does have really crazy weather.
And I was only including all of the Front Range for the wildfires. Everything else was the Denver Metro.
1. Phoenix for being hot and dry
2. Houston for just being nasty hot in the summer
OKC can get unbearably hot in the summer but what redeems it is that it has some awesome thunderstorm activity.
The best climates are not listed but of the ones on the list, Minneapolis has the best climate. Four definite seasons, even precipitation throughout the year, and hot weather doesn't last long.
Seattle isn't bad either other than being too dry in the summer and being a bit blah with too mild winters.
Our "bad" weather here in the Twin Cities keeps out the undesirables and the weak, so they say.
Personally, I'd say there are maybe a handful of days each year when I am truly disgusted by the weather.
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There are no forests in Denver
