This is my second winter in Colorado, and this winter has been rough. A talking head on the radio yesterday said this is the worst front range winter on record … for you long time Coloradoans, what say you? Is this the worst winter on the front range ever?
I’m fighting urges to move back to Nevada, where the summers might have been hot but the winters were perfect! 
Wah, wah, freaking wah.
Madison Wisconsin forecast:
Friday
8° / 2° Saturday
6° / -9° Sunday
1° / -12° Monday
1° / -12°
The grass is always greener…er, whiter.
Uh… Looks like Denver set a record low of -18 F last night… Which was a record for the day.
The average high temperature for January in Denver for the last 5 years (2007 - 2002): 31, 51, 45, 52, 41.
Draw your own conclusions.
Supposed to be 65 in Sac this weekend. Will be great weather for TBFracings first mountain bike events. I have yet had to use my indoor bike since it has not rained in over a month.
Just like Calif is supposed to be. :o) I hear we may get some rain next week though. :o(
Dave
I am so with you on this one. This is my 4’th winter here, and all the folks who’ve been here for 20 or more years say they’ve never seen it like this.
Its not that its really as bad as a lot of places, its just I moved here expecting to be able to bike year round (just not every day).
We’re only at 30 something days for continuous snow pack, and the record’s 60 something, but I don’t see things getting better until late March. Still the second it melts we’ll be back out playing on one of the best natural playgrounds on the planet.
Yup, but it’s almost 20 today and should be 40 by Wednesday. I grew up on the front range thinking we had harsh winters, then fate dealt me a cruel hand and I moved to the midwest and learned what cold weather is. I suppose compared to Nevada Denver’s pretty darn harsh. That’s what I mean by the grass is always greener. Is there at least some snow with that cold?
yeah, we (in fort collins) still have 2-3 feet of snow from the first blizzard in early december. i grew up in the midwest, so i’m all too familiar with the brutality of the winters there… one of the reasons i left. it’s supposed to be sunny and in the 40s on the front range with perfect powder in the mountains!cry me a river
Wow, we have had the mildest winter for 90 years. How ludicrious for us to have daffodils and crocus’ blooming at the end of January, these are spring flowers! We have even had instances of Hedgehogs growing without their spines as the lack of winter hasn’t allowed them to hibernate and grow them!
Damn global warming. The news today even stated that at the current rate of warming Southern Spain and Italy could become to hot for human habitation within our lifetime! Crazy.
Its not the cold its the damn wind… i can deal with zero out but we get this stupid 30 mph wind gusts and you never want to go outside again.
Grant
So does that mean any city on the equator will spontaniously combust?
Grant
It’s usually cloudy on the equator due to the ITCZ.
Going to be a windbrief weekend. PSF of 10+. You know it’s cold when you blow your nose and your nose hairs break, your teeth feel brittle and your afraid to stop for a pee on the morning run.
I hope this is making you western boys and girls envious.
What Justin said.
That truly bites! Come out for a little vacation. Here’s the Orange County forecast for the next few days!
Saturday Mostly sunny. Warmer. Highs 66 to 71 near the coast to 69 to 74 inland. Light winds. » ZIP Code Detail 
Saturday Night Mostly clear. Lows 42 to 49. Light winds. 
Sunday Mostly sunny. Highs 70 to 75 near the coast to 75 to 80 inland. Light winds. » ZIP Code Detail Sunday Night Mostly clear. Lows 42 to 50. Monday Mostly sunny. Highs 71 to 76 near the coast to 77 to 82 inland. Monday Night Mostly clear. Lows 46 to 52. Tuesday Mostly sunny. Highs 68 to 73 near the coast to 73 to 78 inland.
Jcurtis
I’ve been in Colorado for 21 years, living in Conifer and working in Denver for 19. This is the first time that I can remember snow (alot!) being on the ground continously for this long. And yea it has been cold too.
The real bummer is the the mountains do not really have that much snow. It’s Ok, but with the winter the front range has been having, your first impression is that Summit County would have more than they do. All of the storms seem to have been upslope.
I have had about 3 feet of snow at my house since the week before Christmas.
Stay warm
DB
I gotta say it man!!! You jumped out of the frying pan and into the freezer!
It’s going to be 75 here on Sunday 
This is how big a weather wuss I’ve become - I had three layers on yesterday while doing speedwork - it was 45 degrees!!!
Jason
Don’t worry - It’s a dry cold out there in Colorado
I’ve been here for almost 15 years and have never experienced sustained cold and snow like this. In fact last night was the first time (EVER!) I broke down and ran on a treadmill at the rec center. I’ve been running outside so far but after work last night it was <0 with a darn ground blizzard. Statistically it can only get better tho.
Last winter I think I only rode my spinner 5 times.
I guess it depends on where you live. I live in Colorado Springs and I don’t think it’s been all that bad. I can remember winters in the early 1980s where we had more snow and temps ranging to -20 or below. The one unusual thing this year is the weather has stayed cold enough so the snow hasn’t melted between storms. While it has been too cold and the roads have too many icy patches for biking, it hasn’t stopped me from running outside. It was a brisk 4 above when I went out this morning for a 5 miler. I should have waited as it’s much warmer now. Forecast is calling for temps into the low 50s next week, before the possibility of more snow on the weekend. The last couple of snows here have been next to nothing - an inch or so at best.
This is nothing like it was when I lived in the Chicago area. In the winters of 77-78, and 78-79 it was back to back years of record breaking snow and it was on the ground for at least 3 months or more. I can remember the mounds on the side of my driveway being over 6 feet high from shoveling and it was more work all the time because I kept having to throw the snow up higher and higher. I can remember driving on city street that were just 2 ruts worn into the ice. Didn’t really even have to steer because the car would just stay in the ruts. People would shovel out a space in front of there house on the street to park and put chairs out there to keep people from parking in their space. People fought over these spaces and more than once an irate person would take a hose and cover a violators car with a thick layer of ice. Even the snow removal people went crazy. A guy driving a road grader with a snow plow ran over about a dozen cars in a fit of rage. It’s never been that bad here in Colorado.
They aren’t getting a big snow year in the mountains either. I remember a few years back when it snowed more than 200 inches in one month at Steamboat. My oldest niece lives up there and they had to pay to get the snow hauled away because even their snow blower couldn’t throw it over the piles after awhile.
The winters have been exceptionally mild for the past several years and people have gotten used to being able to do stuff in the winter that isn’t always possible. Plus the mild winters in the past decade have contributed to a high fire danger.
So if you can’t ride, go for a run. Or put some screws in your mountain bike tires and try a few easy trails.
I grew up in Denver. I remember one time I delivered the Sunday paper when it was -20 or so with a foot of snow on the ground. I also remember big wet snowstorms in April or September that took down tons of limbs, followed by tons of wires. Anyhow, this year does seem a little over the top but I am not there to compare.
Don
Funny you should mention the winters of 77 -78 and 78 - 79. I was going to school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Michigan Tech) those years. If memory serves me, in the winter of 78 -79 the entire Great Lakes froze, froze over compelely, even Lake Superior. That was a brutal winter. And yea the snow in the UP of Michigan was so deep, you could touch the top of the light posts by standing on the snow bank next to them.
db