Denver weather is of the high-desert variety so typical in the western Great Plains in the United States. However, the Mile High City – as Denver is also known – is also under the influence of the Rocky Mountains, its imposing figure west of the city having an immense impact on Denver’s weather patterns. Denver experiences four distinct seasons, has mild temperatures, low levels of humidity and an abundant supply of sunshine almost through out the year. However Denver weather is also renewed for its unpredictable nature: packing blizzards, high temperature fluctuations between hot and cold as well as a day or two of all-encompassing sunshine within the short space of a single week. On the up side, because the city and most of its suburbs are situated in a “bowl” strong and harshly cold winds are rarely a nuisance.
Although subzero temperatures hardly ever punctuate usual weather patters, with the notable exception of the occasional arctic blast that spills into the city pushing temperatures well bellow freezing point, Denver weather during the winter season tends to become chilly and snowy. Temperatures often fluctuate between cold and mild, the latter attributed to the input by the warm chinook winds that occasionally include the city in their routes, quickly melting snow accumulations diminishing their impact significantly. January is traditionally the coldest month of the year, with temperature averages hovering around 30 degrees (F), in recent years - and perhaps as a result to changes in the ozone layer - December experiences a higher monthly temperature average. Snow begins to wrap Denver in its cold embrace in mid-October its last fall coinciding with the end of April. Although it tends to melt quite rapidly, snow fall makes up the bulk of Denver’s winter precipitation. Understandably snowfall is heavier at nearby ski resorts in the Colorado Rockies while winter storms are generally short in time span.
The arrival of spring combined by the immense influence of air masses on all sides of the city signal the beginning of significant changes in Denver weather. Warm air filtering through the Gulf of Mexico often results to the emergence of the season’s first thunderstorms, conditions changing drastically to summer-like warmth and dryness when continental warm air places Denver under its spell. Those not initiated to the unique nature of the weather in Denver will be surprised to find that March is with out a doubt the snowiest month of the year, as the combination of Arctic air from the north and Pacific storm fronts often results in snow storms.
Temperatures continue their wild roller coaster ride throughout the spring season as sunny days with temperature highs of 70 degrees (F) are followed by cold spells the next, with temperatures dipping to 32 degrees (F).
Summer is considered to be a monsoon period. By mid-July the monsoon covers the city in a layer of tropical moisture but most importantly carries with it frequent short – although occasionally severe – thunderstorms. However humidity remains at a considerably low level during the day, and temperature reaches highs of 88 °F and lows of 59 °F. As a general rule, Denver weather is largely warm and mainly dry during the summer season.
As autumn rolls in and the effects of the tropical monsoon decrease significantly, weather phenomena so typical of spring make yet another appearance. Almost as being completely at the disposal of either warm masses from the Rocky Mountains or their significantly colder counterparts from the Great Plains, temperatures dip and soar without warning in a matter of hours, with snow tinting the landscape as early as September.
