The cold continues to hang on and in the process Denver managed to set one record and tie another in the last 24 hours.  This is of course on top of the two records set before that.

Yesterday the mercury at Denver International Airport only climbed to 2 degrees.  This smashes the old record low maximum temperature for the date of 19 degrees set way back in 1914.  Following up on that, this morning DIA fell to an official low of 8 degrees below zero.  This ties the record low temperature for December 16th last set in 1897. 

Today we have good news and bad news.  The good news is that the snow we were expecting didn’t materialize on the Front Range thanks to downslope winds.  That at least saves adding to the misery of the cold.  The bad news though is that this cold is far from over.
 
Tuesday we will remain quite cold and only reach 18 degrees here in Denver.  The mountains will continue to get pounded by snow, particularly the southwestern areas where two to three feet could fall.  A number of advisories have been posted for the southwestern and central mountains so if you are heading to the hills, you may want check the conditions before you go. 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there is a chance we could see temperatures above freezing but it won’t be by much – maybe 33 or 34 degrees.  A chance of snow will remain in the forecast for the foreseeable future as well although there won’t be much if it does snow. 

Come the weekend though, the “heat wave” looks to come to an end as an upper level trough that is sitting over the Pacific coast right now moves into the area.  With it our chances of snow increase and the temperatures could drop to the low 20’s Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 

The best piece of advice?  Bundle up and stay inside if you can!  

Where’s this weather coming from?  The jet stream is currently pulling in moist air from the Pacific and sending it right over Colorado.  This in turn is pulling down cold air from the north.  The image below helps you see what is going on.