Weather oddity
Posted by Richard on January 27, 2007
Denver’s official weather reporting station is at Denver International Airport, so the Denver high, low, and snowfall* numbers you’re likely to see are actually for a windswept high plain well east of town. Usually, it only makes a few degrees difference (although the snowfall differences are frequently large). But on Thursday, we had quite a contrast.
The official high temperature at the airport was 36° F. But 24 miles east* west, at the 9News studio near downtown, it was 60° — 24 miles, 24° difference. A weather forecaster’s job isn’t easy in Denver.
The warm spell isn’t going to last. An arctic front moves in tonight, and we’re getting a little more snow Saturday. This will be the sixth weekend in a row with snow. The phrase "winter of our discontent" seems increasingly apt.
* Errors corrected thanks to Anon. See comments.
Anon. said
The 9News studio is west-southwest of the airport, not east. Also, while the official Denver temperatures are measured at DIA, the snowfall is still officially measured at what used to be Stapleton Airport, i.e., much closer to downtown than DIA.
Anonymous said
Good catch! I guess I was typing too fast for my brain — I had the geographic relationship right in the first paragraph (DIA is “well east of town”).
I just recently learned about snowfall still being measured at Stapleton when I was reading about snow cover records (see Another weather milestone). I think the statement that snowfall differences between DIA and downtown are frequently large is probably valid.
Thanks, Anon!