Unexpected 'heat wave' rescues Denver from deep freeze

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 16, 2008 at 1:50 p.m.
Updated December 16, 2008 at 2:50 p.m.

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Photo by Duncan Taylor, The Rocky

Pedestrians on the 16th Street Mall navigate growing slush piles as afternoon temperatures in Denver on Tuesday reached into the 30s.

Photo by Duncan Taylor, The Rocky

Ice and snow began to melt as afternoon temperatures reached into the 30s on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, in downtown Denver.

Photo by Duncan Taylor, The Rocky

The afternoon temperature in Denver today was high enough to melt some icicles -- well above the forecast high of 18.

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An unexpected heat wave hit metro Denver today, with the mercury hitting 30 degrees at about 1 this afternoon -- well above the forecast high of 18.

It was still cold enough early this morning -- about 4 a.m. -- to tie the record low for December 16 of minus 8 degrees, set in 1897.

National Weather Service meteorologists are usually within a couple of degrees in forecasting the day’s highs and the night’s lows, even in a tricky weather capital such as Denver.

But the meteorologists say cold air masses from the Arctic are particularly slippery because the air settles in globs, some extremely cold, some not so cold.

As those different globs move in and out of Denver International Airport -- the official recording spot for the area’s weather -- they can cause large fluctuations in the temperature.

The forecast for Monday had been a high of 18, but the high only reached 2.

Today saw the opposite phenomenon -- a forecast high of 18, but the mercury hit 30 and still may be climbing.

Wednesday’s high should be about 32, with a 10 percent chance of snow.

Chances are greater for snow on Thursday, with a high of about 35.

After an overnight low of about 15, Friday should be sunny with a high of 34.

The cold returns Friday night, dropping Saturday’s high down to about 17.

Saturday night should fall to about zero, and Sundy won’t get out of the teens.

After another night dipping to about zero, Monday should reach 23.

A winter-storm warning from the northern to the southern mountains remains in effect until 6 this afternoon, with between 8 to 18 inches of snow expected by late afternoon. The storm will pack high winds with 50 mph gusts.

Skiers and snowboarders are revelling in the snow dump.

In the last 24 hours, Durango Mountain got a foot of white stuff, Crested Butte 8 inches and Telluride 5 inches.

But heavy snow comes with hazards.

Avalanche watches have been issued for the San Juan Mountains to the south and for the Elk and West Elk Mountains in central Colorado.

The Denver Rescue Mission still hasn’t heard of any homeless people who developed serious medical emergencies due to the below-zero weather of this week.

“We had 338 beds Monday night,” Denver Rescue Mission spokeswoman Greta Walker said this morning.

The city of Denver picked up 60 men for whom there was no bed and transported them to temporay shelters, Waker said. “That really helped us out.”

Those 60 slept at the temporary shelters, then were brought back to the Rescue Mission shelter on Lawrence Street for breakfast.

“We still haven’t heard of any medical problems, and we haven’t had to turn anyone away,” she said.

If any guest is drunk and causing a disturbance, the Denver detox center is called, but the troublemakers are kept inside until the detox van arrives, she said.

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