DENVER — The low temperature in Denver on Monday morning dropped down to 10 degrees. That’s the coldest November temperature in three years.
It's also just the beginning of what could be a long cold snap in the city and much of eastern Colorado. The low temp in Denver is currently forecast to be 21 degrees or colder through the weekend.
While that's not unusually cold for Denver in the month of November, it is an unusually long streak.
As of Monday, the streak was at three days. The low on Sunday was 21, Saturday morning it was 12, and Friday's low was 17.
If the forecast low temperatures verify over the next eight days, the streak could go as long as 11 days, which would make it the longest such November cold snap in 22 years.
That pattern is quite a contrast from what Denver was like last November. It hit 70 degrees seven times in 2021, and it was the third-warmest November in Denver history.
The culprit of this year's long cold spell is a series of arctic blasts from Canada. They’re not directly hitting Colorado, but the pool of cold air is extensive enough to keep the state in the mix.
While that Canadian air is very cold, it’s also very dry, so not much snow is expected during this stretch. The models are showing less than 6 inches on the Front Range through Sunday night.
The first chance for snow will come on Monday night into Tuesday morning, where the Denver area could pick up a dusting to 1 inch of accumulation.
The better opportunity comes on Thursday night, where the models are currently showing between 1-3 inches of snow in the area.
There won't be much snow in the mountains either, at least compared to what you might expect with a couple of cold systems passing by. Models are showing less than 12 inches of snow in the high country.
Fortunately, mountain snowpack already has a buffer, at 18% above average through Nov. 14.
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