DENVER — The storm system that brought a blizzard to the eastern plains on Tuesday dragged another arctic cold front across the Front Range, dropping the temperature to -2 degrees at Denver International Airport on Friday morning.
That was the coldest spot in the metro area, as it usually is. Centennial Airport dropped down to 9 degrees. The low at Buckley Space Force Base was 10 degrees, and Rocky Mountain Metro Airport in Broomfield only dropped down to 18 degrees.
December is, on average, Denver’s coldest month of the year so a -2 temp shouldn’t come as a big surprise, but it’s been a while since it’s been this cold during the month of December.
Friday was the earliest negative of the season since 2019. It hit -2 degrees on Nov. 7 that year but it did not drop below zero in December.
Friday was the first negative temperature in December since 2017. It hit -4 degrees on Christmas Eve that year.
Denver is one of the few spots in the state where December’s average temperature is colder than January’s.
But despite December being colder on average, there have been more days with negative temperatures in January since 1995. Although the difference is only a half degree.
There might be another negative temperature coming down the pike next week.
The computer models are showing another big surge of polar air sliding down from Canada. Colorado will likely just get brushed by the edge of the system as it dives to the southeast – so it’s too early to tell just how cold we’ll get, but another negative temperature seems likely. The best chance will be Thursday morning, although it could also be close on Tuesday and Friday.
If Denver does end up getting another negative temperature next week, it will only be the second time in eight years that there's been more than one negative in the month of December.
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