DENVER — You’re probably well aware that the snow in Denver is late. You may also remember Denver’s final snow in the spring happened a little earlier than average.
The last time it snowed in Denver was April 21.
So, as of Tuesday, it’s been 203 consecutive days without snow. That’s a long streak, even for Denver.
The all-time longest streak is 232 days without snow, set back in 1887.
The data collection practices in the 1800s could be called into question, though. The snow may not have been measured before sunrise at that time, so an overnight dusting of just a couple tenths of an inch could have gone unnoticed, or at least not recorded.
There were three snowless streaks in the 1800s that were longer than 220 days.
Another potential explanation for the longer streaks of that era is that the official Denver weather station was in the downtown area. Even when the city was a tiny cow town, the downtown area received less snow than the outskirts.
There were snowless streaks of 226 and 220 days in 1963 and 1964, respectively.
The downtown weather office was not the official climate station at that time, though. That station was moved to Stapleton Airport in 1948.
In those two years, there was measurable snow in the later spring months at Stapleton, but no snow was recorded at the downtown weather office.
Using just the data from the modern era--after the weather station was moved to Stapleton Airport--211 days is the longest snowless streak in Denver. That mark was set last in 1992, but also happened in 1977.
For Denver to tie that record this year, it would have to stay snowless until Nov. 18.
There is an outside chance for some snow accumulation in Denver on Thursday night, but it's less than a 10% chance. So that streak will likely reach at least 210 days before the next chance comes around Nov. 17.
To break the all-time record from 1887, the first snow would have to come after Dec. 8. Ouch. That would be the first snowless fall in Denver history, as winter weather records begin on Dec. 1.
Denver is the snowiest big city in America, so 200 days without snow is very unusual here. But that’s still shorter than the average snowless streak for other big cities, where 200 days without snow is quite common.
Denver’s average streak between first and last snow is 170 days.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Science & Weather