Stick those flip-flops back in the closet and slip on those snow boots for one more wet, slushy week. But will we finally be done with snowfall for the season?
I don't know about you, but I've been waiting for this. Long-time Colorado residents know that even though everything is budding and blooming in April, we're not really done with wintry weather. It's easy to be fooled by the warmer temps, but remember – anything is possible.
According to the National Weather Service, the latest in the spring that Denver's ever received measurable snowfall (since records have been kept, anyway!) was actually June 12, 1947.
Few of us were around to remember the half-inch of snow that accumulated just a few days before Father's Day that year. After all, it was 72 years ago!
In general, the average date of the metro area's last snowfall is April 26, so it's definitely not completely out of the norm to see snow in May. In fact, though the last three years have seen measurable snow end in April, we only have to go back to 2015 to remember May snowfall – May 10 in 2015, May 12 in 2014, and May 2 in 2013. Thanks to some detailed National Weather Service records, you could do the math and see that in the last 140 years, it has actually snowed in May about 33 percent of the time. When the temperature drops low enough and precipitation moves in at the same time, one inch of would-be rain can equal 10 inches of snow pretty quickly!
Here are some snow accumulation stats of interest (thanks to Fox 31):
May 18-20, 1915 – 3.9 inches
May 20-21, 1931 – 4.6 inches
May 25-26, 1950 – 10.7 inches
May 15-16, 1957 – 8.8 inches
May 29, 1975 – 5.6 inches
May 17, 1983 – 7.1 inches
The 10-day forecast stays in the 40s and up from Thursday on, so chances are, this is the last snowfall we'll enjoy until fall. So cover any plants in your garden, use up the last of your firewood, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and watch those chunky flakes fall. If you're a homeowner, just remember to shake that heavy snow off your tree branches before they break!
Were you around for the June snowfall of '47? We'd love to hear about it!