Is Denver Snow Hype Justified?

The media is hyping this week's Denver snow storm like it's a blizzard bound for Florida. Is the hype justified?

Without question, it is a significant snow storm, the second to affect the area during the Holiday season. The latest snowfall map is available in our Weather Headlines (PREMIUM | PRO).

The points that I've heard are:

- Two large snowstorms back-to-back in Denver are rare (some have quoted 40 or even 80 years)
- Heavy December snowfall is rare in the city
- The Christmas week storm was the largest in a long time

When the media starts throwing out claims like this, it's time for a fact check.

STAIRCASE TO NOWHERE: Snow in Colorado Last Week (jarjarreed)

Denver's annual snowfall is around 60 inches, depending on which station you use. Fox News said 58", this page indicates 60.3". That's a good amount of snow, so this is no tropical location. It's more than most locations in the Midwest and Northeast (forgiving lake-effect areas), and even more than some locations in Alaska. But has Denver measured up to its average during this century? Here's a look at the last six years snowfall at Denver Stapleton International Airport (which appeared to have the best records according to data purchased from the U.S. government by our Forensics Folks).

KEY: YEAR: SEASONAL TOTAL SNOW (MAX MONTHLY SNOW) DECEMBER SNOW

2006 [Jan-May]: 15.7" (8.6")
2005: 40.0" (11.4") Dec: 4.1"
2004: 44.5" (12.0") Dec: 2.6"
2003: 60.5" (35.2") Dec: 4.5"
2002: 30.8" (12.5") Dec: Trace
2001: 53.0" (11.7") Dec: 2.9"
2000: 37.3" (11.3") Dec: 5.6"

Note that, in the last six years, Denver has been below normal, with the possible exception of 2003. And the city didn't see more than 3 feet in a month, and if you ignore 2003, it's didn't see much more than a foot in a month.

The average snowfall in December is only 7 inches, and looking at those 6 years, December is particularly paltry, with a maximum of 5.6" falling in 2000.

So this month's 23.3" (according to AccuWeather.com Premium) ahead of this latest storm, which we are currently forecasting to drop another 20 inches, is pretty darn impressive. This time, the media's claims may be justified, at least when looking at short-term memories. Plus, the governor of the state just declared a State of Emergency before this storm's snow even started accumulating, according to Fox News. So if he's satisfied that this is an unusual storm, I am too.

Of course, six years doesn't say much of the city's climatological history, which dates back to 1931, so in reality, more data should be analyzed to find out just how far back we have to look to find a similar storm (or set of storms).

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