September 17, 2025 • 10 mins
WHEN WE WILL GET SNOW IN THE METRO? That's the question asked by everyone and Fox 31 did a story on it here. Spoiler alert, it's too soon to know with any certainty but we'll ask Dave Fraser about it today at 12:30 for Weather Wednesday.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A man who controls the weather here in the Denver Metro. No,
(00:03):
I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Dave Frasier, Hi, buddy, Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey there, I'm glad to be with you on this Wednesday.
I can't believe you're making a rod wait for burles
while we talk weather.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Well, we did at the end of the show, so
you know, we'll start with you and then we'll end
with you know, beautiful women doing Halloween burlesque here in
the studio. So we got a lot on our plate.
I already have two standard questions that we have to
ask every year at this time. First of all, Dave Frasier,
when are you blowing out your sprinklers?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Not yet? Now yet? My lawn looks fantastic, as do
a lot of lawns that I see driving up and
down the front range, especially those that had benefited from rain.
We had some decent showers last night, so I always
pay attention to the forecast lows, and when I start
to see those lows being a little more consistent and
closer to the freezing mark, I sometimes will just drain
(00:56):
the external pipe so that that doesn't freeze and crack,
which is an easy thing to do, but may not
blow them all out just yet. I'll wait until I
see something it's going to be a little more permanent. Remember,
the sprinklers are way down. The lines are in the ground,
so they're protected by the warm temperatures in the ground.
It takes a while for cold to penetrate. But it's
that external pipe that I'll keep an eye out. If
(01:16):
I see a thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, I'll
probably blow it out and maybe turn them back on,
because you know how we can ebb and flow in
September and October, going from freezing nights to very warm
stretches at times.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So now let's ask question number two, which almost goes
with question number one, but not really, Dave, when will
the Metro be getting our first measurable snowfall?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, we get these kind of nips of fall in
the morning.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Like this morning, lovely this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, we're going to have more of that, by the way,
moving forward, we'll have a few showers around tonight. Not
a lot going on, but there will be some showers
and then we kind of enter a dry period. We'll
have overnight lows right around forty eight to fifty afternoon
temperatures close to eighty degrees, which is about average, a
couple of degrees above average. So we've got a nice
stretch of weather coming for the next seven to ten days.
Really going to feel like fall and warm temperatures at
(02:07):
this time of the year, seventy eight, seventy nine, eighty degrees,
like a warm blanket. It's not really heap by any means.
You know, the question always comes up at December year
we start to look at the long range models. You know,
Denver's average first snowfall measurable, which is a tenth of
an inch or more, is around the eighteenth of October.
We're not obviously there yet. Last year we waited till
(02:28):
November fifth before we got that first snowfall. And then
back in twenty twenty one we had the latest first snowfall,
which was December tenth. I think everybody remembers that one
was like, where's the snow? But I will tell you, Mandy,
looking at some of the computer models and some of
the prognostications of what might be coming, We've got warm
Pacific waters to the west, we've got colder waters.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
To the east.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And what that does is kind of open up Canada
to and the Arctic to kind of push cold air
down our way. So we're thinking as we head into
the winter that we last year we kind of ebbed
and flow with snow. We came up about eight to
nine inches shy of the normal, which is fifty six
for Denver, and we had bouts of snow, and then
we had periods where it didn't snow. I think this
(03:11):
year is going to be a little more normal, and
I do think we're going to get bouts of cold
air that clipped northeast Colorado. Whether or not it backs
into Denver, we'll see, but certainly the northeast plains. And
I think once that cold air breaks free, because you've
opened up the gates to the Arctic, it may stick
around for long periods of time. So maybe, you know, November,
Thanksgiving to Christmas and everything could be a cold period
(03:32):
for us. So I'm expecting ebbs and flows of cold
blasts and maybe in an average season of snowfall, which
would mean the heaviest snow would come in like March,
you know, February, March, and April to get us to
that fifty sixth.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, look to me, looking at the radar, as I
was checking the radar as one of the storms was
going through in the last few days. Looks like the
mountains have been getting a little bit of snow. What
kind of the snowfall are they getting up there? I mean,
are we talking you know, half an inch or or
inch or what are you looking at there?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah? I was on the air last night during our
nine to ten and I could see on our radar
colors the snow is blue and it was literally you
could see it on radar, was clipping the cond of Divie.
So I asked one of our producers to go ahead
and pull some cameras up near the Eisenhower Tunnel and
we found it and it was on the grass, and
you're right, it was about a half an inch maybe
a little more. It did not stick to the roads.
Roads were just wet. Obviously we haven't gotten that cold
(04:24):
blash yet, but yeah, mountains have seen several battles of
a sprinkling or a smattering of snow, and that's going
to continue. They'll get a little bit of that tonight
as we get some rain showers here. They'll get a
rain snow mixed, or maybe a little bit of snow.
I think Trail Ridge Road was closed this morning because
they had some icy conditions, so the moisture up there
kind of froze for a little bit. I don't know
if they've reopened, but that's typical for this time of
(04:47):
the year where they'll start to get a little bit
of that and whether or not it sticks on the roads,
probably not. We got to wait a little bit for
the gold.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
All right, I'm going to this question from our text line.
Please ask Dave about the ever increasing Denver tempt records
as it relates to the perpetual.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Move east of official reporting.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Sites, originally near the Platte River, then Stapleton Airport location,
and now even further into the high desert surrounding DIA.
Also the impact of an ever more sprawling metro area
of more asphalt and fewer trees.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So let's take the first question first, because those are
two very different questions in my view.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And the first question, I mean, how.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Valid are those concerns because we all know, like I
live in Douglas County, Dave, and when I look at
the weather, like we were going to Golden on Sunday
to see a play, I checked the weather in Golden
and it's like a completely different state right than my.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Weather in Parker.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So it feels like that's really significant, and maybe there
should be an asterisk on some of these, like hottest
temperatures ever since we moved out to DIA.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
There is on the National Weather Service website. And I
have brought this question up many times, and we get
this question a lot. Denver's official recording in its record
keeping since the late eighteen hundreds, that site has moved
four times twice downtown, once out at Stapleton, and then
finally in the nineties out to Denver International. The temperatures
(06:14):
were measured at Denver International when they moved the stick.
The snow recordings lagged a little behobbling behind before it
went out there, and there is an image that shows
that the historical amounts of snow in a season is
higher over the Denver metro area points west and south
than it is as you migrate out to the airport
and you can see it. And so they kind of
(06:36):
mapped out the differences between the sites downtown Denver, the
Stapleton area, which is just a little further east and north,
and then of course out at THEA and you can
see the progression that as you go to the north
and east the snow totals are lower. That would also
go into the part of the question about the temperatures. Obviously,
Denver's footprint has sprawled, and that impact of the heat
(06:57):
island as we call it. The concrete, the buildings, the
spansion of the roadways and everything plays into a warmer environment.
So the question is valid, and I really don't have
an answer to. You know, how we compare records. We
argue amongst ourselves, as Meeta dologers all the time. You know,
we hit a record high, when what record did we break? Well,
we broke a record from the eighteen hundreds, Well, how
(07:19):
do we compare that when the censor for the eighteen
hundreds was so many miles to the west. So it's
a challenge and I always tell people it's just it's
just a barometer. It's just a comparison, right. It's not
a perfect record because it moved four times, but it's
a comparison to say today was a record high day.
Today was a record cold day, so there was a
record snowfall amount. It's a comparison to kind of put
(07:43):
the event in perspective, albeit not maybe exactly scientific and
think about it. We will look at temperatures now, Mandy,
in tents of a degree. There's some rounding going on
when it comes to whether or not we're at an
average or not. Right now, we're four tenths of an
inch behind for the average for the months of September.
They weren't taking temperatures in the eighteen hundreds and early
(08:05):
nineteen hundreds and tenths of a degree.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, I mean, there was like a guy walking outside
putting his finger up and going, yep, it feels like
thirty two to me.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I mean, you know, exactly exactly. So listen, take it,
take it as a comparison, but don't take it as
a hard line. Yeah. No, this is the hottest we've ever.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Bet right, Okay, So I just want to continue.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I need you to continue to order up more weather
like today for the next you know, for the next
couple of months. Would be great if you could just
whip that up in your little cauldron, your little weatherman cauldron,
and make it happen.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I sure what appreciated, Dave.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, I am with you, guys, both you and a Rod.
I'm loving the morning lows in the forties. I love
the afternoon seventy five to eighty. I love the sunny skies,
but a little bit of rain has been helpful. We'll
get a little bit of that today, and if we
do take that turn, we start to get the blast
of cold and the snow is not far behind. I'm
okay with that too. I love all four seasons, and
(09:03):
that's why I love living in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
One last point for you.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It's not really a question, just a request. Can you
please ask Dave to include you Ray in his weather forecast.
We really don't know what the weather's going to be.
The apps are always wrong saying it's sunny when it's raining,
snowing when it's clear.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
So you Ray is asking for help, Dave, if you
could just throw that in.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, we have on our map tell you righte. We
don't have you Ray. We get that from viewers all
the time. Everybody wants their town on. We try and
pick towns that have sensors that we can rely on
right and that have that We have spatial recognition, if
you will. We have towns spaced out enough on our
maps that you can kind of get a perspective of
what things are going to be like. But We get
requests all the time to add certain towns, and sometimes
(09:43):
that town just doesn't have a sensor that we can use,
and other areas they're too crowded. We've got a group
of cities that are on top of each other, and
then you've got Urray and Ridgeway and tell you ride
in the Southwest, and so we have tell you ride. Unfortunately,
I don't know if I'll be able to wedge Uray
in down there, but I understand that can all.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Right, Dave Frasier, thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You can see his very accurate forecast on Fox thirty
one unless you're in u Ray.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
And we'll talk to you next week. My friend, have
a good one.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Day, have fun this afternoon. I'll be listening, all right.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Thanks man,
A man who controls the weather here in the Denver Metro. No,
(00:03):
I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Dave Frasier, Hi, buddy, Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey there, I'm glad to be with you on this Wednesday.
I can't believe you're making a rod wait for burles
while we talk weather.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Well, we did at the end of the show, so
you know, we'll start with you and then we'll end
with you know, beautiful women doing Halloween burlesque here in
the studio. So we got a lot on our plate.
I already have two standard questions that we have to
ask every year at this time. First of all, Dave Frasier,
when are you blowing out your sprinklers?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Not yet? Now yet? My lawn looks fantastic, as do
a lot of lawns that I see driving up and
down the front range, especially those that had benefited from rain.
We had some decent showers last night, so I always
pay attention to the forecast lows, and when I start
to see those lows being a little more consistent and
closer to the freezing mark, I sometimes will just drain
(00:56):
the external pipe so that that doesn't freeze and crack,
which is an easy thing to do, but may not
blow them all out just yet. I'll wait until I
see something it's going to be a little more permanent. Remember,
the sprinklers are way down. The lines are in the ground,
so they're protected by the warm temperatures in the ground.
It takes a while for cold to penetrate. But it's
that external pipe that I'll keep an eye out. If
(01:16):
I see a thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, I'll
probably blow it out and maybe turn them back on,
because you know how we can ebb and flow in
September and October, going from freezing nights to very warm
stretches at times.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So now let's ask question number two, which almost goes
with question number one, but not really, Dave, when will
the Metro be getting our first measurable snowfall?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, we get these kind of nips of fall in
the morning.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Like this morning, lovely this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, we're going to have more of that, by the way,
moving forward, we'll have a few showers around tonight. Not
a lot going on, but there will be some showers
and then we kind of enter a dry period. We'll
have overnight lows right around forty eight to fifty afternoon
temperatures close to eighty degrees, which is about average, a
couple of degrees above average. So we've got a nice
stretch of weather coming for the next seven to ten days.
Really going to feel like fall and warm temperatures at
(02:07):
this time of the year, seventy eight, seventy nine, eighty degrees,
like a warm blanket. It's not really heap by any means.
You know, the question always comes up at December year
we start to look at the long range models. You know,
Denver's average first snowfall measurable, which is a tenth of
an inch or more, is around the eighteenth of October.
We're not obviously there yet. Last year we waited till
(02:28):
November fifth before we got that first snowfall. And then
back in twenty twenty one we had the latest first snowfall,
which was December tenth. I think everybody remembers that one
was like, where's the snow? But I will tell you, Mandy,
looking at some of the computer models and some of
the prognostications of what might be coming, We've got warm
Pacific waters to the west, we've got colder waters.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
To the east.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And what that does is kind of open up Canada
to and the Arctic to kind of push cold air
down our way. So we're thinking as we head into
the winter that we last year we kind of ebbed
and flow with snow. We came up about eight to
nine inches shy of the normal, which is fifty six
for Denver, and we had bouts of snow, and then
we had periods where it didn't snow. I think this
(03:11):
year is going to be a little more normal, and
I do think we're going to get bouts of cold
air that clipped northeast Colorado. Whether or not it backs
into Denver, we'll see, but certainly the northeast plains. And
I think once that cold air breaks free, because you've
opened up the gates to the Arctic, it may stick
around for long periods of time. So maybe, you know, November,
Thanksgiving to Christmas and everything could be a cold period
(03:32):
for us. So I'm expecting ebbs and flows of cold
blasts and maybe in an average season of snowfall, which
would mean the heaviest snow would come in like March,
you know, February, March, and April to get us to
that fifty sixth.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, look to me, looking at the radar, as I
was checking the radar as one of the storms was
going through in the last few days. Looks like the
mountains have been getting a little bit of snow. What
kind of the snowfall are they getting up there? I mean,
are we talking you know, half an inch or or
inch or what are you looking at there?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah? I was on the air last night during our
nine to ten and I could see on our radar
colors the snow is blue and it was literally you
could see it on radar, was clipping the cond of Divie.
So I asked one of our producers to go ahead
and pull some cameras up near the Eisenhower Tunnel and
we found it and it was on the grass, and
you're right, it was about a half an inch maybe
a little more. It did not stick to the roads.
Roads were just wet. Obviously we haven't gotten that cold
(04:24):
blash yet, but yeah, mountains have seen several battles of
a sprinkling or a smattering of snow, and that's going
to continue. They'll get a little bit of that tonight
as we get some rain showers here. They'll get a
rain snow mixed, or maybe a little bit of snow.
I think Trail Ridge Road was closed this morning because
they had some icy conditions, so the moisture up there
kind of froze for a little bit. I don't know
if they've reopened, but that's typical for this time of
(04:47):
the year where they'll start to get a little bit
of that and whether or not it sticks on the roads,
probably not. We got to wait a little bit for
the gold.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
All right, I'm going to this question from our text line.
Please ask Dave about the ever increasing Denver tempt records
as it relates to the perpetual.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Move east of official reporting.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Sites, originally near the Platte River, then Stapleton Airport location,
and now even further into the high desert surrounding DIA.
Also the impact of an ever more sprawling metro area
of more asphalt and fewer trees.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So let's take the first question first, because those are
two very different questions in my view.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
And the first question, I mean, how.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Valid are those concerns because we all know, like I
live in Douglas County, Dave, and when I look at
the weather, like we were going to Golden on Sunday
to see a play, I checked the weather in Golden
and it's like a completely different state right than my.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Weather in Parker.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So it feels like that's really significant, and maybe there
should be an asterisk on some of these, like hottest
temperatures ever since we moved out to DIA.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
There is on the National Weather Service website. And I
have brought this question up many times, and we get
this question a lot. Denver's official recording in its record
keeping since the late eighteen hundreds, that site has moved
four times twice downtown, once out at Stapleton, and then
finally in the nineties out to Denver International. The temperatures
(06:14):
were measured at Denver International when they moved the stick.
The snow recordings lagged a little behobbling behind before it
went out there, and there is an image that shows
that the historical amounts of snow in a season is
higher over the Denver metro area points west and south
than it is as you migrate out to the airport
and you can see it. And so they kind of
(06:36):
mapped out the differences between the sites downtown Denver, the
Stapleton area, which is just a little further east and north,
and then of course out at THEA and you can
see the progression that as you go to the north
and east the snow totals are lower. That would also
go into the part of the question about the temperatures. Obviously,
Denver's footprint has sprawled, and that impact of the heat
(06:57):
island as we call it. The concrete, the buildings, the
spansion of the roadways and everything plays into a warmer environment.
So the question is valid, and I really don't have
an answer to. You know, how we compare records. We
argue amongst ourselves, as Meeta dologers all the time. You know,
we hit a record high, when what record did we break? Well,
we broke a record from the eighteen hundreds, Well, how
(07:19):
do we compare that when the censor for the eighteen
hundreds was so many miles to the west. So it's
a challenge and I always tell people it's just it's
just a barometer. It's just a comparison, right. It's not
a perfect record because it moved four times, but it's
a comparison to say today was a record high day.
Today was a record cold day, so there was a
record snowfall amount. It's a comparison to kind of put
(07:43):
the event in perspective, albeit not maybe exactly scientific and
think about it. We will look at temperatures now, Mandy,
in tents of a degree. There's some rounding going on
when it comes to whether or not we're at an
average or not. Right now, we're four tenths of an
inch behind for the average for the months of September.
They weren't taking temperatures in the eighteen hundreds and early
(08:05):
nineteen hundreds and tenths of a degree.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, I mean, there was like a guy walking outside
putting his finger up and going, yep, it feels like
thirty two to me.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I mean, you know, exactly exactly. So listen, take it,
take it as a comparison, but don't take it as
a hard line. Yeah. No, this is the hottest we've ever.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Bet right, Okay, So I just want to continue.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I need you to continue to order up more weather
like today for the next you know, for the next
couple of months. Would be great if you could just
whip that up in your little cauldron, your little weatherman cauldron,
and make it happen.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I sure what appreciated, Dave.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, I am with you, guys, both you and a Rod.
I'm loving the morning lows in the forties. I love
the afternoon seventy five to eighty. I love the sunny skies,
but a little bit of rain has been helpful. We'll
get a little bit of that today, and if we
do take that turn, we start to get the blast
of cold and the snow is not far behind. I'm
okay with that too. I love all four seasons, and
(09:03):
that's why I love living in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
One last point for you.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It's not really a question, just a request. Can you
please ask Dave to include you Ray in his weather forecast.
We really don't know what the weather's going to be.
The apps are always wrong saying it's sunny when it's raining,
snowing when it's clear.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
So you Ray is asking for help, Dave, if you
could just throw that in.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, we have on our map tell you righte. We
don't have you Ray. We get that from viewers all
the time. Everybody wants their town on. We try and
pick towns that have sensors that we can rely on
right and that have that We have spatial recognition, if
you will. We have towns spaced out enough on our
maps that you can kind of get a perspective of
what things are going to be like. But We get
requests all the time to add certain towns, and sometimes
(09:43):
that town just doesn't have a sensor that we can use,
and other areas they're too crowded. We've got a group
of cities that are on top of each other, and
then you've got Urray and Ridgeway and tell you ride
in the Southwest, and so we have tell you ride. Unfortunately,
I don't know if I'll be able to wedge Uray
in down there, but I understand that can all.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Right, Dave Frasier, thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You can see his very accurate forecast on Fox thirty
one unless you're in u Ray.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
And we'll talk to you next week. My friend, have
a good one.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Day, have fun this afternoon. I'll be listening, all right.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Thanks man,
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
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