Denver’s Coldest Start To A Year Since 1979; There Will Be Skiing On 4th Of July; + “Once In A Generation Snow” Hits North America’s Hottest Desert

Cap Allon

Denver’s Coldest Start To A Year Since 1979

Much of the U.S. has held extremely cold so far in 2023, and the Front Range has been no different.

As of Tuesday, this is Denver’s coldest start to a calendar year since 1979, according to data from both Denver International Airport and the city’s Central Park weather observation site.

With an average temperature of 30.3F at DIA and 30.6F in Central Park, Denver is holding a whopping 7F below the long-term year-to-date average.

The big freeze isn’t just confined to Denver, of course — the entire Western U.S. has endured a historically cold and snowy first quarter of 2023, with snowpack across Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California, for example, surpassing all-time records.

The MSM is struggling with these facts, and is has been on damage control for months.

“This is It’s important to note that despite this cold and snowy winter in Denver and Colorado, climate change is still making Colorado warmer,” goes a recent explain-away, copied-and-pasted across a number of legacy media outlets. “Even in an overall warming climate, there can still be colder and snowier winters, and the start of 2023 is a clear example of this.”


Like Americans, many Canadians are also waiting on spring to sprung, particularly Manitobans.

Natalie Hassell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said weather in March has been unusual.

“We don’t keep stats for the length of time where a temperature hasn’t reached a particular threshold, but we have the number of days we typically see,” said Manitoba based Hassell.

“In Winnipeg in March,” she continues, “using the 1989 to 2010 Canadian climate normals, March has about half the month reaching temperatures above zero. The fact we haven’t had any in Winnipeg this year is remarkable.”

Hassell said the last time a March in Winnipeg did not see a temperature above 0C (32F) was in 1899.

“We’re still going to stay below normal even well into April,” concluded Hassell. “It will probably be until the middle of April at the earliest before we see actual normal conditions in Winnipeg”–but as we’ve been reliably informed, even in an overall warming climate, there can still be colder and snowier winters, and springs, and summers, and falls…


There Will Be Skiing On 4th Of July

California

Tuesday’s snowstorm extended California’s statewide snowpack to new record highs, and also prompted yet another round of avalanche and winter storm warnings. 

This week, Cali snowpack is 227% of the April 1 average. “That is higher than any other reading since the snow sensor network was established in the mid-1980s,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit.

More snow is on the way, too — another 2+ feet in some isolated spots.

“A powerful storm with gale force winds and high intensity snowfall will lead to widespread avalanche activity in the mountain,” the NWS said, adding, “Large avalanches could occur in a variety of areas.”

The calendar may read spring, but Caltrans warns, “Winter isn’t over yet! Be prepared for difficult driving conditions.”

Such conditions make are making summer skiing a distinct possibility. Palisades Tahoe has extended its season through July 4; Mammoth Mountain is staying open until July 30; and elsewhere, Snowbird, Utah will close May 27, with similar closing dates posted at Mount Bachelor, Oregon and also Whistler-Blackcomb, B.C., Canada — this isn’t a localized phenomena.


Nevada

Record seasonal snowfall has hit Lee Canyon Resort, Nevada, too.

Resort Market Director Jim Seely confirms that 256 inches has accumulated so far, which surpasses the previous record (255 inches from 2005). And with another 10 inches forecast by Wednesday night, this season is set to continue rewriting the books.

As with the resorts above, Lee Canyon’s ski season has been extended, to April 9.

Seely is also not ruling out a further extension.


Utah

On March 25, Alta Ski Area announced that this season is their snowiest ever, with yet more snow on the way.

Alta has racked up 764 inches since the first flake fell back on Oct 22.

That’s an average of almost 5 inches per day.

Looking ahead, OpenSnow is forecasting another 23 inches over the next 5 days and an additional 28 inches in the 5-10 days.

Alta is well on its way to eclipsing 800 inches, with estimates pegging this season, by the close, at over 850 inches (71 feet!).

Elsewhere in Utah, on Monday, Snowbasin also broke its all-time snowfall record of 475 inches set during the winter of 1981-82.

Then on Tuesday, following another powerful storm, the resort extended the record further, surpassed 500 inches.

Snowbasin received 22″ of new snow overnight [SnowBrains]

On Mount Timpanogos, located outside the Sundance Resort, Utah, a large avalanche was captured on video.

The video, shot by Thomas Farley shows the a large powder cloud careening down the hillside.

“(Monday), there was a natural avalanche that started on Mount Timpanogos and carried down the mountain into an area outside of our ski area boundaries,” Sundance Resort said on Twitter. “Footage shows the dust/wind cloud reaching guests who were watching, but no one was hurt as (the) deposition area never reached our boundaries.”


“Once In A Generation Snow” Hits North America’s Hottest Desert

Adding to the historic snowpacks listed above, Arizona, too, has been posting impressive totals.

Flagstaff, for example, has logged 11 feet so far this season — its greatest accumulation in more than 70 years.

And one I missed from earlier in the month:

Swathes of the Sonoran Desert–which spans 100,000 square miles across Mexico’s Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, and America’s Arizona and California–saw an incredibly rare 4 inches of snow back in early March.

Landscape photographer Jack Dykinga, who has been shooting the Sonoran Desert since 1976, said that snow hadn’t fallen in the area in a decade, adding that the scenes were “pure magic, seemingly out of place and strikingly beautiful”.

Snow surrounds the cacti in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert [Jack Dykinga/naturepl.com].


Bianca Feldkircher, a NWS meteorologist, said La Niña and a persistent blocking pattern over the Pacific drove fiercely cold Arctic air unusually-far south, which created the ideal conditions for the rare dessert snow.

Feldkircher said of this winter’s remarkable pack in general, “Not only were you getting significant snowfall in areas that already see snow, you were also seeing snowfall on lower elevations, which is super rare.”

Ipso facto, this isn’t ‘warm snow’ that’s falling confined only to the highest mountain tops, as The Narrative would have us believe; rather, the snowline is descending deep down into the valley floors, to the lower elevations — you need COOLING for this to occur.

“This snow is highly unexpected,” said mainstream meteorologist and former NOAA chief scientist, Ryan Maue.

“It’s like once-in-a-generation.”

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