Denver Weather: Several Days Of Mild Weather, Where Is The Freeze We Normally Have By Now?

DENVER (CBS4) - Thursday marks the date of the average first freeze in Denver. Instead temperatures will stay above normal for the sixth consecutive day and the streak will continue for a couple more days.

While the average first freeze of the season is October 7, the average first measurable snow waits until October 18. Both have happened much earlier and much later in the past. The first freeze in 2020 was on September 8 which tied a record. In 2015 the first freeze waited until October 28 and the latest first freeze on record is November 15, 1944.

It won't be quite as warm around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins as it was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week but most neighborhoods will still come close to 80 degrees.

It will also be relatively mild in the high country on Thursday with high temperatures mainly in the 60s for most mountain towns. Similar temperatures are expected across the state on Friday with mainly dry weather for most areas.

Then changes start Friday evening with rain showers on the Western Slope gradually moving east into the mountains where it will be a mix of rain and snow. A chance for rain and snow showers will continue in the high country through the day on Saturday while Denver and the Front Range stays mainly dry through early Saturday evening. A chance for rain will then develop in the metro area Saturday night into Sunday but the chance looks no higher than 30% at this time.

It's a different story in the mountains where snow develops should drop to at least 9,000 feet Sunday morning with any snow accumulation staying minor.

It turns noticeably cooler for Denver and the Front Range on Sunday but nothing unusual for the second week in October. Some mountain towns like Leadville will stay below 50 degrees all day on Sunday.

A stronger storm system that is in Alaska on Thursday will reach the Rocky Mountain region on Tuesday and Wednesday next week bringing the coldest weather of the season so far to most of the state. It currently appears the storm will stay too far north for any significant snow in the Denver metro area but mountain snow appears very likely.

It also does not appear Denver will experience the official first freeze of the season next week but the city should be close Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and maybe again Thursday night.