Last night and this morning the metro area received a nice little bit of snow, something which was desperately needed. The northern and western suburbs received more than the rest of the metro area. Areas like Thornton and Broomfield are reporting around 4 inches while Centennial and Parker are just a bit more than an inch. Officially, the National Weather Service reported 1.3 inches at the old Stapleton International Airport site.
The big story though isn’t the snow – it is the frigid cold that is accompanying it. Denver International Airport has reported temperatures as low as 3 degrees below zero and the wind chills are into the negative teens. Currently stations on the Rocky Mountain Weather Network are reporting low single digit temperatures across the Front Range.
Today most of the metro area will remain in the single digits with Denver reaching a high of around 9 degrees. Tonight will be equally frigid and drop to 2 below zero. There will be some minor warming during the work week but it won’t be much and it will be the latter half of the week before we see temperatures above freezing. A chance for snow will also remain each day and night with the best chance being Monday night into Tuesday morning.
This cold air is being drawn down by a rather powerful jet stream that has set in over the southern part of Colorado. Areas to our north in Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas have it much worse than us – Spearfish, SD recorded -13 degrees with a -22 degree wind chill this morning!
With the severe cold and the snow, now might be good time to take a look at our Winter Weather Preparedness series:
| Part 1 | Winter travel safety |
| Part 2 | Watches…warnings…and advisories |
| Part 3 | High winds |
| Part 4 | Wind chill temperatures and hypothermia |
| Part 5 | Avalanche safety |
| Review | Winter Weather Preparedness Week review |
Storm Chasing and Weather Clothing – Any proud weather geek will be happy to not only tell someone about their hobby but also to wear it! Shirts and clothing with tornadoes, hurricanes or even ones that proclaim the wearer as a “Weather Geek” or “Weather Diva” are a big hit. Kids love the stuff too.
GPS Systems – Handheld GPS systems like those from 
Personal Weather Stations (PWS) – Amateur meteorology is a surprisingly popular hobby as you will learn if you take a look. A basic $50 station will provide outdoor temperature and humidity. Stepping up a notch to one for around $200 will get you all that plus wind and the ability to hook it up to a computer to archive statistics and create your own weather website like 
Storm Chasing Vacation – For a weather geek, what could be better than spending a week on the Great Plains hunting down hail storms, supercell thunderstorms and of course tornadoes! Storm chasing as a hobby is growing by leaps and bounds and there are many tour operators that seek to fulfill the dreams of those that want to see extreme weather. This is the ultimate gift! Are you listening to me, Santa?
