Record cold weather in Denver, Colorado

Denver cold shatters two records, wind chill warning in effect

Denver Post,

12 November, 2014

Denver broke two records Wednesday.

The city's 6-degree high on Wednesday shattered a 98-year-old record for the coldest high on this date. And, according to a National Weather Service tweet late in the evening, the temperature had fallen to -5 degrees at Denver International Airport — a record low for the date.

The previous record low of -4 was even older, set more than 130 years ago in 1882.

Also Wednesday night, the weather service issued a wind chill advisory for much of the state — including Denver and the Front Range. The advisory is in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday.

Wind chill values are expected to be as low as minus-25 degrees overnight, with 10 mph winds.

The low temperature overnight is expected to be in the negative teens.

During the day, Denver made Anchorage, at 41 degrees, seem balmy. Iceland? Its capital, Reykjavik, was practically basking in 52 degrees. Even the Russian capital, Moscow, hit 42.

Thanks to a brief glimpse of afternoon sun, Denver warmed up to 6 briefly. The previous coldest temperature ever recorded for a high on Nov. 12 in Denver was 9 degrees, set in 1916.

Ice- and snow-covered roads were snarled with traffic throughout the region on Wednesday. Some delays were reported at Denver International Airport , with 28 inbound flights and 27 outbound flights canceled.

Denver set a record low high on Tuesday at 16 degrees, breaking a mark from 1916.

A Denver snowplow works along Iliff Ave. near Colorado Blvd November 12, 2014. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Denver weather forecasters said 2 to 4 inches of snow accumulation was possible in Denver on Wednesday. The largest snow total recorded across the Front Range so far from this storm has been in Boulder, where 8.3 inches fell

Roads across the Denver metro area were icy and snow-packed in spots, especially on bridges and elevated roads. Blowing snow was also making lane recognition perhaps the biggest challenge.

Motorists were urged to give themselves extra time during their commute and to drive at slower speeds.

"You're just going to need some patience today," said David Barjenbruch, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boulder. "It's going to be slow during the morning commute and evening commute as well."

Denver Public Works deployed its 70 large snow plows overnight in anticipation of the morning commute

Meanwhile in Alaska.....

Talk about understatement of the year!

Barrow's highs for the last three days were 29° F, 34° F and 31° F, despite only seeing three and a half hours of daylight!!

"Interesting Alaska facts! Did you know that Barrow's highs for the last three days were 29° F, 34° F and 31° F, despite only seeing three and a half hours of daylight? 

The normal high for Barrow is 7°, meaning Barrow was 24° F above normal."

Oceans are HOT globally

This is anomalies of temperature for this time of year and season.1880-2014 Real-time, global, sea surface temperature (RTG_SST) analysis based on NOAA data.