When Weather Predictions Go Awry

This is old news for Denverites, but crazy weather is always cool.

Last Friday we had a cold front predicted to hit the front range. Temps were going to go from appx 50F to appx 0f in a matter of hours. On my way home from school drop off I came down the hill toward our neighborhood to glimpse one of my favorite views of the front range and Mt. Evans. 

Wait! No Mt. Evans to be seen, just a solid line of ominous looking clouds. Sure enough, here came our predicted front. We were supposed to get cold, some wind, and maybe a flurry or two.

Drive home,  9:00am

An hour and a half later my Mom scurried out of our house because it was starting to snow. I decided I better go to school early because it might take me a while. Streets that had been dry just moments before were suddenly covered in super slippy ice snow. By the time I completed the 3 minute drive to school it was DUMPING huge fat flakes. This was definitely NOT in the forecast. I considered cancelling our noon haircuts but persevered, thinking all the time someone was about to crash into us.  We arrived 20 minutes late - the normally 5 minute drive took nearly 30.

11:30am. I'm not the only one who thought early would be a good idea.

 We got done with haircuts at 1:30 and the sky was blue, the wind had stopped, and the roads were nearly dry again. The storm wasn't done yet, just taking a breather. It snowed again a couple hours later and continued the rest of the night, making rush hour messy.

Locals know it was cold all weekend. Bitter freeze your nose hairs cold. We never got out of the teens. This, of course, coincided nicely with a home football playoff game which we felt compelled to attend. With the car thermometer registering 5F we bundled up, stocked up on hand warmers, and hoped for the best. We survived the game, double overtime and all, but the silly Broncos could not overcome and thus ended our football season.