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If you were holding out hope for a white Christmas in Denver, it’s time to move on. Not only will December 25 be devoid of snow, but several forecasts are predicting that Denver could break the record for hottest temperature on Christmas Day.
According to the National Weather Service, the hottest Christmas temperature on record in Denver since 1872 was in 2005, when the high was 69 degrees. (Not nice.) The rest of the highest Christmas temperatures, all recorded in the 1900s, range from 62 to 66 degrees. If some of the current forecasts are correct, 2025 could breeze past most of those.
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According to the ten-day forecast from 9News, Denver is currently facing another high of 69 degrees on December 25. However, AccuWeather and the Weather Channel both have Denver’s Christmas high temperature at 70 degrees, while the NWS forecasts bounce between 69 and 70 degrees, depending on which part of the metro you look at, with the eastern and southeastern expecting slightly cooler temperatures.
Denver is in the midst of unseasonable heat this month. On Monday, December 22, Denver’s temperature reached 76 degrees, breaking an eighty-year-old record while beating out the likes of Las Vegas and San Diego that day. (It’s worth noting that most forecasts for Monday were originally around 70 to 71 degrees.)
As it stands, if it reaches the predicted high of 69 to 70 degrees, Denver is going to be hotter on Christmas day than Mohave County, Arizona, where people infamously fry eggs on sidewalks during 120-degree heat in the summer. Right now, towns in Mohave County have an average forecast high of 65 degrees on Christmas.
Denver usually sees more snowfall in March and April than in December and January, according to NWS data, but the unseasonably high temperatures and a lack of moisture have caused concerning and dangerous conditions. Last week, Xcel Energy shut off the power to over 100,000 Colorado customers in the face of extreme winds and wildfire conditions. Gusts hit as high as 112 miles per hour in certain parts of the Front Range, primarily affecting Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties.
There is a minimal chance of precipitation on December 25 — 1 to 4 percent, depending on the forecast — and anything that falls on Denver probably won’t be snow. However, the NWS says there is a “slight chance” at rain or snow in the Denver area on Saturday, December 27.
Will Christmas Be Windy, Too?
As it stands, Christmas will be pretty windy, according to the NWS and other forecasts, but it won’t be blowing as hard as last week. Wind gusts are expected to stay at around 10 mph on December 25, but could hit as high as 19 mph in some areas during the day. That should be tame enough for Xcel to keep the Christmas lights on…we hope.
