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Colorado’s snowpack is faltering and Denver residents are starting to shake their fists at the sky, demanding precipitation. Accustomed to snowy Halloweens and dry Decembers, many Mile High residents can’t help but wonder where the snow has been in November — and if it will come at all this winter.
As of Monday, November 17, Denver hadn’t recorded a snowfall…although that’s still over three weeks shy of the record set in 2021, when the city didn’t see snow until December 10. Early forecasts for the week show chances of rain on Thursday and Friday, but right now temperatures aren’t expected to be cold enough for snow to fall.
In the meantime, meteorologists have been voicing concerns about dry weather trends in Colorado. According to the Boulder National Weather Service office, 2025 became tied for the fourth-latest snowfall on record in Denver on November 17. If we get to Wednesday, November 19, without snow, this year will move up to third — and if no snow comes by Friday, November 21, this year will pass 1934 as the second-latest snowfall in Denver on record, National Weather Service data shows. All of this comes after another heavy wildfire season, with four of Colorado’s five largest wildfires having occurred since 2020, according to the state Division of Fire Prevention & Control.
There has been some recent relief in Colorado, however. Snow was falling in several Colorado ski resorts on November 17.with forecasts showing that mountain ranges will likely receive a good powder dump this week. Yet Denver remains dry as a bone.
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According to the National Weather Service, the average first snowfall (at least 0.1 inch or more) in Denver arrives by October 18. Last year, the first snowflakes didn’t fall until November 8.
As Denver continues waiting on snow this year, we looked back on NWS records for the latest snowfalls to hit the city. Although a handful of tardy arrivals have come over the last decade, many of these late first snowfalls date back decades, even centuries.
Latest Denver Snowfalls
1. 2021: December 10
2.1934: November 21
3. 1931: November 19
4. (tie) 2016, 2025: November 17
5. 1894: November 16
6. (tie) 1902, 1987, 1988, 2010: November 15
7. (tie) 1944, 1964, 2008: November 14
8. 1909: November 12
9. (tie) 1882, 2014: November 11
10. (tie) 1886, 1940: November 10
