Does Colorado Get a Lot of Snow?
When you think of Colorado, you may think of ski resorts or mountain towns that come to life in the winter months. But you may also think of reliable Colorado sun and dry weather and wonder: does Colorado get a lot of snow? If the state gets so much sunshine, does snow fall in large quantities?
If you’re looking for the answer to this question, in this article you’ll find the answer along with other useful information on Colorado winter.
You may also be interested in my article on the warmest cities in Colorado where I rank the major 50 cities by average temperatures. The coldest cities will tend to have more snowfall.
Here’s How Much Snow Colorado Gets in the 25 Major Cities
Here’s a table with 25 cities detailing how much average snowfall and snowy days each place gets. Note that there may be much more snow in the mountains and Colorado ski resorts not listed in the ranking (usually you can get information on snow quality directly from a given ski resort).
The following places have at least 5,000 residents and are the most populous cities and towns in Colorado where most people live.
Not every place is listed as the National Weather Service doesn’t collect weather data in every single city or town in Colorado (or it doesn’t provide both average snowfall and average snowy days). All data comes from NOAA.
In general, Colorado gets quite a bit of snow though higher snowfall is limited to the smaller resort towns while the bigger cities don’t have such huge amounts of snowfall.
| City | Average snowfall (inches) | Average snowy days |
|---|---|---|
| Breckenridge | 184.6 | 80.5 |
| Steamboat Springs | 184.5 | 72.7 |
| Aspen | 170.8 | 68.5 |
| Estes Park | 104 | 57.5 |
| Boulder | 92.8 | 36.8 |
| Wheat Ridge | 75.5 | 37.6 |
| Lakewood | 58 | 21.7 |
| Castle Rock | 57.5 | 23 |
| Fort Collins | 51.4 | 27.5 |
| Denver | 49 | 31.4 |
| Loveland | 47 | 23 |
| Eagle | 46.7 | 36 |
| Gunnison | 45.5 | 35.5 |
| Northglenn | 44.8 | 23.6 |
| Cañon City | 38.3 | 20.1 |
| Greeley | 34.9 | 19 |
| Brighton | 34.5 | 21.7 |
| Cortez | 33.4 | 23.8 |
| Colorado Springs | 32.5 | 27.1 |
| Longmont | 32.2 | 13.4 |
| Pueblo | 31.8 | 21.7 |
| Alamosa | 27.4 | 21.4 |
| Montrose | 21.5 | 12.3 |
| Grand Junction | 17.7 | 18.1 |
| Fruita | 11.1 | 6.6 |
As you can see, the place that gets the most snow is Breckenridge. It has the highest average snowfall and most days with snow. The place that gets the least snow, according to available snowfall records from NOAA, is Fruita.
Frequently Asked Questions
Winters in major cities like Denver or Colorado Springs are relatively mild. Average high temperatures during the day between December and February (the coldest months) are between 45-47 °F. Nights are much colder, with temperatures dropping to 18-20 °F. The Mile High City sees nighttime temperatures below freezing roughly between October and May. Colorado Springs is the same. Denver gets more snow than Colorado Springs, reaching 49 inches with 31 snowy days compared to 33 inches with 27 snowy days in Colorado Springs.
Colorado isn’t the snowiest state. According to WorldPopulationReview, Vermont is the snowiest state in the United States, while Colorado ranks fourth.
In the snowiest cities of Colorado it may snow most of the year, except for a short period between June, July, and August. In the major cities like Denver or Colorado Springs, there’s usually no snowfall between May and September.
Freezing temperatures at night can last between October and May. The daily mean temperature is around the freezing point between December and February.
The snowiest city in Colorado is Breckenridge. It records 184.6 annual inches of snowfall and has 80.5 snowy days.
The city in Colorado that gets the least snow is Fruita. It records 11.1 annual inches of snowfall and has 6.6 snowy days.
It usually starts to snow in Colorado in October.
The snowiest month in Colorado in the biggest cities is on average March. In smaller more snowy towns it can also be January or February.
On average, the snowpack in Colorado reaches its peak in the first half of April. After that, it’ll start to melt faster than it accumulates.