World War II had just come to a close, the post-war economy was just beginning to swing upward, and Denver got 30.4 inches of snow, covering the streets and preventing the town's streetcars - then at the height of their use as methods of mass transit - from taking anyone pretty much anywhere. The Queen City of the Plains essentially became The Shining’s Overlook Hotel, only for real, minus the ax-wielding Jack Nicholson. Over four days in 1906, 22.7 inches of snow fell along the Front Range, and newspapers on the coasts reported that the monster storm had taken down telegraph lines and completely isolated cities like Denver. This, of course, was nearly twenty years before the Westin Hotel opened, so marooned would-be travelers did the best they could, sleeping where they could find space, with purses for pillows and coats for blankets and a list of rightful complaints a mile long. Still-shiny-new Denver International Airport got hit hard by the October 1997 snowstorm, when the all-weather airport was completely shut down, stranding over 4,000 passengers with 21.9 inches of snowfall. Ah, 1983: When Alaska came to Denver for Turkey Day and refused to leave. What’s worse (and rare for Denver!) was that the snow stuck around for more than two months, refusing to fully melt. On Thanksgiving, you’re supposed to go over the river and through the wood to grandmother’s house, right? The only way you were going to do that on Thanksgiving 1983 was if you actually had a sleigh, because the 21.5 inches that fell kept you from traveling in almost anything else. But the main problem was the tangle at DIA, and not for the last time. Hundreds of motorists had to be rescued from roadsides around the metro area, and drifting became an issue. The snowfall measured 20.7 inches, and completely screwed holiday travelers not only here in Colorado, but across the country, as the domino effect of airline cancellations kicked in.

The most recent date on the list of the top ten Denver snowstorms was the pre-Christmas 2006 blizzard. It’s a pretty good bet that a footand a half of snow was tougher to handle back then. This particular record was set only 25 years after Denver was founded, and only weeks after Thomas Edison installed the first electric lighting system in New Jersey. This is the earliest date in the top ten, though that probably has something to do with when people began keeping records. Friday)ĥ.0' - Keystone (48 hour total as of 5:57 a.m.The first month of 1883 went out in a white blur here in Denver, with 19.3 inches falling over a few very cold days. Friday)ĥ.0' - Loveland Ski Area (48 hour total as of 4:44 a.m. Friday)Ħ.0' - Winter Park (48 hour total as of 8:08 a.m. Friday)ġ0.0' - Breckenridge (48 hour total as of 5:38 a.m. Friday)ġ1.0' - Steamboat (48 hour total as of 5:14 a.m. Friday)ġ1.0' - Copper Mountain (48 hour total as of 5:34 a.m. Friday)ġ3.0' - Vail (48 hour total as of 5:46 a.m. Friday)ġ7.0' - Telluride (48 hour total as of 5:25 a.m. Friday)ġ7.0' - Snowmass (48 hour total as of 6:17 a.m. Friday)ġ9.0' - Aspen Mountain (48 hour total as of 6:17 a.m. Friday)Ģ2.0' - Powderhorn (48 hour total as of 5:53 a.m. Friday)Ģ7.0' - Purgatory (48 hour total as of 5:23 a.m. Friday)Ģ9.0' - Crested Butte (48 hour total as of 5:52 a.m. In many cases the snow won't make much of a dent in the drought, but we are hopeful that more storms will materialize down the road to help us out.Ģ9.0' - Wolf Creek (48 hour total as of 7:15 a.m. The following amounts are from CBS4 Weather Watchers, totals reported to the National Weather Service and information from area ski resorts. RELATED: Snow Drought Ends: It Was 7 Weeks Late, But Denver Finally Recorded A Measurable Snow (credit: CBS) The city missed tying an all-time stretch without snow by just two days.

In Denver it was the first measurable snow of the season, falling about 7 weeks behind schedule. Much lighter amounts fell in Denver, across the foothills and the northern mountains. DENVER (CBS4) - After weeks without snow some much needed precipitation fell across Colorado with parts of the high country measuring the storm in feet over the course of 48 hours.

Colorado snow storm totals