Ah, Memorial Day weekend.
Overcast skies, temperatures in the 50s, drizzle – weather that’s perfect for sitting on the couch with the shades drawn.
But it’s not so perfect for a number of outdoor retailers who count on this gateway-to- summer weekend to prime their seasonal revenues.
Unfortunately for them, conditions across the state turned from good-as-advertised Saturday to downright unpleasant in some places Sunday.
“We had a horrible day, to be honest,” said Devin Guest at the North Shore Marina on Chatfield Reservoir. “When weather is foul, nobody wants to come out boating.”
Guest said the marina’s restaurant had to close early because there was no one to serve.
“I’m actually here by myself,” he said. “We had to send (the staff) home.”
But along the Front Range, several street festivals such as the Boulder Creek Festival and the Old South Gaylord Memorial Day Weekend Festival were packed with people.
Tom and Fifi Flaherty said clouds and a little drizzle did not stop them from enjoying Gaylord Street.
“It’s cool in Colorado,” Fifi Flaherty said with a shrug. “I put on three layers.”
The high in Denver on Sunday was 55 degrees.
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park was closed because of the bad weather, disappointing tourists wishing to drive the highest continuous paved road in the United States.
Today’s forecast from the National Weather Service continues Sunday’s experience: highs in the 50s, rain and drizzle, with a few afternoon thunderstorms.
9News meteorologist Marty Coniglio predicts conditions will be a little better in the mountains and out west, where temperatures will be in the 60s and 70s under partly sunny skies.
The sunshine returns Tuesday, and warmer weather moves in by midweek.
At Chatfield, Guest was optimistic for the rest of the summer and the other big weekend.
“Fourth of July is going to be outrageous,” he said. “Hopefully the people who missed out this weekend will come out then.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 720-929-0893 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
