If you have been out shopping in the last week, you know some places think Santa Claus is already in town, even though Denver hasn’t had any snow yet.
Instead, parts of Denver’s 16th Street Mall are decorated with artificial snowflakes, lights and garland.
Steve Wilson from Thornton says he loves seeing these early decorations to help get him in the spirit.
“Denver’s starting to look pretty decorated,” he said on the mall this week. “It’s always beautiful.”
Others, like Jill Jennings-Golich from Westminster, say the Christmas holiday shouldn’t start until Thanksgiving.
“I like holiday decorations — it just feels a little too early for beginning November to have them up,” Jennings-Golich said. “It should be centered on the actually holiday season instead of stretched out for months and months.”
She added: “Once it actually snows, the decorations will feel more appropriate.”
She’s not the only one who has noticed a lack of the white stuff.
The average date for the first snowfall for the metro area is Oct. 17, according to weather records.
If we don’t get snow tonight, when there is a 20 percent chance, we might be on our way to the latest first snowfall ever.
The record is Nov. 21, set in 1934.
Frank Benton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, explained that the first snow means the first 1/10th of an inch, as measured at Denver International Airport.
“If it snows on Thursday, it will really be spitting in the barrel. We could get a smidgen of measurable snow.” Benton said. “The next chance for snow would be Nov. 19th and 20th, but it’s another little system and too far out to say.”
“It’s been such a warm fall, I guess that you get a little bit of cool weather and it starts getting you into the holiday spirit,” Wilson added.
That holiday spirit includes Christmas music, which was heard at local Wal-Mart stores last weekend.
Radio station KOSI-101.1 FM say the launch date of their 8-year tradition of going from “lite rock” to 24-7 holiday music is a “guarded secret.”
“We’ve had emails and phone calls for a month now,” said Gary Nolan, program director for the radio station. “People love it. We will start very soon.”
Sally S. Ho: 303-954-1638 or sho@denverpost.com
