Pipes across the metro region are thawing as warmer — but far from warm — temperatures made an unexpected return Tuesday.
Forecasters, who had predicted a few more inches of snow and another day of bitter cold, were surprised when the mercury hit 34 degrees in the afternoon sunshine.
Storms to the west pushed out the cold front that had hunkered over Colorado since Sunday and had left in its wake cold-weather records and several feet of mountain snow.
The high today is expected to reach 40 degrees, and the forecast low is 18.
Snow remains in the forecast into next week, with harsh cold returning this weekend. Saturday’s high is expected to reach just 15 degrees, with temperatures headed below zero again by Sunday morning.
Daily highs will be in the 20s into next week, according to the forecast.
The cold snap is not necessarily an indication of the winter to come, said Jim Kaline, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Boulder.
“We get a couple of these cold snaps every winter, sometimes in December,” he said. “Colorado weather is variable. It might be like this for a week or two, and back in the 50s for two weeks after that.”
This recent deep freeze has left its mark, however.
Tuesday morning’s low temperature at Denver International Airport hit 8 below zero, tying the coldest record for the date, set in 1897.
Monday’s low of minus-19 was 13 degrees colder than the old record for the date, registered in 1951.
The low at DIA on Sunday evening, minus-18, set a record for that date as well, beating the 1901 record of 14 below.
