“We will be dealing with snow in May, so enjoy it now!”

Coloradans associate December with snowy conditions, white Christmases, powder skiing, and cold temperatures.

But Denver’s December weather this year has been unseasonably warm, with several new record-high temperature days and wind gusts over the last two weeks.

Further west in Colorado’s high country, the state’s ski areas have not fared much better. Not one resort has recorded more than 70 inches of snow for the season yet.

Although a white Christmas — at least a trace-to-one inch of snow falling on Dec. 25 — would have been nice, the chances of one happening on any given year are not that high, occurring only 37% of the time, according to the National Weather Service.

Of course, many more Christmases had unmelted snow on the ground from previous storms.

Since 1882, Denver has had 24 white Christmases, according to NWS data.

This year, metro area residents have been making the most of the unusually warm conditions by enjoying time outside on downtown patios, motorcycling on the highways and recreating on bike paths and hiking trails.

With local TV station meteorologists commenting on the heat and people on social media making meme videos and taking selfies in bathing suits on Christmas Day, the warm weather has been a topic of conversation.

“I think all of the people native to Colorado are enjoying the weather, but we know from experience Mother Nature will catch up,” Mike Nittler from Aurora said to the Denver Gazette via a comment on social media. “We will be dealing with snow in May, so enjoy it now!”

“Why am I laid out in a hammock in Denver, Colorado on Christmas Day in 70-degree weather, where it’s super sunny?” Citlali Reyes of Denver said on a TikTok post on her page. “It’s supposed to be a white, snowed-out Christmas, why is it summer?”

TikTok user the.blindnomad recorded a video of himself grilling hamburgers and hot dogs on a park grill in Clement Park in Littleton.

Maggie Ideker, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boulder, said she thinks the warm December weather is great.

“There are a lot of folks who have enjoyed the warm weather, from the clear roads to the outside walks without having to bundle up,” Ideker said. “It’s nice for sure. I’m a warm-weather fan myself, but there are some cold-and-snow fans who are obviously disappointed.” 

The driving factor behind the heat has been westerly winds creating dry conditions, little chance for moisture to develop, and record warmth.

“Downsloping wind from the mountains allows persistent heating, and so you get warmer air as the air flows down the mountains,” Ideker said. “We had many strong cold fronts (pass by) from up to our north, and so we’ve just been allowed to heat up multiple times.”

In a 17-day span starting on Dec. 9, Denver International Airport has recorded a high temperature below 60 degrees, Dec. 18 (45 degrees) and Dec. 20 (58 degrees) twice, according to data from the National Weather Service.

In that time frame, two separate five-plus consecutive-day stretches have had a high temperature above 60 degrees. The first was a nine-day stretch from Dec. 9-17, and the second was a five-day stretch from Dec. 21-25.

High temperatures in December typically hover around the high 40s, Ideker said.

However, Ideker said, a winter system is moving into the Front Range Saturday night into Sunday, with forecasted snow totals on the northeast plains to be between a trace to an inch, in the Denver metro area between 1-4 inches and along the Palmer Divide between 2-5 inches. 

Denver Gazette City Editor Dennis Huspeni contributed to this report.