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Ruby Hill Rail Yard closed for season just one month after opening

It took all of one month of a record-warm winter to shut down Denver’s free snow hill for the season.

After opening for the season on Feb. 1, Ruby Hill Rail Yard closed for the year on Tuesday, according to a news release from Denver Parks and Recreation.

In a follow-up email, a spokesperson for the department said that the warm weather and wind this week prompted officials to move up the closing date from its usual point in mid-to-late March.

“Despite the unusually warm weather this season, DPR and Winter Park were able to offer free snowboarding lessons and even welcomed Olympic athletes to the park,” DPR staff wrote in the release. “Thanks for another memorable season.”

Denver’s free rail yard southwest of downtown is the latest Colorado snow sports destination to suffer from what has been an abnormally warm winter. Many of the state’s ski resorts remain partially closed, with some currently having a base depth of less than three feet.

Denver’s 13.4 inches of snowfall from September through February is the lowest on record, according to the National Weather Service. Additionally, February’s average temperature of 41.7 degrees Fahrenheit ranked third-warmest on record, behind only 1930 (42.3 degrees) and 1954 (43.7 degrees).



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