Tenth annual First Snowfall Prediction Contest starts today!
Time to dust off the ol' winter weather forecasting hats and once again put your skills to the test as the First Measurable Snowfall Prediction Contest 2022 starts... today! The contest will run from today, October 3rd 2022, until midnight October 10th (weather permitting).
It's hard to believe this is the tenth year we've run this contest. We've offered many different prizes over the decade, from lift tickets to Airbnb gift cards. This year we'll be sticking with the most popular prize of all: Weather5280 merchandise!
Like last year, the only requirement for entering the forecasting is agreeing to join our mailing list (it's free!). We of course hope that you will also consider becoming a Weather5280 Insider if you are not one already, to help support Weather5280 for another season, but this will not be required for entry.
Denver's average first measurable snowfall is October 18th. Last year Denver recorded its latest first snow of the season on record (by a long shot), not picking up any measurable snow at DIA until December 10th. The year prior we saw one of the earliest on record. Does that mean we're due for a near-average arrival of our first snow this season? Perhaps!
The latest European ensemble mean snowfall total accumulation forecast from today through the morning of October 18th shows a bit of snow across the area... with perhaps some early season snowpack starting to uptick across the high country:
A strong signal? Maybe not. Something to get excited about? Who knows. But remember, it takes just 0.1" of snow to be measured at DIA to count as Denver's first snow of the season.
You can see when recent years saw their first measurable snowfalls on the contest page. The earliest measurable snow on record for Denver occurred on September 3rd, 1961, the latest December 10th, 2022.
The contest page lives here:
Good luck everyone!