Boulder vs Denver Weather: Elevation, Wind & the Foothills Effect

May 26, 2026 / Oct 4, 2026 · 6 min read · boulder colorado denver colorado front range weather elevation colorado climate weather comparison ·

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Two Cities, Three Weather Stations

Boulder and Denver sit on the same edge of the plains, and their average temperatures are almost identical: the 1991–2020 annual mean is 51.5°F at the Boulder station and 51.2°F at Denver International Airport. The differences show up everywhere else — in snow, rain, hot days, freezing nights and wind — and they are large enough that a move between the two cities changes what a winter or a summer feels like.

The numbers below come from NOAA's 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, 30-year averages produced to the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization and the National Weather Service. Three stations matter. Boulder's station is at about 5,480 feet. Denver's is at Denver International Airport, at about 5,410 feet on the plains northeast of the city. The airport station has no snowfall normal, so for snow this page uses Denver's former airport station at Stapleton, at about 5,290 feet.

The station elevations are close — Boulder's is only about 70 feet above the airport's — so elevation alone does not explain the gap. What separates the two cities is position: Boulder sits against the foothills, Denver out on the plains.

1991–2020 normal	Boulder	Denver (DIA)	Denver (Stapleton)
Annual snowfall	92.8 in	not recorded	49.0 in
Annual precipitation	21.23 in	14.48 in	15.36 in
Days at or above 90°F	33.1	46.2	42.2
Days at or above 100°F	0.6	1.9	1.5
Nights below 32°F	138.2	156.3	155.7
July average high	88.0°F	89.9°F	90.2°F
January average high	47.0°F	44.6°F	46.5°F
Median last spring freeze	May 6	May 5	May 4
Median first fall freeze	October 5	October 9	October 8
Median growing season	151 days	156 days	156 days

Snowfall: Boulder Gets Nearly Twice as Much

The biggest single difference between the two cities is snow. Boulder's normal annual snowfall is 92.8 inches; Denver's, measured at Stapleton, is 49.0 inches. Boulder gets more than Denver in every snowy month of the year, and the gap is widest in spring.

Boulder's monthly normals put its snowiest months at March (15.7 inches), February (15.0) and April (14.7). At Stapleton the same three months average 8.8, 7.6 and 6.2 inches. April is the sharpest contrast: Boulder averages more than twice Denver's April snow, and 14.7 inches in April is close to Boulder's figures for December (13.0) and January (11.3). Anyone moving from Denver to Boulder should expect spring snowstorms to be heavier and to keep coming later into the season.

Winter days are mild in both cities: Boulder's January average high is 47.0°F and the airport's is 44.6°F. Boulder itself is not one elevation — neighborhood pages such as Mapleton Hill and Newlands give the elevation of each part of the city.

Rain and Total Precipitation

Boulder is also the wetter city. Its normal annual precipitation — rain plus the water in melted snow — is 21.23 inches, against 14.48 inches at the airport and 15.36 inches at Stapleton. That is roughly 40 to 47 percent more water a year.

The wettest months in Boulder are May (3.21 inches) and April (3.05), when spring storms bring both rain and heavy wet snow. Denver's wettest months are May and July, at a little over 2 inches each. Boulder's summer months are not drier than Denver's — July is 1.83 inches in Boulder and 2.14 at the airport — so the difference between the cities comes mostly from spring.

Summer Heat: Fewer Hot Days in Boulder

Denver is the hotter city in summer. Boulder averages 33.1 days a year at 90°F or warmer; Denver International Airport averages 46.2, and Stapleton 42.2. Days at 100°F or more are rare in both places, but Denver gets about three times as many: 1.9 a year at the airport against 0.6 in Boulder.

The average July high is 88.0°F in Boulder and 89.9°F at the airport, a gap of about 2 degrees. The day-to-day difference on a hot afternoon can be larger than the averages suggest, because Denver crosses the 90°F line on roughly two more weeks of the year. NOAA's Physical Sciences Laboratory keeps a running count of Boulder's days at or above 90°F for anyone tracking a particular summer.

Winter Nights and the Growing Season

Boulder's winters are milder at night as well as by day. The Boulder station averages 138.2 nights a year below freezing; the airport averages 156.3 — almost three more weeks of freezing nights. January's average low is 21.5°F in Boulder and 18.7°F at the airport.

The freeze dates are close. Boulder's median last spring freeze is May 6 and its median first fall freeze October 5, for a median growing season of 151 days. The airport's are May 5 and October 9, for 156 days, and Stapleton's are May 4 and October 8. A median means that in about half of years the last freeze comes later than that date. The NOAA Boulder last-frost record going back to 1948 shows how much it moves: the earliest last frost was April 3 (2012) and the latest June 3 (1951).

Wind: Boulder's Downslope Storms

Wind is where Boulder stands apart from most American cities, not only from Denver. NOAA's Physical Sciences Laboratory, which keeps a record of Boulder wind events, notes that Boulder has some of the highest peak winds of any city in the US. Many of the events in that record are downslope windstorms coming off the foothills.

The worst on record is January 16–17, 1982, when a gust of 137 mph was measured at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 20 gusts were above 120 mph, and 40 percent of all buildings in Boulder were damaged. A single gust of 147 mph was recorded at NCAR in January 1971. The same record lists the wind-driven grass fires of January 2006, February 2017 and December 30, 2021 as Boulder-area fires fed by strong winds.

What the Numbers Mean if You're Choosing Between Them

Boulder gets nearly twice Denver's snow, about 40 percent more precipitation, about two fewer weeks of 90°F days, almost three fewer weeks of freezing nights, and much stronger winter winds. Denver is hotter in summer and drier year round. Annual average temperatures are the same, and so are the freeze dates, to within a few days.

Both cities sit within the same NWS Denver/Boulder forecast office area, so forecasts and warnings for both come from the same place. The Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University publishes station data and climate summaries for anyone who wants to look past the 30-year averages.