Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the largest city and capital of the state of Colorado, United States of America. It is the largest city along the Front Range and forms the heart of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area.

Geography and climate

Denver is located at 39°43'35" North, 104°57'56" West (39.726287, -104.965486){{GR|1}} in the Colorado Front Range region. It has the Rocky Mountains to the west and the great plains to the east.

Related Topics:
Colorado Front Range - Rocky Mountains - Great plains

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 401.3 km² (154.9 mi²). 397.2 km² (153.4 mi²) of it is land and 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.03% water.

Related Topics:
United States Census Bureau - Km² - Mi²

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Climate

Denver has a semi-arid climate characterized by dry winters, wetter springs, low-humidity summers, and pleasant falls. While Denver is located on the Great Plains, the weather of the city and surrounding area is heavily influenced by the proximity of the Rocky Mountains to the west. In the winter, the storms that dump huge amounts of snow in the mountains get blocked by the towering Front Range mountains. So, Denver tends to have dry winters that receive less snow than one may expect. In the late spring and early summer, the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico influences the area and thunderstorms are prevalent, especially in the afternoon. Late summer thunderstorms are also common, fueled by tropical moisture from Mexico called the "monsoonal flow."

Related Topics:
Great Plains - Rocky Mountains - Gulf of Mexico - Mexico

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The climate, while considered mild compared to the mountains to the west and the plains further east, can often be very unpredictable. An often-repeated saying of Denverites is "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." Measurable amounts of snow have fallen in Denver as late as Memorial Day and as early as Labor Day, although trace amounts have been recorded in June.

Related Topics:
Memorial Day - Labor Day - June

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Denver averages 15.4 inches (391 mm) of precipitation per year. The average annual snowfall is around 60 inches. Although Denver's Convention and Visitor Bureau claims Denver receives over 300 sunny days a year http://www.denver.org/StaticPage.aspx?PN=climate, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Denver receives about 250 days of sunshine a year http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00095-PUB-A0001#TABLES. January's average daily high is 43° F with a daily low of 15°F. July's average high is 88°F with a low of 59°F. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin-den/showProduct.pl?title=Denver's+Climatological+Normals+And+Means&product=normals.html&backto=2

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Neighborhoods

Denver has 79 administrative "neighborhoods." The City and community groups use these "neighborhoods" for planning and administration. Although the City's delineation of the "neighborhood" boundaries is somewhat arbitrary, often the City's definitions of its "neighborhoods" correspond to those used by Denverites to describe a particular place. These are those "neighborhoods":

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Denver also has a number of "neighborhoods" not reflected in the City's administrative "neighborhoods." Sometimes these neighborhoods reflect the way people in an area identify themselves; sometimes they reflect how others, such as real estate developers, have defined those areas.

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Among the neighborhoods commonly spoken of are LoDo (short for "Lower Downtown"), part of the City's Union Station neighborhood; Capitol Hill; Uptown, part of the North Capitol Hill neighborhood; Curtis Park, part of the Five Points neighborhood; Alamo Placita, the northern part of the Speer neighborhood; and the Golden Triangle, roughly the Civic Center neighborhood.

Related Topics:
LoDo - Capitol Hill - Alamo Placita - Golden Triangle

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