January is the coldest month of the year for Denver. The record low temperature for each day of the month is at least 10 degrees below zero.

It is not uncommon for the temperature to fall below the freezing mark every night of the month.

Denver’s lowest temperature ever recorded was 29 degrees below zero, on Jan. 9, 1875. January 1930 was Denver’s coldest month, with an average temperature of only 16.9 degrees.

Though January is Denver’s coldest month, there is usually not a large amount of inclement weather. It is the second-driest month of the year for total precipitation and the fifth-snowiest month. An exception to this was in 1992, when 24.3 inches of snow fell during the month, making it Denver’s snowiest January on record. January has the least thunderstorm activity of the year, with an average below one storm per month.

January’s weather can be quite changeable. Arctic air will bring light snows and below-zero temperatures to the region. Chinook winds are also common and can raise temperatures into the 50s and 60s. Chinook winds can reach speeds as high as 100 mph in and near the foothills and are more common than blizzards through January.