What Coloradans Need to Know About the New Cold Weather Terms

One of the great things about living in Colorado is that we get all four seasons, including winter. The winter of 2024 will sound different when it comes to those cold days in the state.

In the end, it doesn't matter how they want to say it, it just gets "darned cold" in the Centennial State; regardless of if you're out on the plains or up in the mountains. The National Weather Service wants to simplify things, however.

As they say, "Bundle up."

When people think about moving to Colorado, they often think about things like marijuana, hiking, skiing, cycling, etc.; they don't often think about how cold it can get. Granted, it's not a humid cold like on the East Coast, but it does get cold.

National Weather Service Announced New Cold Weather Terms

In October 2024, the National Weather Service, in conjunction with their Hazard Simplification Initiative, announced changes to how alerts will be classified when it comes to the cold.

From the National Weather Service (NWS):

All wind chill and freeze products will be consolidated and changed nationwide.

 

Colorado Won't Be Hearing About "Wind Chill" Watches or Warnings

What the NWS will now be doing is, instead of letting us know it's cold AND windy outside, they'll just be calling it COLD.

While we, here in Colorado, don't hear about "Hard Freezes" much, they have also been consolidated:

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From the NWS:

Previously, Extreme Cold and Wind Chill products were based upon the wind chill and required a certain wind threshold.

Starting October 1, 2024, these products will be issued based on the temperature or the wind chill, and there will be no wind threshold. In other words... wind or no wind, cold is cold!