How dry is Denver compared to other US cities?

Denver's relative humidity commonly sits at 15 to 20%, which is several times drier than most of the country and dramatically drier than Midwestern or coastal cities.

The dryness is the single biggest thing nobody warns you about. You're going to live with a water bottle within reach almost everywhere. We have something like 20 metal water bottles in the house at any given time. Chapstick lives in every pocket, jacket, and gym bag. Burt's Bees is basically a tax you pay for living here.

Nosebleeds, dry skin, cracked lips, dry throat at night, all of it. It takes a few weeks to a few months to fully adjust. The good news: your skin gets less oily, allergies often improve dramatically (mine are 50% better than they were in the Midwest), and you stop dealing with mold and mildew the way you do in humid climates. The bad news: humidifiers, lotion, and lip balm become non-negotiable parts of the household budget.

Is Denver as cold and snowy as people think?

No. Denver's average winter temperatures sit around 35 to 40 degrees even in February, milder than Chicago, Boston, or most of the Midwest.

Most people get their picture of Colorado weather from ski-resort B-roll on the evening news. That's the mountains, not Denver. About half of Colorado is the plains, and Denver sits right at the western edge of that flatness. The mountains do their thing, the city stays much milder.

Winters here are real (we get cold snaps, we get snow events) but the day-to-day average is forgiving. I've had friends bike year-round in Denver. Snow rarely sticks around past a day or two because the sun comes back fast. Summers run 80s to low 90s with a handful of 100-degree days, but without humidity, 95 in Denver feels nothing like 95 in Kansas or Illinois. Many smaller and older Denver homes don't even have central AC and get by fine on swamp coolers (basically a fan pulling air through wet pads on the roof).

How bad is the elevation in Denver and how long does it take to adjust?

Denver sits at exactly 5,280 feet, less than 1% of visitors get significantly sick from it, and most people fully adjust within a few weeks.

I'm careful with the word here: elevation is the correct term for ground (altitude refers to airplanes). Denver is the Mile High City at 5,280 feet. Most people feel something the first few days, especially if they fly straight to the mountains: shortness of breath on a flight of stairs, weird sleep, a headache or two.

For reference, my mother has asthma and has carried an inhaler her whole life. She visited Denver, then went straight up to Silverthorne at around 9,000 feet for a week, and felt totally fine. That's anecdote, not promise. Real elevation sickness exists and a small percentage of people genuinely struggle (you hear about sports teams leaving certain players home). For 99%-plus of buyers, you adjust within a couple of weeks. After 25 years here, I still feel it the first hike of every season. Being in shape and being in elevation shape are two different things.

Does Denver really get 300 days of sunshine a year?

Yes, the 300 sunny days claim is real for the Denver metro, even snow events typically clear to blue sky within hours.

It's almost funny how reliable the sun is. Snow can fall hard in the morning and 10 minutes later you're watching blue sky chase the clouds out and the snow start melting. There are stretches every year where I want a gray rainy day to justify staying inside with a pot roast and a movie, and I have to wait weeks to get one.

The upside is obvious: outdoor everything, year-round biking, ski mornings followed by patio afternoons. The downside is sunscreen. I never wore sunscreen growing up in Chicago. I wear it here, especially in the mountains. 45 minutes outside at altitude will burn pale skin to lobster red faster than you'd believe. The blue skies hit different too, especially up high. From 10,000 to 12,000 feet, Colorado blue is a shade you literally won't see at sea level because you're physically closer to the sun.

What weather-related things should I budget for when moving to Denver?

Plan for a humidifier in every bedroom, sunscreen and chapstick in every car and bag, and a snow tire set if your daily driver isn't all-wheel drive.

Some of these surprise people, so build them into your moving budget instead of finding out the hard way.

Humidifiers: at least one in the bedroom, ideally one per main living space. Babies and pets in particular do better with one running through dry winter months. Lotion and chapstick: stock up. The dryness will eat through whatever you brought from a humid climate within weeks. Sunscreen and sunglasses: year-round, not just summer.

For the car: if you have AWD or 4WD, you're mostly fine with quality all-seasons. If you drive a sedan or front-wheel-drive crossover, a dedicated set of snow tires (Blizzaks, Hakkapeliittas, etc.) makes a real difference for the handful of icy days each winter. Mountain trips especially benefit. And if you're in an older Denver home without central AC, learn how the swamp cooler works (or budget to add AC); the system does great in dry heat but needs annual maintenance.