DENVER — Denver's unseasonably warm winter has stretched into the holidays, with the city reaching a new Christmas Eve record of 71 degrees on Wednesday.
Thursday could surpass the current Christmas record of 69 degrees, which was set in 2005.
"It's actually crazy. I mean, this whole week has been wild," Denver resident Joel Niebauer told Denver7 Wednesday. "I've lived here in Colorado my entire life, and I just tell people every day, I'm like, 'We've never, ever had this happen ever before in the history of, you know, my lifetime."
"I moved here, from Atlanta, so that I have snow, and I get this instead," said Paul Keen, another Denver resident. "I feel like it's pleasant in the moment, but it makes me worry about overall situations in the future. You know, the temperature slowly creeping up year over year... I worry about the snow pack too, and how that's going to impact the water later in the year."
Others shared a similar feeling.
"I think it's beautiful, but I wish there was more snow in the mountains," Zoe Warkentin said as she, her brother Cass and her parents played tennis at City Park, a first for them on Christmas Eve.
"Normally we're skiing at this time of year, so this is unusual, but we are definitely taking advantage of access to the beautiful tennis courts of City Park," said Caitlin Warkentin, Zoe's mom.
The nearby City Park Golf Course would normally be bustling on a day like Wednesday, though it is closed through Thursday for the holiday.
But droves of people strolled through the park to walk their dogs or get fresh air on a day that felt more like spring.
"I just think that it's a nice time to just kind of get out and get out of our houses," Niebauer said. "And, you know, hopefully people aren't shopping and they're actually spending time with family and friends. And you know, we're out of that consumerism stuff and just enjoying being alive."
