Fair Or Foul Weather In Denver For World Series? That's Still Up In The Air

Saturday, October 20th 2007, 4:36 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ Meteorologist Bernie Meier has studied the computer weather models for the World Series games in Denver next weekend and has come up with two possibilities _ the weather will either be nice or not so nice.

``Can't say for sure, not yet at least,'' said Meier, who works for the National Weather Service office in Boulder. ``I wish I had a crystal ball. You just never know for sure around here.''

Welcome to Denver this time of year. It could be sunny and 75 degrees one moment, a blizzard the next.

``It's a lot more challenging to predict than, say, San Diego,'' Meier said with a laugh. ``There are so many more possibilities.''

The Rockies worked out in unseasonably warm weather this week in Denver as they waited for the AL championship series to wrap up. The Rockies were left with a record eight-day layoff after they swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS.

``Look at this day? It's great,'' outfielder Ryan Spilborghs said after an intrasquad scrimmage Friday. ``Blue skies. A little wind. This is perfect. Maybe it will be like this?''

Not if the start of the major league season was any sort of indication.

The season kicked off with an April blizzard in Cleveland that dumped two feet on the ballpark and forced the Indians to postpone an entire four-game series with Seattle. The freakish snow storm also forced Cleveland to move a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels to Milwaukee.

Perhaps bookend snow storms to start and close the baseball season?

``We could have a blizzard,'' Meier said. ``But that's not likely. You can have such a broad spectrum.''

Colorado's players aren't overly concerned about the possibility of cold weather. They'll wear more layers if they have to, maybe even wool caps under their baseball caps.

``Most of us have played in bad weather,'' outfielder Cory Sullivan said. ``We had those early spring games in high school when it snowed. Cold weather is no big deal.''

The World Series games in Denver are scheduled for Oct. 27 and 28. There's also a game on the 29th, if necessary.

Looking back at the weather on those dates last year _ it wasn't pretty. The region was socked by a storm on Oct. 26 that dumped 5.3 inches of snow in the area.

The next day _ which, for comparison purposes, would've been Game 3 in Denver _ the low was 26 degrees and there was still two inches of snow on the ground.

However, two days later, the high was 71 degrees and the snow was a distant memory.

That personifies Denver weather.

``It's a roller coaster,'' Meier said.

Meier's most reliable weather models only go as far out as Friday, which still shows dry weather. However, he's detecting disturbances in the Pacific Ocean that are moving inland.

What does that mean for Game 3 on Saturday?

``Don't know yet,'' he said. ``But moisture can't be ruled out. We can also get a cold Arctic air mass from the north, a warm, drier mass from the southwest or a southeast flow that brings moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That's why there's so much variability.''

This weekend, the weather in Denver would've been ideal for baseball _ at least for the first game anyway. The high on Saturday was supposed to be 75 degrees, with temperatures falling only into the 40s.

However, the forecasters were calling for a rain and snow mix Sunday with a low of 27 degrees.

``Snow is a way of life in Colorado,'' infielder Omar Quintanilla said. ``It can come any time from Labor Day to Memorial Day.''

That's very true. And blizzards aren't uncommon this time of year. The Mile High City was blanketed by 21.9 inches of snow on Oct. 25, 1997.

There have been 11 snowouts in Colorado's history, the last a doubleheader against Florida on April 28, 2005.

The gametime temperature for the coldest game at Coors Field was 28 degrees, and the Rockies kept warm with a 12-8 win over Montreal.

``Weather is weather. This isn't the middle of June,'' catcher Yorvit Torrealba said.

Denver's weather isn't as bad as it's sometimes portrayed. There aren't snowmobiles parked in driveways, just in case a sudden snow storm hits and an emergency trip to the grocery store is required.

``I've been out here for the winters _ it snows one day and then is sunny for three and all the snow is gone,'' said Spilborghs, who recently bought a place near Coors Field. ``You never know _ it could be cold or it could be nice.''