Denver can hand you snow in May, hail in June, a 95-degree afternoon in July and a smoke advisory in August. Our crews move through all of it, and the difference between a smooth day and a miserable one is usually a few decisions made the week before. This guide covers what each season does to a move in the metro area and what to do about it.
Snow and ice: November through April, and sometimes later
Denver sits a mile up against the foothills, so a March or April storm can drop a foot of snow and melt by the weekend. Moves do not stop for snow. What changes is the prep.
- Shovel and salt before the crew arrives. Walkway, steps, driveway, and the curb where the truck will park. A clear path is the single biggest time saver in winter.
- Protect the floors. Our crews lay runners and door jamb protectors, but a stack of old towels at each door helps on a slushy day.
- Cold cracks things. Electronics, glassware and ceramics should come to room temperature before being unpacked at the new home. Never plug in a TV that just rode in a cold truck.
- Book a morning start. Roads are treated overnight and the afternoon melt-and-refreeze is when driveways get dangerous.
Winter is also the cheapest time to move in Denver. Crews are available, dates are flexible and rates are lower than summer.
Spring storms: rain, hail and wind
Spring on the Front Range is the season of a sunny morning and a hailstorm at 3 p.m. It is the hardest season to plan around because you cannot see it coming a week out.
- Stretch-wrap everything upholstered. Sofas, mattresses and chairs get plastic-wrapped before they leave the door. We do this as standard. If you are loading yourself, buy a roll of stretch wrap and mattress bags.
- Use plastic bins for anything that cannot get wet. Documents, photos, books and electronics ride in lidded totes, not cardboard, during storm season.
- Stage inside, not on the lawn. Keep boxes in the garage or the front room and let the crew shuttle them. Fifteen minutes of hail on cardboard ruins a day of packing.
- Watch the wind. Gusts along the foothills will take a mattress or a box lid out of your hands. Two people on anything with surface area.
Check the forecast the night before and again at 6 a.m. If a serious storm is forecast for the window, call us. Shifting a start time by a few hours is usually enough, and we would rather move it than load in a lightning storm.
Summer heat and the peak-season crunch
June through August is when most of Denver moves, so crews and dates are tight and prices are highest. Heat adds its own rules.
- Start early. An 8 a.m. start finishes the heavy lifting before the afternoon peak.
- Do not leave anything in a closed truck longer than it has to be. Candles, vinyl records, cosmetics, wine and anything with a battery suffer in a hot trailer. Carry them in your car with the air conditioning on.
- Water for everyone. Our crews bring their own, but a cooler on the porch is always welcome, and you will need it too.
- Book months ahead. Summer Saturdays and month-end dates go first. If you can move on a Tuesday in mid-month, do.
Wildfire season and smoke: roughly May through September
Most summers Denver gets at least a few days of smoke, sometimes from fires in Colorado and often from fires several states away. Occasionally a fire in the foothills closes a highway or triggers evacuation orders in a suburb. Both affect moves differently.
Smoke days
- Check the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Front Range air quality advisory the morning of the move. On an action-day alert, anyone with asthma, small children or older family members should stay indoors while the crew loads.
- Keep windows and doors closed at the new home until the truck is unloaded, then air it out once the advisory lifts.
- Smoke does not stop a move, but it slows one. Build an hour into the day.
Active fire nearby
- Road closures come first. Check COtrip for closures and detours before the truck leaves, especially on I-70, US-285 and the canyon roads.
- If your neighborhood is under a pre-evacuation notice, call us. We can load early, or load into storage in Denver and deliver when the area reopens. Belongings in a warehouse are safer than belongings in a house with an evacuation order.
- Passports, deeds, insurance papers, hard drives and irreplaceable photos go in your car in a sealed bag, on every move, in every season.
- Photograph your household before it is packed. It takes ten minutes and it is the record your insurer will ask for if anything happens in transit or in storage.
Coverage: what protects your things in bad weather
Every move with Rocky Movers carries basic released value coverage. Full value protection covers repair or replacement and is quoted separately on every estimate. Weather damage in transit falls under whichever option you pick. Your own homeowners or renters policy may cover goods during a move as well, so a five-minute call to your agent before moving week is worth making, particularly in spring and fire season.
Questions we get about Denver weather
Do movers work in the snow?
Yes. Our crews move year-round. We ask that walkways and the truck’s parking spot are cleared and salted, and we may shift a start time if a storm makes the highways unsafe, but a normal snow day is a normal work day.
What is the best month to move in Denver?
September and October give the most stable weather, and October through April gives the best prices and availability. If you want both, early October is the sweet spot.
Will rain damage my furniture?
Not if it is wrapped. Upholstery and mattresses are stretch-wrapped, wood is blanket-wrapped and covered, and boxes move under cover. The risk is cardboard left on a lawn, which is why we stage inside.
What happens if a storm hits during my move?
Loading pauses for lightning and resumes when it passes. The truck is sealed, so goods already loaded are fine. Nobody regrets a one-hour delay. People do regret hail on an open truck.
Book with a crew that moves in Denver weather every week
Rocky Movers has moved Denver households through every season since 2009, under USDOT 3077926 and Colorado PUC permit HHG-00594. Every job starts with a free in-home or video survey and a written price. See Denver local moving, add packing services if storm-proof wrapping is more than you want to take on, or call (303) 317-6896 to check a date. For the rest of the prep, our Denver moving checklist runs from eight weeks out to moving day.
