A May 1st snow storm? There's no way this is happening

(CNN) -- What's up with this weather?

The calendar says May 1, but it might as well be winter across the front range of the Rockies where 5 inches or more of snow will be the norm from Cheyenne south to Denver.

Much of the snow will quickly turn into a slushy mess. After all, temperatures were in the 70s on Monday.

Short and T-shirts at the beginning of the week. Winter jackets Wednesday.

"Crazy temperature contrast," said meteorologist Kathy Sabine at CNN affiliate KUSA.

The temperature swings are a nightmare for the folks running nurseries, forcing them to cart plants into and out of greenhouses every few days.

"It's incredibly frustrating," Trela Phelps, manger of City Flora, told affiliate KDVR. "We keep going back and forth all the time, and now Jack Frost is visiting us once again."

Late snow, no problem

Even with the late snow, the Colorado Department of Transportation will be out in force, with some 60 to 80 plows clearing roadways.

The average date for the last snow of the season in Denver is April 26, but the record for the latest snowfall ever was set June 12, 1947, according to the National Weather Service.

Still residents are taking it in stride.

"You know, that's Colorado for you," a young man munching on his French fries told KDVR. "Not much you can do about it, you just got to sit back and just kind of take it as it comes."

Too hot in the Southwest

While their neighbors to the northeast are braving the winter-like weather, residents of Phoenix are running their air conditioners full blast. Triple-digit temperatures the last few days cool to the mid-90s on Wednesday.

The 90-degree temperatures will last another day across New Mexico and western Texas, with daytime highs plummeting to the 50s on Thursday.

Too hot. Too cold. This wacky weather's enough to rattle Goldilocks.