Alamosa, CO Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Alamosa's primary NOAA station, ALAMOSA 1E.
The climate verdict for Alamosa
Dryness leads the climate profile for Alamosa, Colorado, with 7.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 43°F. At 29/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 1% of scores.
- 43°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 29/100
- comfort score, above 1% of station-mapped location scores
- 7.3"
- annual precipitation · 30" snow
- 110 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Alamosa: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00050128 · Alamosa, CO 43°F mean · 7.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #755
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Headquarters
- PRCP-ARID 7.3"
- SWING-WIDE 48°F
- COMF-LOW 29/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,209 HDD
- STN-1 USC00050128
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Headquarters, ID (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every CO station list.
- Alamosa (this station) 43°F
- Hot Ennis, MT 43°F
- Near Headquarters, ID 43°F
- Near Montrose, CO 43°F
- Near Sugar City, ID 43°F
Climate Living Index · Alamosa
Alamosa: 10/100 · grade F
Alamosa publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Alamosa, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 29/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 30.0 inches/year | 38/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.6°F · 24.9° from 67.5°F | 11/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 7.3 in · 27.7 from 35 in | 6/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 222 calendar days | 4/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 110 days/year | 3/100 · F |
Alamosa · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Alamosa's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 65.3°F
- Coldest month
- 17.4°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Alamosa sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Alamosa's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 89%
- Among 6,861 stations, Alamosa sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 98%
- Alamosa's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Alamosa is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Alamosa compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Alamosa's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
29 1st percentile score exceeds 1% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). This entry sits in this band.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Above this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (2°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 0.4" | 6.9" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 43°F (6°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.3" | 4.2" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 53°F (12°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.5" | 4.3" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 0.5" | 4.5" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 0.7" | 0.8" | 12.6 | 0.0 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 7.2 | 0.1 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.6" | 2.0" | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.4" | 3.1" | 29.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 2°F (-17°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 0.2" | 4.2" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 83°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 222 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -2°F near January 3.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 8, then returns to freezing around September 30, covering 222 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is July 25, when 35% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 8 at 11%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 65 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 19 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 39°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Alamosa.
Where Alamosa Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 222 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 7 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Alamosa earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 6.9"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
3.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.3"
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.5"
4.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
5.5 days with precipitation
3.6 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.0"
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.1"
3.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
4.9 days with precipitation
Alamosa runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Alamosa's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is August at 1.4", on a wide 47.9°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: August, July, September, taking 49% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: December at 0.2".
- Winter share: 12% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Alamosa is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 64 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 18% of the calendar, and they carry 7.3" between them. At roughly 0.11 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is July at about 11 wet days; the driest is November at about 3.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Alamosa
Alamosa averages 30.0 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 23 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 30.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 23 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 41% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 17
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
110 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,209
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
74
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Alamosa on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (43°F here).
- Baldwin, WI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Boulder, MT 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Center, ND 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Gorham, NH 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (7.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bluff, UT 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Richland, WA 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Hiko, NV 7.3" · 0.0" off
- Phoenix, AZ 7.2" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Alamosa
heating led · dry · mid swing
Alamosa's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,209 annual heating degree days against 74 for cooling. Its 47.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 110 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Alamosa coldest normal
January
Averaging 17°F (-8°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Alamosa typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Alamosa snow peak
January
Alamosa averages 30.0 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Alamosa's climate
How much snow does Alamosa get? ▼
How cold does Alamosa get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Alamosa? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Alamosa's primary station: ALAMOSA 1E (USC00050128). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0801090). Match rule for Alamosa: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Alamosa comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.