Alta, WY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Alta's primary NOAA station, ALTA 1 NNW.
The climate verdict for Alta
Alta, Wyoming has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 41°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 41°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 25.0"
- annual precipitation · 113" snow
- 89 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Alta: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00480140 · Alta, WY 41°F mean · 25.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 41°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Melville
- PRCP-DRY 25.0"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,992 HDD
- STN-1 USC00480140
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Melville, MT ( -0.1 °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 WY station list.
- Alta (this station) 41°F
- Hot Lake Placid, NY 41°F
- Cold Deer Lodge, MT 40°F
- Near Melville, MT 40°F
- Near Moon Lake, UT 40°F
Alta sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Alta
Alta: 16/100 · grade F
Alta publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Alta, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 25.0 in · 10.0 from 35 in | 65/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 206 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.5°F · 27.0° from 67.5°F | 6/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 89 days/year | 0/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 113.4 inches/year | 0/100 · F |
Alta · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Alta is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 20.0°F and warmest-month mean 63.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 63.7°F
- Coldest month
- 20.0°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 Alta sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Alta's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 94%
- Among 6,861 stations, Alta sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 34th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 52nd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Alta compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Alta's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Alta's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 77 complete annual observations from 1910 to 2025, ALTA 1 NNW warmed at a fitted rate of 0.13°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Alta primary station fitted change +0.13 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 2.5" | 21.7" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 32°F (0°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.8" | 16.2" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 40°F (4°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 2.1" | 15.3" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 48°F (9°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 2.5" | 13.5" | 22.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 60°F (16°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 3.0" | 2.5" | 10.7 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (21°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.3" | 0.3" | 3.0 | 0.1 |
| July | 79°F (26°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| August | 78°F (26°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| September | 69°F (20°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.9" | 0.5" | 4.8 | 0.0 |
| October | 53°F (12°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 2.1" | 5.9" | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 39°F (4°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 1.9" | 15.8" | 26.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 28°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 2.1" | 21.7" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 81°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 206 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 11°F near December 19.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 3, then returns to freezing around October 11, covering 206 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 May 25, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 13 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 94 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 31 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Alta.
Where Alta Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 206 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Alta earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 21.7"
9.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 16.2"
7.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 15.3"
8.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.5"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.5"
9.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
8.0 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.9"
6.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 15.8"
7.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 21.7"
8.6 days with precipitation
Alta spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 20% of the annual total and December through February 26%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Alta has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 3.0" and August 1.4". The three wettest months together take 32% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Alta's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 94 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 25.0" between them, or roughly 0.27 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Alta
Alta averages 113.4 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 38 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: 113.4 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 38 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 45% 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 11
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 14
50% probability date
Growing Season
89 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,992
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
91
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Alta 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 (41°F here).
- Max, ND 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Ouzinkie, AK 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Sault Ste Marie, MI 41°F · 0.0°F off
- Seneca, OR 41°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (25.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Wingate, TX 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Dilley, TX 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Iliamna, AK 25.0" · 0.0" off
- Marshfield, WI 24.9" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Alta
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Alta's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,992 annual heating degree days against 91 for cooling. Its 43.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 89 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. Alta coldest normal
December
Averaging 20°F (-7°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Alta typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Alta snow peak
January
Alta averages 113.4 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Alta's climate
How much snow does Alta get? ▼
How cold does Alta get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Alta? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Alta's primary station: ALTA 1 NNW (USC00480140). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 5601985), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Alta: 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 Alta 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.