Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Altus Air Force Base's normal year runs from 30°F January nights to 97°F July afternoons. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.6°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 36°C.
- NOAA stationAltus Air Force Base
- Station IDUSW00003981
- Location34.36°N 98.98°W
- Elevation1,267 ft (386 m)
On October 14, the normal high in Altus Air Force Base is 78°F and the normal low 53°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Altus Air Force Base.
- Jan 54° 30°
- Feb 58° 33°
- Mar 67° 42°
- Apr 76° 49°
- May 84° 60°
- Jun 93° 69°
- Jul 97° 73°
- Aug 97° 72°
- Sep 88° 64°
- Oct 77° 52°
- Nov 64° 41°
- Dec 54° 32°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Altus Air Force Base each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 97°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 30°F | 41.7°F | – | <1 | 20 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 58°F | 33°F | 45.5°F | – | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 42°F | 54.3°F | – | 1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 76°F | 49°F | 62.5°F | – | 3 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 60°F | 72.4°F | – | 11 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 93°F | 69°F | 81.1°F | – | 22 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 97°F | 73°F | 85.2°F | – | 27 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 97°F | 72°F | 84.3°F | – | 27 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 88°F | 64°F | 76.1°F | – | 15 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 52°F | 64.6°F | – | 4 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 41°F | 52.4°F | – | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 54°F | 32°F | 43.0°F | – | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 51°F | 63.6°F | – | 109 | 64 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C |
| February | 14°C | 1°C | 7.5°C |
| March | 19°C | 5°C | 12.4°C |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 16.9°C |
| May | 29°C | 16°C | 22.4°C |
| June | 34°C | 21°C | 27.3°C |
| July | 36°C | 23°C | 29.6°C |
| August | 36°C | 22°C | 29.1°C |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.5°C |
| October | 25°C | 11°C | 18.1°C |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.3°C |
| December | 12°C | 0°C | 6.1°C |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Chattanooga (19 miles away), gets 1 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003981; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
Which months are mildest at Altus Air Force Base?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October.
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003981.
When is the last frost at Altus Air Force Base?
In Altus Air Force Base, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 26 in half of years and after April 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 10 in half of years and before October 26 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- March 261 year in 10 after April 14; 9 in 10 after March 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 101 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 229 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 252 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 11 in half of springs and before November 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Altus Air Force Base in zone 8a in ZIP code 73542, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Oklahoma · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00003981; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get at Altus Air Force Base?
In a normal year in Altus Air Force Base, 109 days a year reach 90°F (37 of them 100°F or more) and 64 nights fall to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 109a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 37a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 64a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1998) is 114°F, on July 19, 2022; the lowest is −6°F, on February 16, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 33.81 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003981; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003981. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Altus Air Force Base?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Altus Air Force Base, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 3.0 |
| February | 74% | 3.6 |
| March | 77% | 4.8 |
| April | 79% | 5.9 |
| May | 79% | 6.3 |
| June | 86% | 7.1 |
| July | 88% | 7.0 |
| August | 88% | 6.4 |
| September | 84% | 5.3 |
| October | 82% | 4.1 |
| November | 81% | 3.2 |
| December | 76% | 2.6 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How many heating and cooling degree days does Altus Air Force Base record?
A normal year at Altus Air Force Base brings 2,975 heating degree days, 45% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,496 cooling degree days, 2.8 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,877 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 721 | 0 |
| February | 548 | 2 |
| March | 349 | 19 |
| April | 142 | 66 |
| May | 24 | 252 |
| June | 0 | 481 |
| July | 0 | 625 |
| August | 0 | 600 |
| September | 8 | 341 |
| October | 115 | 102 |
| November | 387 | 9 |
| December | 682 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,975 | 2,496 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003981. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Have recent years at Altus Air Force Base been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 64.7°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.6°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.8°F | +0.2°F |
| 2022 | 64.7°F | +1.1°F |
| 2023 | 65.5°F | +1.9°F |
| 2025 | 64.7°F | +1.1°F |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003981. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Altus Air Force Base's climate compare?
Altus Air Force Base is warmer than 131 of the 134 places with their own NOAA record in Oklahoma. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.6°F is warmer than 84%.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers.
Which places near Altus Air Force Base share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Oklaunion, TX129 people · 19 mi SW
- Hollister, OK34 people · 6 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Altus Air Force Base's climate
What is the coldest month at Altus Air Force Base?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (97°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow at Altus Air Force Base?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Chattanooga (19 miles away), records 1 inches of snow in a normal year.
What plant hardiness zone is Altus Air Force Base in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Altus Air Force Base in zone 8a in ZIP code 73542, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Altus Air Force Base?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 26; in one year in ten it comes after April 14. Waiting until April 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oklahoma climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Frederick, OK3 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Tipton, OK11 miles from this station, 62.5°F a year
- Grandfield, OK16 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Chattanooga, OK19 miles from this station, 61.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made