Animas, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Animas's normal year runs from 31°F December nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 10.3 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.8°C, December lows of 0°C, July highs of 34°C, 263 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAnimas (3 mi ESE)
- Station IDUSC00290417
- Location31.94°N 108.77°W
- Elevation4,501 ft (1,372 m)
- Population (census place)191
On October 8, the normal high in Animas is 80°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Animas.
- Jan 57° 31°
- Feb 62° 34°
- Mar 69° 39°
- Apr 77° 45°
- May 86° 54°
- Jun 95° 63°
- Jul 93° 67°
- Aug 90° 66°
- Sep 86° 61°
- Oct 78° 49°
- Nov 66° 38°
- Dec 56° 31°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Animas each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.29 in), the least in April (0.18 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 31°F | 44.1°F | 0.71 | 1.7 | 4 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 62°F | 34°F | 48.1°F | 0.51 | 0.5 | 4 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| March | 69°F | 39°F | 54.3°F | 0.40 | 0.3 | 3 | <1 | 7 | 12 h |
| April | 77°F | 45°F | 61.2°F | 0.18 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 86°F | 54°F | 69.7°F | 0.20 | 0.0 | 2 | 11 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 95°F | 63°F | 78.6°F | 0.50 | 0.0 | 3 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 93°F | 67°F | 80.0°F | 2.29 | 0.0 | 8 | 25 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 90°F | 66°F | 77.9°F | 1.95 | 0.0 | 8 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 86°F | 61°F | 73.4°F | 1.00 | 0.0 | 4 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 49°F | 63.3°F | 0.99 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 38°F | 51.9°F | 0.59 | 0.2 | 2 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 56°F | 31°F | 43.8°F | 1.03 | 0.9 | 4 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 48°F | 62.2°F | 10.35 | 3.6 | 45 | 97 | 74 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 0°C | 6.7°C | 18 mm | 4 cm |
| February | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 13 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 21°C | 4°C | 12.4°C | 10 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 25°C | 7°C | 16.2°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 30°C | 12°C | 20.9°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 35°C | 17°C | 25.9°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 20°C | 26.7°C | 58 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.5°C | 50 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 16°C | 23.0°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 25°C | 9°C | 17.4°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 19°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 15 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 14°C | 0°C | 6.6°C | 26 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00290417; 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.
When is the best weather to visit Animas?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00290417.
When is the last frost in Animas?
In Animas, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 2 in half of years and after April 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 7 in half of years and before October 23 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
- April 21 year in 10 after April 21; 9 in 10 after March 10
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 71 year in 10 before October 23; 9 in 10 before November 21
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 218 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 249 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 11 in half of springs and before November 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Animas in zone 8a in ZIP code 88020, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Animas's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00290417; 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 in Animas?
In a normal year in Animas, 97 days a year reach 90°F (15 of them 100°F or more), 74 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 45 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 97a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 74a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 45a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1923) is 110°F, on June 26, 1990; the lowest is −19°F, on December 9, 1978.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1991, with 19.67 in; the snowiest season is 1967–68, with 24.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00290417; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00290417. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Animas?
Over a year 89% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Animas, 5.9 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (94%) and July the cloudiest (85%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87% | 3.8 |
| February | 88% | 4.8 |
| March | 90% | 6.2 |
| April | 93% | 7.5 |
| May | 94% | 8.2 |
| June | 92% | 8.1 |
| July | 85% | 7.0 |
| August | 86% | 6.5 |
| September | 87% | 5.9 |
| October | 91% | 5.2 |
| November | 90% | 4.1 |
| December | 87% | 3.5 |
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 much heating and cooling does Animas need?
A normal year in Animas brings 2,793 heating degree days, 48% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,794 cooling degree days, 98% more than 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 5,091 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 648 | 0 |
| February | 475 | 0 |
| March | 336 | 3 |
| April | 146 | 31 |
| May | 27 | 173 |
| June | 0 | 410 |
| July | 0 | 467 |
| August | 0 | 402 |
| September | 3 | 255 |
| October | 108 | 54 |
| November | 393 | 2 |
| December | 657 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,793 | 1,794 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00290417. 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.
Has Animas been warmer than normal lately?
Over 36 complete years from 1956 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Animas's climate compare?
Animas is warmer than 85 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.2°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Animas is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Animas 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.
- Cotton City, NM236 people · 14 mi NW
- Windmill, NM65 people · 9 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 Animas's climate
What is the coldest month in Animas?
December, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Animas?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (1.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Animas?
July, with 2.29 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.18 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Animas in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Animas in zone 8a in ZIP code 88020, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Animas's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Animas?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 2; in one year in ten it comes after April 21. Waiting until April 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hachita, NM25 miles from this station, 60.0°F a year
- Portal (4 mi SW), AZ26 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Paradise, AZ26 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Lordsburg, NM27 miles from this station, 61.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made