Aztec, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Aztec's normal year runs from 17°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 10.1 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.8°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 34°C, 256 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAztec Ruins National Monument
- Station IDUSC00290692
- Location36.84°N 108.00°W
- Elevation5,644 ft (1,720 m)
- Population6,129
On October 14, the normal high in Aztec is 73°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Aztec.
- Jan 46° 17°
- Feb 53° 22°
- Mar 63° 27°
- Apr 71° 33°
- May 80° 41°
- Jun 90° 50°
- Jul 94° 58°
- Aug 91° 57°
- Sep 84° 49°
- Oct 72° 36°
- Nov 58° 25°
- Dec 46° 18°
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 Aztec each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.32 in), the least in June (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F | 17°F | 31.6°F | 0.90 | 4.5 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 53°F | 22°F | 37.0°F | 0.75 | 2.3 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 27°F | 44.9°F | 0.77 | 0.5 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 33°F | 51.7°F | 0.69 | 0.2 | 4 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 80°F | 41°F | 60.4°F | 0.71 | 0.0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 90°F | 50°F | 70.0°F | 0.28 | 0.0 | 2 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 94°F | 58°F | 76.1°F | 0.96 | 0.0 | 5 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 91°F | 57°F | 74.0°F | 1.32 | 0.0 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 84°F | 49°F | 66.3°F | 1.13 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 36°F | 53.7°F | 0.94 | 0.3 | 5 | <1 | 9 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 25°F | 41.5°F | 0.94 | 0.9 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 18°F | 32.1°F | 0.67 | 2.2 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 36°F | 53.3°F | 10.06 | 10.9 | 57 | 61 | 158 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −8°C | −0.2°C | 23 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 11°C | −6°C | 2.8°C | 19 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 17°C | −3°C | 7.2°C | 20 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 0°C | 10.9°C | 18 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 27°C | 5°C | 15.8°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 10°C | 21.1°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 15°C | 24.5°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 14°C | 23.3°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 9°C | 19.1°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 2°C | 12.1°C | 24 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 14°C | −4°C | 5.3°C | 24 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 8°C | −8°C | 0.1°C | 17 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00290692; 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 Aztec?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00290692.
When is the last frost in Aztec?
In Aztec, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after May 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 6 in half of years and before September 24 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
- May 121 year in 10 after May 30; 9 in 10 after April 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 147 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 167 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Aztec in zone 6b in ZIP code 87410, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Aztec's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −2°F (21 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 USC00290692; 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 Aztec?
In a normal year in Aztec, 61 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 158 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 61a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 158a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 106°F, on July 11, 2021; the lowest is −27°F, on February 8, 1933.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 20.27 in; the snowiest season is 1948–49, with 45.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00290692; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00290692. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Aztec?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Aztec, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (79%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 3.0 |
| February | 81% | 4.0 |
| March | 85% | 5.5 |
| April | 86% | 6.8 |
| May | 88% | 7.8 |
| June | 92% | 8.4 |
| July | 88% | 7.5 |
| August | 87% | 6.8 |
| September | 89% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 4.7 |
| November | 87% | 3.4 |
| December | 79% | 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 much heating and cooling does Aztec need?
A normal year in Aztec brings 5,163 heating degree days, 4% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 914 cooling degree days, 1% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,277 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,037 | 0 |
| February | 784 | 0 |
| March | 623 | 0 |
| April | 401 | 0 |
| May | 166 | 24 |
| June | 21 | 171 |
| July | 0 | 343 |
| August | 1 | 281 |
| September | 53 | 93 |
| October | 353 | 2 |
| November | 705 | 0 |
| December | 1,020 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,163 | 914 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00290692. 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 Aztec been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 53.4°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.3°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.2°F | +0.9°F | – | – |
| 2022 | 53.4°F | +0.1°F | – | – |
Over 60 complete years from 1921 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00290692; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Aztec's climate compare?
Aztec is warmer than 44 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.3°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Aztec 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 Aztec share this climate record?
6 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.
- Crouch Mesa, NM4,419 people · 8 mi SW
- Center Point, NM2,366 people · 4 mi NE
- Flora Vista, NM2,215 people · 5 mi SW
- South River, NM1,594 people · 5 mi SW
- Spencerville, NM1,100 people · 3 mi W
- North Light Plant, NM573 people · 3 mi NW
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 Aztec's climate
What is the coldest month in Aztec?
January, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Aztec?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (4.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Aztec?
August, with 1.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Aztec in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Aztec in zone 6b in ZIP code 87410, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Aztec's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −2°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Aztec?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after May 30. Waiting until May 30 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
- Bloomfield, NM12 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Farmington, NM14 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Farmington Agricultural Science Center, NM20 miles from this station, 52.8°F a year
- Fruitland, NM21 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made