Benson, Arizona climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Benson's normal year runs from 27°F December nights to 98°F July afternoons, with 11.8 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.2 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.4°C, December lows of −3°C, July highs of 36°C, 299 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBenson (6 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00020683
- Location31.88°N 110.24°W
- Elevation3,690 ft (1,125 m)
- Population5,499
On October 23, the normal high in Benson is 82°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 9%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Benson.
- Jan 65° 27°
- Feb 68° 30°
- Mar 74° 35°
- Apr 81° 41°
- May 90° 49°
- Jun 99° 58°
- Jul 98° 66°
- Aug 95° 65°
- Sep 92° 58°
- Oct 84° 45°
- Nov 73° 34°
- Dec 64° 27°
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 Benson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 98°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.79 in), the least in May (0.17 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65°F | 27°F | 45.9°F | 0.80 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 68°F | 30°F | 49.1°F | 0.63 | 4 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| March | 74°F | 35°F | 54.8°F | 0.57 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 12 h |
| April | 81°F | 41°F | 61.2°F | 0.19 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 90°F | 49°F | 69.2°F | 0.17 | 2 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 99°F | 58°F | 78.3°F | 0.29 | 2 | 28 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 98°F | 66°F | 81.7°F | 2.65 | 10 | 27 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 95°F | 65°F | 80.0°F | 2.79 | 11 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 92°F | 58°F | 75.1°F | 1.64 | 5 | 20 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 84°F | 45°F | 64.6°F | 0.65 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 73°F | 34°F | 53.5°F | 0.51 | 3 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 64°F | 27°F | 45.7°F | 0.88 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 82°F | 45°F | 63.3°F | 11.77 | 53 | 130 | 93 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°C | −3°C | 7.7°C | 20 mm |
| February | 20°C | −1°C | 9.5°C | 16 mm |
| March | 24°C | 2°C | 12.7°C | 14 mm |
| April | 27°C | 5°C | 16.2°C | 5 mm |
| May | 32°C | 9°C | 20.7°C | 4 mm |
| June | 37°C | 14°C | 25.7°C | 7 mm |
| July | 36°C | 19°C | 27.6°C | 67 mm |
| August | 35°C | 18°C | 26.7°C | 71 mm |
| September | 33°C | 15°C | 23.9°C | 42 mm |
| October | 29°C | 7°C | 18.1°C | 17 mm |
| November | 23°C | 1°C | 11.9°C | 13 mm |
| December | 18°C | −3°C | 7.6°C | 22 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00020683; 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 Benson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00020683.
When is the last frost in Benson?
In Benson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 12 in half of years and after April 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 1 in half of years and before October 18 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 121 year in 10 after April 29; 9 in 10 after March 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 11 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 202 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 232 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 23 in half of springs and before November 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Benson in zone 8b in ZIP code 85630. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Benson's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (15 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arizona · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00020683; 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 Benson?
In a normal year in Benson, 130 days a year reach 90°F (34 of them 100°F or more), 93 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 53 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 130a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 93a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 53a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1944) is 112°F, on June 21, 2017; the lowest is −7°F, on December 8, 1978.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1976, with 20.24 in; the snowiest season is 1948–49, with 7.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00020683; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00020683. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Benson?
Over a year 89% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Benson, 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (94%) and July the cloudiest (79%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87% | 3.8 |
| February | 87% | 4.7 |
| March | 90% | 6.2 |
| April | 94% | 7.6 |
| May | 94% | 8.3 |
| June | 92% | 8.1 |
| July | 79% | 6.5 |
| August | 83% | 6.3 |
| September | 87% | 5.8 |
| October | 92% | 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 Benson need?
A normal year in Benson brings 2,561 heating degree days, 52% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,952 cooling degree days, 2.2 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 5,335 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 592 | 0 |
| February | 447 | 0 |
| March | 317 | 2 |
| April | 144 | 30 |
| May | 29 | 159 |
| June | 1 | 401 |
| July | 0 | 518 |
| August | 0 | 465 |
| September | 2 | 303 |
| October | 82 | 72 |
| November | 349 | 2 |
| December | 600 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,561 | 1,952 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00020683. 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 Benson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 65.2°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.3°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 65.2°F | +1.9°F | 7.32 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00020683. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Benson's climate compare?
Benson is warmer than 44 of the other 96 places with their own NOAA record in Arizona, and wetter than 48. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.3°F is warmer than 84%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Benson 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 Benson share this climate record?
St. David has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- St. David, AZ1,112 people · 1 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 Benson's climate
What is the coldest month in Benson?
December, with a normal high of 64°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (98°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Benson?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.2 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Benson?
August, with 2.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is May with 0.17 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Benson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Benson in zone 8b in ZIP code 85630. By the same method at Benson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Benson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 12; in one year in ten it comes after April 29. Waiting until April 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arizona climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Kartchner Caverns, AZ7 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Tombstone, AZ16 miles from this station, 65.7°F a year
- Fort Huachuca Pioneer Airfield, AZ22 miles from this station, 62.7°F a year
- Sierra Vista, AZ24 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made