Blanca, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Blanca's normal year runs from 4°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 9.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.4°C, January lows of −16°C, July highs of 28°C, 248 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBlanca (4 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00050776
- Location37.48°N 105.57°W
- Elevation7,709 ft (2,350 m)
- Population342
On October 23, the normal high in Blanca is 60°F and the normal low 25°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Blanca.
- Jan 37° 4°
- Feb 42° 10°
- Mar 52° 20°
- Apr 59° 26°
- May 68° 35°
- Jun 78° 44°
- Jul 83° 49°
- Aug 80° 47°
- Sep 75° 39°
- Oct 63° 28°
- Nov 49° 15°
- Dec 36° 5°
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 Blanca each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 4°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.69 in), the least in December (0.21 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 4°F | 20.2°F | 0.37 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 42°F | 10°F | 25.9°F | 0.39 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 52°F | 20°F | 36.0°F | 0.69 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 26°F | 42.8°F | 0.54 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 68°F | 35°F | 51.8°F | 1.09 | 6 | <1 | 10 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 78°F | 44°F | 61.3°F | 0.69 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 83°F | 49°F | 65.6°F | 1.68 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 47°F | 63.7°F | 1.69 | 10 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 75°F | 39°F | 56.9°F | 1.14 | 6 | <1 | 6 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 28°F | 45.3°F | 0.75 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 49°F | 15°F | 32.0°F | 0.54 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 36°F | 5°F | 20.6°F | 0.21 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 27°F | 43.5°F | 9.78 | 64 | 5 | 215 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −16°C | −6.6°C | 9 mm |
| February | 5°C | −12°C | −3.4°C | 10 mm |
| March | 11°C | −6°C | 2.2°C | 18 mm |
| April | 15°C | −3°C | 6.0°C | 14 mm |
| May | 20°C | 2°C | 11.0°C | 28 mm |
| June | 26°C | 7°C | 16.3°C | 18 mm |
| July | 28°C | 9°C | 18.7°C | 43 mm |
| August | 27°C | 8°C | 17.6°C | 43 mm |
| September | 24°C | 4°C | 13.8°C | 29 mm |
| October | 17°C | −2°C | 7.4°C | 19 mm |
| November | 10°C | −10°C | 0.0°C | 14 mm |
| December | 2°C | −15°C | −6.3°C | 5 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Alamosa (1 mi E) (16 miles away), gets 30 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00050776; 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 Blanca?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00050776.
When is the last frost in Blanca?
In Blanca, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 25 in half of years and after June 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 22 in half of years and before September 10 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 251 year in 10 after June 12; 9 in 10 after May 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 221 year in 10 before September 10; 9 in 10 before October 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 117 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 139 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 13 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Blanca in zone 5a in ZIP code 81123, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Blanca's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°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 Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00050776; 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 Blanca?
In a normal year in Blanca, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 215 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 64 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 215a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 30high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 64a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 97°F, on June 30, 1961; the lowest is −38°F, on January 12, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1999, with 13.09 in; the snowiest season is 1957–58, with 56.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00050776; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00050776. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Blanca?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Blanca, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. October is the sunniest month (86%) and April the cloudiest (80%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.1 |
| February | 85% | 4.2 |
| March | 81% | 5.2 |
| April | 80% | 6.3 |
| May | 82% | 7.2 |
| June | 85% | 7.8 |
| July | 80% | 6.9 |
| August | 82% | 6.4 |
| September | 86% | 5.7 |
| October | 86% | 4.5 |
| November | 85% | 3.3 |
| December | 83% | 2.7 |
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 Blanca need?
A normal year in Blanca brings 7,920 heating degree days, 47% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 104 cooling degree days, 88% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,625 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,390 | 0 |
| February | 1,095 | 0 |
| March | 901 | 0 |
| April | 664 | 0 |
| May | 410 | 0 |
| June | 131 | 20 |
| July | 35 | 55 |
| August | 68 | 26 |
| September | 245 | 2 |
| October | 612 | 0 |
| November | 992 | 0 |
| December | 1,376 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,920 | 104 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00050776. 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.
How does Blanca's climate compare?
Blanca is warmer than 30 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.5°F is warmer than 14%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Blanca 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 Blanca share this climate record?
Fort Garland 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.
- Fort Garland, CO426 people · 8 mi SE
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 Blanca's climate
What is the coldest month in Blanca?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 4°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Blanca?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Blanca's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Alamosa (1 mi E) (16 miles away), records 30 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Blanca?
August, with 1.69 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Blanca in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Blanca in zone 5a in ZIP code 81123, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Blanca's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Blanca?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 25; in one year in ten it comes after June 12. Waiting until June 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alamosa, CO16 miles from this station, 42.3°F a year
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, CO18 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- San Luis, CO21 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Sheep Mountain, CO25 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made