Brantley Dam, New Mexico climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Brantley Dam's normal year runs from 29°F December nights to 96°F July afternoons, with 12.8 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.3°C, December lows of −2°C, July highs of 35°C, 324 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBrantley Dam
- Station IDUSC00291153
- Location32.52°N 104.38°W
- Elevation3,213 ft (979 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Brantley Dam is 76°F and the normal low 45°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 Brantley Dam.
- Jan 58° 29°
- Feb 63° 32°
- Mar 71° 40°
- Apr 80° 47°
- May 87° 57°
- Jun 96° 66°
- Jul 96° 69°
- Aug 94° 68°
- Sep 87° 60°
- Oct 78° 48°
- Nov 66° 36°
- Dec 58° 29°
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 Brantley Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 96°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.13 in), the least in January (0.38 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F | 29°F | 43.3°F | 0.38 | 0.8 | 3 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 63°F | 32°F | 47.5°F | 0.39 | 0.5 | 2 | <1 | 16 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 40°F | 55.5°F | 0.40 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 5 | 12 h |
| April | 80°F | 47°F | 63.1°F | 0.72 | 0.0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 87°F | 57°F | 72.1°F | 1.29 | 0.0 | 4 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 96°F | 66°F | 80.9°F | 1.45 | 0.0 | 4 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 96°F | 69°F | 82.6°F | 2.13 | 0.0 | 6 | 28 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 94°F | 68°F | 81.1°F | 1.63 | 0.0 | 6 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 87°F | 60°F | 73.7°F | 2.01 | 0.0 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 48°F | 63.0°F | 1.15 | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 36°F | 51.0°F | 0.58 | 0.4 | 3 | <1 | 11 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 29°F | 43.1°F | 0.63 | 1.9 | 3 | <1 | 23 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 48°F | 63.1°F | 12.76 | 3.6 | 46 | 118 | 79 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | −2°C | 6.3°C | 10 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 17°C | 0°C | 8.6°C | 10 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 22°C | 4°C | 13.1°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 27°C | 8°C | 17.3°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 31°C | 14°C | 22.3°C | 33 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 36°C | 19°C | 27.2°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 21°C | 28.1°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 35°C | 20°C | 27.3°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 31°C | 16°C | 23.2°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 26°C | 9°C | 17.2°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 19°C | 2°C | 10.6°C | 15 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 16 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291153; 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 Brantley Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in 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 USC00291153.
When is the last frost at Brantley Dam?
In Brantley Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 25 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 8 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 251 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 81 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 226 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 255 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 5 in half of springs and before November 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Brantley Dam in zone 8a in ZIP code 88254, 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 12°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 USC00291153; 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 Brantley Dam?
In a normal year in Brantley Dam, 118 days a year reach 90°F (31 of them 100°F or more), 79 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 46 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 118a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 31a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 79a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 46a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1987) is 116°F, on June 27, 1994; the lowest is −6°F, on February 4, 2011.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2004, with 26.16 in; the snowiest season is 1997–98, with 17.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00291153; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00291153. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Brantley Dam?
Over a year 88% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Brantley Dam, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (84%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 85% | 4.5 |
| March | 86% | 5.7 |
| April | 90% | 7.1 |
| May | 89% | 7.6 |
| June | 91% | 7.8 |
| July | 88% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 87% | 5.7 |
| October | 88% | 4.8 |
| November | 86% | 3.8 |
| December | 84% | 3.2 |
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 Brantley Dam record?
A normal year at Brantley Dam brings 2,838 heating degree days, 47% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,164 cooling degree days, 2.4 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 5,541 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 671 | 0 |
| February | 491 | 1 |
| March | 304 | 9 |
| April | 115 | 59 |
| May | 22 | 242 |
| June | 0 | 476 |
| July | 0 | 544 |
| August | 0 | 498 |
| September | 11 | 270 |
| October | 123 | 62 |
| November | 423 | 4 |
| December | 679 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,838 | 2,164 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291153. 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 Brantley Dam been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 64.4°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.1°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.6°F | −0.5°F | 14.45 | 6.5 |
| 2022 | 62.4°F | −0.7°F | 11.33 | 0.7 |
| 2023 | 64.4°F | +1.3°F | 8.17 | 3.0 |
| 2024 | 65.2°F | +2.1°F | 6.82 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 64.4°F | +1.3°F | 11.42 | 0.2 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00291153. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Brantley Dam's climate compare?
Brantley Dam is warmer than 88 of the 98 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 45. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.1°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Brantley Dam 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.
Questions about Brantley Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Brantley Dam?
December, with a normal high of 58°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (96°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow at Brantley Dam?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (1.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Brantley Dam?
July, with 2.13 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.38 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Brantley Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Brantley Dam in zone 8a in ZIP code 88254, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Brantley Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 25; in one year in ten it comes after April 13. Waiting until April 13 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
- Carlsbad, NM14 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Artesia, NM17 miles from this station, 60.6°F a year
- Dark Canyon Road, NM18 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Hope, NM29 miles from this station, 61.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made