Brighton, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Brighton's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 14.1 inches of precipitation and 35 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 358 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBrighton (3 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00050950
- Location39.94°N 104.84°W
- Elevation5,016 ft (1,529 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population43,473
On October 22, the normal high in Brighton is 63°F and the normal low 33°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 Brighton.
- Jan 44° 16°
- Feb 46° 19°
- Mar 56° 27°
- Apr 63° 34°
- May 72° 43°
- Jun 84° 52°
- Jul 90° 58°
- Aug 88° 56°
- Sep 80° 47°
- Oct 66° 35°
- Nov 53° 25°
- Dec 44° 16°
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 Brighton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.35 in), the least in December (0.37 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 16°F | 30.2°F | 0.42 | 5.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 19°F | 32.2°F | 0.43 | 5.3 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 27°F | 41.3°F | 0.98 | 6.0 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 34°F | 48.4°F | 1.77 | 3.1 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 43°F | 57.5°F | 2.35 | 0.5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 52°F | 68.3°F | 1.41 | 0.0 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 90°F | 58°F | 74.1°F | 1.72 | 0.0 | 7 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 88°F | 56°F | 72.0°F | 1.77 | 0.0 | 6 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 47°F | 63.6°F | 1.18 | 0.2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 35°F | 50.4°F | 1.02 | 3.2 | 5 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 53°F | 25°F | 39.1°F | 0.69 | 5.8 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 16°F | 30.2°F | 0.37 | 5.2 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 36°F | 50.6°F | 14.11 | 34.5 | 67 | 49 | 163 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −9°C | −1.0°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 8°C | −7°C | 0.1°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 13°C | −3°C | 5.2°C | 25 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 9.1°C | 45 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 22°C | 6°C | 14.2°C | 60 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 29°C | 11°C | 20.2°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 15°C | 23.4°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 14°C | 22.2°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 9°C | 17.6°C | 30 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 19°C | 2°C | 10.2°C | 26 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 3.9°C | 18 mm | 15 cm |
| December | 7°C | −9°C | −1.0°C | 9 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00050950; 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 Brighton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00050950.
When is the last frost in Brighton?
In Brighton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 16 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 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
- May 31 year in 10 after May 16; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 155 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Brighton in zone 5b in ZIP code 80601. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Brighton's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00050950; 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 Brighton?
In a normal year in Brighton, 49 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 163 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 67 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 49a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 163a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 67a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 12a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1973) is 105°F, on July 27, 2026; the lowest is −26°F, on December 22, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2023, with 21.88 in; the snowiest season is 2020–21, with 72.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00050950; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00050950. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Brighton?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Brighton, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (85%) and May the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.6 |
| February | 78% | 3.5 |
| March | 78% | 4.7 |
| April | 76% | 5.8 |
| May | 76% | 6.5 |
| June | 82% | 7.2 |
| July | 83% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.4 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 81% | 2.9 |
| December | 79% | 2.3 |
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 Brighton need?
A normal year in Brighton brings 5,964 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 753 cooling degree days, 17% fewer 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 2,923 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,077 | 0 |
| February | 918 | 0 |
| March | 735 | 0 |
| April | 499 | 1 |
| May | 253 | 22 |
| June | 45 | 142 |
| July | 5 | 287 |
| August | 9 | 226 |
| September | 114 | 72 |
| October | 453 | 2 |
| November | 776 | 0 |
| December | 1,080 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,964 | 753 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00050950. 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 Brighton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.5°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.6°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.8°F | +1.2°F | 13.21 | 56.7 |
| 2022 | 50.4°F | −0.2°F | 11.47 | 51.3 |
| 2023 | 50.1°F | −0.5°F | 21.88 | 32.8 |
| 2024 | 53.0°F | +2.4°F | 12.24 | 29.5 |
| 2025 | 52.5°F | +1.9°F | 11.61 | 19.8 |
Over 37 complete years from 1975 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.9°F per century (+0.27°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00050950; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Brighton's climate compare?
Brighton is warmer than 86 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 41. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Brighton 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 Brighton 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.
- Commerce City, COalso near: Denver (8 mi, 51.2°F a year); Northglenn (12 mi, 52.4°F a year)70,245 people · 5 mi SE
- Fort Lupton, CO9,948 people · 10 mi N
- Lochbuie, CO8,599 people · 7 mi NE
- Todd Creek, CO5,069 people · 3 mi NW
- Aristocrat Ranchettes, CO2,335 people · 12 mi N
- Hudson, CO1,617 people · 16 mi NE
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 Brighton's climate
What is the coldest month in Brighton?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Brighton?
Yes: 35 inches in a normal year, falling on 22 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (6.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Brighton?
May, with 2.35 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Brighton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Brighton in zone 5b in ZIP code 80601. By the same method at Brighton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −14°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Brighton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; in one year in ten it comes after May 16. Waiting until May 16 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Northglenn, CO10 miles from this station, 52.4°F a year
- Denver, CO12 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Denver Water Dept, CO17 miles from this station, 53.3°F a year
- Wheat Ridge, CO19 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made