Buena Vista, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Buena Vista's normal year runs from 11°F December nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 9.9 inches of precipitation and 49 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.1°C, December lows of −11°C, July highs of 28°C, 252 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBuena Vista (2 mi S)
- Station IDUSC00051071
- Location38.82°N 106.13°W
- Elevation7,954 ft (2,424 m)
- Population3,127
On October 23, the normal high in Buena Vista is 59°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Buena Vista.
- Jan 41° 11°
- Feb 43° 14°
- Mar 50° 21°
- Apr 57° 27°
- May 67° 36°
- Jun 78° 43°
- Jul 83° 49°
- Aug 80° 47°
- Sep 74° 40°
- Oct 62° 29°
- Nov 50° 20°
- Dec 40° 11°
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 Buena Vista each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 11°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.57 in), the least in January (0.33 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 11°F | 25.8°F | 0.33 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 43°F | 14°F | 28.1°F | 0.44 | 7.4 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 50°F | 21°F | 35.8°F | 0.62 | 8.2 | 6 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 27°F | 41.6°F | 1.02 | 8.1 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 67°F | 36°F | 51.1°F | 1.17 | 3.2 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 78°F | 43°F | 60.9°F | 0.70 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 83°F | 49°F | 66.2°F | 1.51 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 80°F | 47°F | 63.7°F | 1.57 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 74°F | 40°F | 56.8°F | 0.90 | 0.4 | 8 | <1 | 4 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 29°F | 45.6°F | 0.80 | 3.1 | 6 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 50°F | 20°F | 34.6°F | 0.44 | 5.1 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 40°F | 11°F | 25.7°F | 0.43 | 7.6 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 29°F | 44.7°F | 9.93 | 49.3 | 84 | 5 | 208 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −12°C | −3.4°C | 8 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 6°C | −10°C | −2.2°C | 11 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 10°C | −6°C | 2.1°C | 16 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 14°C | −3°C | 5.3°C | 26 mm | 21 cm |
| May | 19°C | 2°C | 10.6°C | 30 mm | 8 cm |
| June | 26°C | 6°C | 16.1°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 10°C | 19.0°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27°C | 8°C | 17.6°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 4°C | 13.8°C | 23 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 17°C | −2°C | 7.6°C | 20 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 10°C | −7°C | 1.4°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 5°C | −11°C | −3.5°C | 11 mm | 19 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051071; 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 Buena Vista?
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 (7).
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 USC00051071.
When is the last frost in Buena Vista?
In Buena Vista, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 27 in half of years and after June 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 23 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 271 year in 10 after June 11; 9 in 10 after May 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 231 year in 10 before September 10; 9 in 10 before October 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 116 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 138 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 15 in half of springs and before October 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Buena Vista in zone 5b in ZIP code 81236, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Buena Vista's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (25 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 USC00051071; 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 Buena Vista?
In a normal year in Buena Vista, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 208 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 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
- 208a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 20high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 105°F, on June 26, 1927; the lowest is −37°F, on January 28, 1948.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1969, with 15.35 in; the snowiest season is 2020–21, with 85.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00051071; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00051071. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Buena Vista?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Buena Vista, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. March is the sunniest month (82%) and May the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 2.9 |
| February | 78% | 3.8 |
| March | 82% | 5.3 |
| April | 76% | 6.1 |
| May | 74% | 6.6 |
| June | 82% | 7.5 |
| July | 75% | 6.6 |
| August | 76% | 6.0 |
| September | 81% | 5.4 |
| October | 82% | 4.2 |
| November | 80% | 3.0 |
| December | 79% | 2.5 |
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 Buena Vista need?
A normal year in Buena Vista brings 7,521 heating degree days, 40% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 131 cooling degree days, 86% 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 1,641 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,214 | 0 |
| February | 1,033 | 0 |
| March | 905 | 0 |
| April | 704 | 0 |
| May | 432 | 1 |
| June | 143 | 20 |
| July | 35 | 73 |
| August | 75 | 35 |
| September | 249 | 3 |
| October | 601 | 0 |
| November | 912 | 0 |
| December | 1,218 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,521 | 131 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051071. 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 Buena Vista been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.0°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.7°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.7°F | +1.0°F | 11.19 | 54.0 |
| 2022 | 44.6°F | −0.1°F | 11.10 | 60.7 |
| 2023 | 44.5°F | −0.2°F | 11.26 | 39.9 |
| 2024 | 46.0°F | +1.3°F | 12.57 | 61.9 |
| 2025 | 47.0°F | +2.3°F | 7.47 | 15.2 |
Over 55 complete years from 1914 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.3°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00051071; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Buena Vista's climate compare?
Buena Vista is warmer than 39 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.7°F is warmer than 18%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista share this climate record?
2 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.
- Johnson Village, CO199 people · 1 mi SE
- Nathrop, CO111 people · 6 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 Buena Vista's climate
What is the coldest month in Buena Vista?
December, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 11°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Buena Vista?
Yes: 49 inches in a normal year, falling on 30 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (8.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Buena Vista?
August, with 1.57 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Buena Vista in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Buena Vista in zone 5b in ZIP code 81236, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Buena Vista's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Buena Vista?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 27; in one year in ten it comes after June 11. Waiting until June 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Buena Vista in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Antero Reservoir, CO17 miles from this station, 35.4°F a year
- Salida, CO21 miles from this station, 46.3°F a year
- Twin Lakes, CO22 miles from this station, 37.7°F a year
- Taylor Park, CO26 miles from this station, 34.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made