Buffalo, WY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Buffalo's primary NOAA station, BUFFALO.
The climate verdict for Buffalo
Dryness leads the climate profile for Buffalo, Wyoming, with 13.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 43°F. At 39/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 4% of scores.
- 43°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 39/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.8"
- annual precipitation · 43" snow
- 120 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Buffalo: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00481165 · Buffalo, WY 43°F mean · 13.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 43°F
- RANK-COOL #892
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ New Sharon
- PRCP-DRY 13.8"
- SWING-MID 45°F
- COMF-LOW 39/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,140 HDD
- STN-1 USC00481165
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: New Sharon, ME (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WY station list.
- Hot Sweetgrass, MT 44°F
- Buffalo (this station) 43°F
- Cold Sunburst, MT 43°F
- Near New Sharon, ME 43°F
- Near E Sangerville, ME 43°F
Buffalo sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Buffalo
Buffalo: 15/100 · grade F
Buffalo publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Buffalo, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 39/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 42.7 inches/year | 25/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 13.8 in · 21.3 from 35 in | 24/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 43.4°F · 24.1° from 67.5°F | 14/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 206 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 120 days/year | 7/100 · F |
Buffalo · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Buffalo's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 68.0°F
- Coldest month
- 23.4°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Buffalo sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Buffalo's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 87%
- Among 6,861 stations, Buffalo sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 86%
- Buffalo's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 56th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Buffalo compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Buffalo's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
39 4th percentile score exceeds 4% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Buffalo's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 49 complete annual observations from 1902 to 2019, BUFFALO warmed at a fitted rate of 0.15°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Buffalo primary station fitted change +0.15 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F (2°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 0.4" | 6.6" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 7.4" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 47°F (8°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.7" | 6.5" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 53°F (12°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.5" | 4.2" | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (17°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.8" | 0.9" | 6.0 | 0.1 |
| June | 73°F (23°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.7 |
| August | 82°F (28°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.1 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.3" | 0.7" | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| October | 57°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.3" | 3.5" | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| November | 45°F (7°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.5" | 5.9" | 26.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.4" | 7.0" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 85°F around July 25, short of 90°F on every date, while 206 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 10°F near December 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 2, then returns to freezing around October 10, covering 206 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 25, when 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 10 at 16%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 85 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 27 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Buffalo.
Where Buffalo Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 206 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Buffalo earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 6.6"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.4"
6.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.5"
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.2"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
11.7 days with precipitation
10.0 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.5"
7.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.9"
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.0"
4.8 days with precipitation
Buffalo spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 31% of the annual total and December through February 10%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Buffalo has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 44.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.8" and December 0.4". The three wettest months together take 47% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Buffalo is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 85 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 13.8" between them. At roughly 0.16 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is May at about 12 wet days; the driest is November at about 5.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Buffalo
Buffalo averages 42.7 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 27 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 42.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 27 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 31% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
120 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,140
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
292
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Buffalo on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (43°F here).
- Ashton, ID 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Atlanta, MI 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Minot, ND 43°F · 0.0°F off
- Plymouth, NH 43°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hardin, MT 13.8" · 0.0" off
- Mitchell, OR 13.7" · 0.0" off
- Nephi, UT 13.7" · 0.0" off
- Redondo Beach, CA 13.8" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Buffalo
heating led · dry · mid swing
Buffalo's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,140 annual heating degree days against 292 for cooling. Its 44.6°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 120 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Buffalo coldest normal
January
Averaging 23°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Buffalo typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Buffalo snow peak
February
Buffalo averages 42.7 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Buffalo's climate
How much snow does Buffalo get? ▼
How cold does Buffalo get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Buffalo? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Buffalo's primary station: BUFFALO (USC00481165). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5610685). Match rule for Buffalo: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Buffalo comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.