Cantwell, AK 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 Cantwell's primary NOAA station, CANTWELL 2 E.
The climate verdict for Cantwell
Dryness leads the climate profile for Cantwell, Alaska, with 16.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 27°F. July is the warmest month at 55°F and January the coldest at 1°F.
- 27°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 16.8"
- annual precipitation
Cantwell: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00501243 · Cantwell, AK 27°F mean · 16.8" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 27°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Delta
- PRCP-DRY 16.8"
- SWING-WIDE 55°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 13,771 HDD
- STN-1 USC00501243
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Delta, AK (+ 0.2 °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 AK station list.
- Hot Mile 42 Steese, AK 28°F
- Cantwell (this station) 27°F
- Cold Nabesna, AK 27°F
- Near Delta, AK 27°F
- Near Eielson Fld, AK 27°F
Cantwell sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Cantwell
Cantwell: 8/100 · grade F
Cantwell publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Cantwell, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 16.8 in · 18.2 from 35 in | 35/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 27.2°F · 40.3° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 257 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Cantwell · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Cantwell is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 0.7°F and warmest-month mean 55.2°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 55.2°F
- Coldest month
- 0.7°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 Cantwell sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Cantwell's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Cantwell sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 78%
- Cantwell's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 91%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Cantwell is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°F (-12°C) | -9°F (-23°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 0.9" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 19°F (-7°C) | -3°F (-20°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 0.9" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 25°F (-4°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 0.7" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 40°F (4°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.5" | 29.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 54°F (12°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 0.8" | 21.9 | 0.0 |
| June | 65°F (18°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.6" | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| July | 66°F (19°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.9" | 1.6 | 0.0 |
| August | 61°F (16°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 3.3" | 4.7 | 0.0 |
| September | 50°F (10°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 2.5" | 16.5 | 0.0 |
| October | 34°F (1°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 1.2" | 29.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 18°F (-8°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 0.9" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 13°F (-10°C) | -6°F (-21°C) | 4°F (-16°C) | 0.7" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 68°F around June 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 257 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -10°F near January 10.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 27, then returns to freezing around September 14, covering 257 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 August 12, when 54% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 17 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 119 wet dates a year.
The widest day
March 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Cantwell.
Where Cantwell Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 257 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Cantwell earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
8.3 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
5.5 days with precipitation
6.6 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
15.4 days with precipitation
16.2 days with precipitation
14.7 days with precipitation
10.6 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
Cantwell runs a summer-peaked wet season
47% of Cantwell's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is August at 3.3", on a wide 54.5°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: August, July, September, taking 52% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: April at 0.5".
- Winter share: 15% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Cantwell is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 118 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 32% of the calendar, and they carry 16.8" between them. At roughly 0.14 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 August at about 16 wet days; the driest is March at about 6.
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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
13,771
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Cantwell 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 (27°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 7.0°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 7.0°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 7.1°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 7.2°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Lamesa, TX 16.8" · 0.0" off
- Chugwater, WY 16.8" · 0.0" off
- Geraldine, MT 16.9" · 0.0" off
- Sequim, WA 16.9" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Cantwell's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Cantwell's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 13,771 annual heating degree days against 2 for cooling. Its 54.5°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Cantwell. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Cantwell's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 54.5°F. The annual average is 27°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Cantwell's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 16.8 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Cantwell's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Cantwell, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Cantwell's climate
How much rain does Cantwell get? ▼
How cold does Cantwell get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Cantwell? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Cantwell's primary station: CANTWELL 2 E (USC00501243). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 0210150), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Cantwell: 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 Cantwell 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.