Capulin, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Capulin's normal year runs from 14°F December nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 17.6 inches of precipitation and 41 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.7°C, December lows of −10°C, July highs of 30°C, 447 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCapulin
- Station IDUSC00291450
- Location36.74°N 103.99°W
- Elevation6,840 ft (2,085 m)
- Population (census place)79
On October 23, the normal high in Capulin is 64°F and the normal low 30°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 Capulin.
- Jan 46° 15°
- Feb 49° 18°
- Mar 57° 24°
- Apr 64° 31°
- May 74° 40°
- Jun 83° 49°
- Jul 86° 54°
- Aug 83° 53°
- Sep 77° 46°
- Oct 67° 33°
- Nov 55° 22°
- Dec 46° 14°
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 Capulin each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 14°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.60 in), the least in February (0.50 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F | 15°F | 30.5°F | 0.51 | 6.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 49°F | 18°F | 33.4°F | 0.50 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 24°F | 40.5°F | 0.98 | 7.7 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 31°F | 47.7°F | 0.96 | 4.6 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 40°F | 56.6°F | 1.46 | 0.7 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 49°F | 65.9°F | 2.31 | 0.0 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 86°F | 54°F | 69.8°F | 3.60 | 0.0 | 13 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 53°F | 67.7°F | 2.87 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 77°F | 46°F | 61.7°F | 1.93 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 33°F | 50.1°F | 1.10 | 2.4 | 5 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 22°F | 38.4°F | 0.62 | 4.6 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 14°F | 30.1°F | 0.76 | 9.1 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 33°F | 49.4°F | 17.60 | 40.9 | 82 | 16 | 183 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −9°C | −0.8°C | 13 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 9°C | −8°C | 0.8°C | 13 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 14°C | −4°C | 4.7°C | 25 mm | 20 cm |
| April | 18°C | 0°C | 8.7°C | 24 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 23°C | 4°C | 13.7°C | 37 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 28°C | 10°C | 18.8°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 12°C | 21.0°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 11°C | 19.8°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 8°C | 16.5°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 1°C | 10.1°C | 28 mm | 6 cm |
| November | 13°C | −5°C | 3.6°C | 16 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 8°C | −10°C | −1.1°C | 19 mm | 23 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291450; 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 Capulin?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August, 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 USC00291450.
When is the last frost in Capulin?
In Capulin, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 17 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 19 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 171 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 136 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 156 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Capulin in zone 5b in ZIP code 88414, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Capulin's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (17 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 USC00291450; 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 Capulin?
In a normal year in Capulin, 16 days a year reach 90°F, 183 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 82 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 183a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 82a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00291450.
How sunny is Capulin?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Capulin, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (88%) and December the cloudiest (80%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.1 |
| February | 81% | 4.0 |
| March | 82% | 5.3 |
| April | 83% | 6.5 |
| May | 85% | 7.3 |
| June | 88% | 7.7 |
| July | 87% | 7.3 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 88% | 5.7 |
| October | 86% | 4.5 |
| November | 86% | 3.4 |
| December | 80% | 2.7 |
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 Capulin need?
A normal year in Capulin brings 6,069 heating degree days, 13% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 390 cooling degree days, 57% 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 2,419 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,070 | 0 |
| February | 885 | 0 |
| March | 760 | 0 |
| April | 521 | 0 |
| May | 272 | 10 |
| June | 57 | 83 |
| July | 8 | 157 |
| August | 23 | 107 |
| September | 131 | 32 |
| October | 464 | 1 |
| November | 798 | 0 |
| December | 1,080 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,069 | 390 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291450. 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 Capulin been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 49.2°F, 0.2°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 49.4°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 49.2°F | −0.2°F | 19.65 | 70.3 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00291450. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Capulin's climate compare?
Capulin is warmer than 18 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 86. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.4°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Capulin 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 Capulin share this climate record?
3 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.
- Des Moines, NM111 people · 9 mi E
- Branson, CO57 people · 20 mi N
- Folsom, NM45 people · 9 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 Capulin's climate
What is the coldest month in Capulin?
December, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 14°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Capulin?
Yes: 41 inches in a normal year, falling on 20 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (9.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Capulin?
July, with 3.60 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Capulin in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Capulin in zone 5b in ZIP code 88414, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Capulin's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −13°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Capulin?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 17; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 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
- Grenville, NM23 miles from this station, 51.9°F a year
- Lake Maloya, NM27 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Raton Filter Plant, NM27 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Raton, NM28 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made