Carlsbad, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Carlsbad's normal year runs from 30°F December nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 12.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.4°C, December lows of −1°C, July highs of 35°C, 306 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCarlsbad Cavern City Airport
- Station IDUSW00093033
- Location32.33°N 104.26°W
- Elevation3,232 ft (985 m)
- Population31,999
On October 23, the normal high in Carlsbad is 75°F and the normal low 46°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 13%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Carlsbad.
- Jan 58° 30°
- Feb 63° 34°
- Mar 71° 40°
- Apr 80° 48°
- May 88° 57°
- Jun 96° 66°
- Jul 95° 69°
- Aug 94° 68°
- Sep 87° 61°
- Oct 78° 49°
- Nov 66° 37°
- Dec 57° 30°
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 Carlsbad each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in September (2.58 in), the least in January (0.37 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F | 30°F | 43.9°F | 0.37 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 63°F | 34°F | 48.4°F | 0.42 | 3 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 40°F | 55.6°F | 0.54 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 h |
| April | 80°F | 48°F | 63.7°F | 0.45 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 88°F | 57°F | 72.6°F | 1.15 | 4 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 96°F | 66°F | 81.0°F | 1.19 | 5 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 95°F | 69°F | 82.3°F | 1.76 | 6 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 94°F | 68°F | 81.0°F | 1.65 | 6 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 87°F | 61°F | 73.9°F | 2.58 | 6 | 14 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 49°F | 63.3°F | 0.89 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 66°F | 37°F | 51.4°F | 0.53 | 3 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 30°F | 43.5°F | 0.52 | 4 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 49°F | 63.4°F | 12.05 | 48 | 121 | 69 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 9 mm |
| February | 17°C | 1°C | 9.1°C | 11 mm |
| March | 22°C | 5°C | 13.1°C | 14 mm |
| April | 27°C | 9°C | 17.6°C | 11 mm |
| May | 31°C | 14°C | 22.6°C | 29 mm |
| June | 36°C | 19°C | 27.2°C | 30 mm |
| July | 35°C | 21°C | 27.9°C | 45 mm |
| August | 34°C | 20°C | 27.2°C | 42 mm |
| September | 30°C | 16°C | 23.3°C | 66 mm |
| October | 25°C | 9°C | 17.4°C | 23 mm |
| November | 19°C | 3°C | 10.8°C | 13 mm |
| December | 14°C | −1°C | 6.4°C | 13 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Carlsbad's own co-op station Carlsbad station does: 3 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093033; 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 Carlsbad?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USW00093033.
When is the last frost in Carlsbad?
In Carlsbad, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 27 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 7 in half of years and before October 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
- March 271 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 7
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 71 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 223 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 249 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Carlsbad in zone 8a in ZIP code 88220, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Carlsbad's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (28 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 USW00093033; 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 Carlsbad?
In a normal year in Carlsbad, 121 days a year reach 90°F (35 of them 100°F or more), 69 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 48 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 121a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 35a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 69a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 48a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1930) is 113°F, on June 27, 1994; the lowest is −18°F, on January 11, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 25.48 in; the snowiest season is 1982–83, with 26.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093033; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093033. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Carlsbad, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 56°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 58°F; the driest air comes in January (23°F). March is the windiest month (11.0 mph on average), and April has the most clear or nearly clear hours (82%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F | 44% | 24% | 8.9 mph | 74% | 14% |
| February | 23°F | 35% | 19% | 10.3 mph | 76% | 12% |
| March | 27°F | 30% | 16% | 11.0 mph | 81% | 9% |
| April | 32°F | 27% | 14% | 10.8 mph | 82% | 7% |
| May | 45°F | 33% | 18% | 9.7 mph | 81% | 6% |
| June | 55°F | 41% | 23% | 9.0 mph | 78% | 5% |
| July | 58°F | 45% | 27% | 7.6 mph | 73% | 6% |
| August | 56°F | 48% | 28% | 7.5 mph | 77% | 6% |
| September | 48°F | 48% | 27% | 7.8 mph | 80% | 8% |
| October | 36°F | 48% | 27% | 8.3 mph | 77% | 12% |
| November | 25°F | 45% | 26% | 8.3 mph | 78% | 11% |
| December | 24°F | 51% | 31% | 8.4 mph | 76% | 14% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093033. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Carlsbad?
Over a year 88% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Carlsbad, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (84%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 85% | 4.5 |
| March | 86% | 5.7 |
| April | 90% | 7.1 |
| May | 89% | 7.6 |
| June | 91% | 7.8 |
| July | 88% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 87% | 5.7 |
| October | 88% | 4.8 |
| November | 86% | 3.8 |
| December | 84% | 3.2 |
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 Carlsbad need?
A normal year in Carlsbad brings 2,756 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,194 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,623 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 654 | 0 |
| February | 465 | 1 |
| March | 301 | 11 |
| April | 109 | 69 |
| May | 20 | 254 |
| June | 0 | 482 |
| July | 0 | 538 |
| August | 0 | 496 |
| September | 10 | 277 |
| October | 118 | 64 |
| November | 411 | 3 |
| December | 668 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,756 | 2,194 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093033. 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 Carlsbad been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 65.7°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.4°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.5°F | +0.1°F | 9.15 |
| 2022 | 63.2°F | −0.2°F | 7.16 |
| 2023 | 65.4°F | +2.0°F | 5.11 |
| 2024 | 66.1°F | +2.7°F | 5.18 |
| 2025 | 65.7°F | +2.3°F | 9.69 |
Over 63 complete years from 1949 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.3°F per century (+0.30°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093033; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Carlsbad's climate compare?
Carlsbad is warmer than 94 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 33. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.4°F is warmer than 84%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Carlsbad is BWk: cold desert. 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 Carlsbad share this climate record?
5 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.
- La Huerta, NM1,673 people · 8 mi N
- Loving, NM1,359 people · 10 mi E
- Livingston Wheeler, NM643 people · 5 mi NE
- Happy Valley, NM616 people · 7 mi N
- Malaga, NM63 people · 14 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.
What do Carlsbad's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Carlsbad. This page uses Carlsbad Cavern City Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlsbad Caverns USC00291480 | 15 mi SW | 4,435 ft | 62.8°F | 34°F | 91°F | 13.8 | 4 | April 2 |
| Carlsbad station USC00291469 | 2 mi NE | 3,120 ft | 64.4°F | 30°F | 97°F | 12.6 | 3 | March 17 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Carlsbad's climate
What is the coldest month in Carlsbad?
December, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Carlsbad?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Carlsbad's NOAA station; Carlsbad's own co-op station Carlsbad station records 3 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Carlsbad?
September, with 2.58 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Carlsbad in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Carlsbad in zone 8a in ZIP code 88220, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Carlsbad's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Carlsbad?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 27; in one year in ten it comes after April 13. Waiting until April 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Carlsbad in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Brantley Dam, NM14 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Dark Canyon Road, NM16 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Waste Isolt'n Pilot Plant, NM27 miles from this station, 63.9°F a year
- Artesia, NM30 miles from this station, 60.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made