Carpenter, WY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Carpenter's primary NOAA station, CARPENTER 3N.
The climate verdict for Carpenter
Dryness leads the climate profile for Carpenter, Wyoming, with 15.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 47°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 47°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.3"
- annual precipitation · 35" snow
- 135 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Carpenter: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00481547 · Carpenter, WY 47°F mean · 15.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,852
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ephraim
- PRCP-DRY 15.3"
- SWING-MID 44°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,994 HDD
- STN-1 USC00481547
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ephraim, UT (+ 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.
- Carpenter (this station) 47°F
- Hot Preston, ID 47°F
- Near Ephraim, UT 47°F
- Near Perrysburg, NY 47°F
- Near Bellevue, ID 47°F
Carpenter 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 · Carpenter
Carpenter: 25/100 · grade F
Carpenter publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Carpenter, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 34.5 inches/year | 34/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 15.3 in · 19.7 from 35 in | 30/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.9°F · 20.6° from 67.5°F | 27/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 189 calendar days | 20/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 135 days/year | 15/100 · F |
Carpenter · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Carpenter'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
- 70.9°F
- Coldest month
- 26.7°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 Carpenter sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Carpenter's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 73%
- Among 6,861 stations, Carpenter sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 82%
- Carpenter's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 54th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Carpenter compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Carpenter's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F (5°C) | 13°F (-10°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.3" | 4.3" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 42°F (6°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.4" | 5.4" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 52°F (11°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.8" | 6.7" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 4.6" | 17.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.4" | 0.8" | 5.0 | 0.5 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.1 |
| July | 87°F (30°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 12.1 |
| August | 85°F (29°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 1.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.2 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 1.9" | 0.4" | 2.3 | 1.7 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.1" | 2.8" | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 49°F (10°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.5" | 6.0" | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 41°F (5°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.4" | 3.5" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 20, short of 90°F on every date, while 189 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 12°F near December 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 23, then returns to freezing around October 18, covering 189 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 June 2, when 39% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 5 at 10%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 83 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 6 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 34°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Carpenter.
Where Carpenter Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 189 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 15 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Carpenter 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: 4.3"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.4"
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.6"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
10.1 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.5"
3.0 days with precipitation
Carpenter runs a summer-peaked wet season
40% of Carpenter'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 May at 2.4", on a 44.2°F seasonal spread. 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: May, July, June, taking 44% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.3".
- Winter share: 7% 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.
Carpenter is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 82 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 15.3" between them. At roughly 0.19 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 June at about 11 wet days; the driest is December at about 3.
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 Carpenter
Carpenter averages 34.5 inches of snowfall a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 19 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: 34.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 19 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 22% 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 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 14
50% probability date
Growing Season
135 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,994
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
437
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Carpenter 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 (47°F here).
- Bath, NY 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Battle Creek, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bayard, WV 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Bellevue, ID 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bynum, MT 15.3" · 0.0" off
- Fortuna, ND 15.3" · 0.0" off
- Hugo, CO 15.3" · 0.0" off
- Elgin, AZ 15.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Carpenter
heating led · dry · mid swing
Carpenter's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,994 annual heating degree days against 437 for cooling. Its 44.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 135 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. Carpenter coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 27°F (-3°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Carpenter typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Carpenter snow peak
March
Carpenter averages 34.5 inches of snow a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Carpenter's climate
How much snow does Carpenter get? ▼
How cold does Carpenter get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Carpenter? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Carpenter's primary station: CARPENTER 3N (USC00481547). 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 5612860), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Carpenter: 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 Carpenter 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.