Centennial, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Centennial's normal year runs from 19°F December nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 15.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 31°C, 382 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDenver Centennial Airport
- Station IDUSW00093067
- Location39.57°N 104.85°W
- Elevation5,883 ft (1,793 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population108,853
On October 14, the normal high in Centennial is 65°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Centennial.
- Jan 45° 19°
- Feb 46° 20°
- Mar 54° 27°
- Apr 60° 34°
- May 69° 43°
- Jun 81° 52°
- Jul 87° 59°
- Aug 85° 57°
- Sep 77° 49°
- Oct 64° 36°
- Nov 52° 26°
- Dec 44° 19°
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 Centennial each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.25 in), the least in December (0.35 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 | 45°F | 19°F | 31.8°F | 0.41 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 20°F | 33.0°F | 0.43 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 27°F | 40.8°F | 1.04 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 34°F | 46.7°F | 1.94 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 69°F | 43°F | 55.7°F | 2.04 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 52°F | 66.7°F | 1.98 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 87°F | 59°F | 72.9°F | 1.76 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 85°F | 57°F | 70.8°F | 2.25 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 49°F | 62.8°F | 1.29 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 36°F | 50.0°F | 1.00 | 6 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 26°F | 39.3°F | 0.53 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 19°F | 31.4°F | 0.35 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 37°F | 50.2°F | 15.02 | 84 | 32 | 155 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −7°C | −0.1°C | 10 mm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 0.6°C | 11 mm |
| March | 12°C | −3°C | 4.9°C | 26 mm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 49 mm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.2°C | 52 mm |
| June | 27°C | 11°C | 19.3°C | 50 mm |
| July | 31°C | 15°C | 22.7°C | 45 mm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.6°C | 57 mm |
| September | 25°C | 9°C | 17.1°C | 33 mm |
| October | 18°C | 2°C | 10.0°C | 25 mm |
| November | 11°C | −3°C | 4.1°C | 13 mm |
| December | 7°C | −7°C | −0.3°C | 9 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Castle Rock (11 miles away), gets 58 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093067; 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 Centennial?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USW00093067.
When is the last frost in Centennial?
In Centennial, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 25 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 51 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 172 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Centennial in zone 6a across its 6 ZIP code areas (6a in 80112, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Centennial's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093067; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Centennial ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Centennial's 6 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Centennial?
In a normal year in Centennial, 32 days a year reach 90°F, 155 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 84 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 155a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 84a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1998) is 101°F, on June 28, 2018; the lowest is −17°F, on February 5, 2014.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2023, with 24.69 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093067; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093067. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Centennial, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 46°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 49°F; the driest air comes in December (13°F). March is the windiest month (9.4 mph on average), and August has the most clear or nearly clear hours (60%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°F | 50% | 34% | 7.9 mph | 51% | 12% |
| February | 15°F | 45% | 28% | 8.6 mph | 57% | 13% |
| March | 23°F | 46% | 28% | 9.4 mph | 51% | 20% |
| April | 30°F | 48% | 31% | 9.0 mph | – | – |
| May | 41°F | 48% | 31% | 8.7 mph | 47% | 11% |
| June | 45°F | 41% | 24% | 8.5 mph | 57% | 4% |
| July | 49°F | 47% | 29% | 8.0 mph | 56% | 7% |
| August | 44°F | 43% | 25% | 7.9 mph | 60% | 5% |
| September | 34°F | 45% | 26% | 7.7 mph | 55% | 9% |
| October | 24°F | 46% | 29% | 7.6 mph | – | – |
| November | 15°F | 47% | 31% | 7.7 mph | 59% | 11% |
| December | 13°F | 50% | 34% | 7.6 mph | 58% | 9% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093067. 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 Centennial?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Centennial, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (85%) and May the cloudiest (76%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 125th (with 50 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.6 |
| February | 78% | 3.5 |
| March | 78% | 4.7 |
| April | 76% | 5.8 |
| May | 76% | 6.5 |
| June | 82% | 7.2 |
| July | 83% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.4 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 81% | 2.9 |
| December | 79% | 2.3 |
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 Centennial need?
A normal year in Centennial brings 6,014 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 636 cooling degree days, 30% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,708 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,029 | 0 |
| February | 896 | 0 |
| March | 750 | 0 |
| April | 548 | 1 |
| May | 303 | 15 |
| June | 63 | 114 |
| July | 4 | 251 |
| August | 14 | 192 |
| September | 127 | 62 |
| October | 468 | 3 |
| November | 771 | 0 |
| December | 1,041 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,014 | 636 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093067. 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 Centennial been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.5°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.2°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.6°F | +1.4°F | 15.78 |
| 2022 | 50.3°F | +0.1°F | 12.35 |
| 2023 | 50.0°F | −0.2°F | 24.69 |
| 2024 | 53.0°F | +2.8°F | 13.96 |
| 2025 | 52.5°F | +2.3°F | 12.65 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093067. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Centennial's climate compare?
Centennial is warmer than 78 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 53. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.2°F is warmer than 41%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Centennial 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 Centennial share this climate record?
10 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.
- Highlands Ranch, COalso near: Marston Filter Plant (8 mi, 50.8°F a year); Kassler (8 mi, 50.2°F a year)101,437 people · 7 mi W
- Lone Tree, CO14,061 people · 3 mi SW
- Dove Valley, CO5,313 people · 1 mi E
- Meridian, CO5,058 people · 2 mi S
- Sierra Ridge, CO3,264 people · 3 mi SE
- Inverness, CO3,088 people · 1 mi NW
- Meridian Village, CO2,768 people · 3 mi SE
- Acres Green, CO2,709 people · 3 mi W
- Foxfield, CO744 people · 4 mi E
- Grand View Estates, CO736 people · 2 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.
Questions about Centennial's climate
What is the coldest month in Centennial?
December, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Centennial?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Centennial's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Castle Rock (11 miles away), records 58 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Centennial?
August, with 2.25 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.35 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Centennial in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Centennial in zone 6a across its 6 ZIP code areas (6a in 80112, the largest). By the same method at Centennial's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Centennial?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Centennial in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cherry Creek, CO4 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Parker, CO6 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Castle Rock, CO11 miles from this station, 49.6°F a year
- Marston Filter Plant, CO12 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made