Center, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Center's normal year runs from 4°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 7.2 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 5.7°C, January lows of −15°C, July highs of 27°C, 183 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCenter (4 mi SSW)
- Station IDUSC00051458
- Location37.71°N 106.14°W
- Elevation7,673 ft (2,339 m)
- Population1,889
On October 22, the normal high in Center is 58°F and the normal low 26°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 Center.
- Jan 32° 4°
- Feb 38° 10°
- Mar 49° 20°
- Apr 58° 27°
- May 67° 36°
- Jun 76° 42°
- Jul 80° 48°
- Aug 79° 46°
- Sep 73° 40°
- Oct 61° 29°
- Nov 46° 17°
- Dec 33° 5°
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 Center each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 4°F. The most precipitation falls in July (1.32 in), the least in January (0.13 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 4°F | 17.9°F | 0.13 | 3.5 | 2 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 38°F | 10°F | 24.0°F | 0.27 | 2.9 | 2 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 49°F | 20°F | 34.8°F | 0.33 | 5.5 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 27°F | 42.7°F | 0.53 | 1.8 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 67°F | 36°F | 51.5°F | 0.58 | 0.6 | 4 | <1 | 9 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 76°F | 42°F | 59.3°F | 0.63 | 0.0 | 5 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 80°F | 48°F | 63.8°F | 1.32 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 79°F | 46°F | 62.4°F | 1.19 | 0.0 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 73°F | 40°F | 56.2°F | 0.70 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 4 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 29°F | 44.7°F | 0.61 | 1.6 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 46°F | 17°F | 31.3°F | 0.46 | 3.1 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 33°F | 5°F | 19.2°F | 0.46 | 6.1 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 27°F | 42.3°F | 7.21 | 25.1 | 53 | 1 | 213 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −15°C | −7.8°C | 3 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 3°C | −12°C | −4.4°C | 7 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 10°C | −7°C | 1.6°C | 8 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 15°C | −3°C | 5.9°C | 13 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 19°C | 2°C | 10.8°C | 15 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 25°C | 6°C | 15.2°C | 16 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 9°C | 17.7°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 8°C | 16.9°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 4°C | 13.4°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | −2°C | 7.1°C | 15 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 8°C | −9°C | −0.4°C | 12 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 1°C | −15°C | −7.1°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051458; 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 Center?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00051458.
When is the last frost in Center?
In Center, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 24 in half of years and after June 8 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 24 in half of years and before September 12 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 241 year in 10 after June 8; 9 in 10 after May 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 241 year in 10 before September 12; 9 in 10 before October 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 120 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 146 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 8 in half of springs and before October 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Center in zone 5a in ZIP code 81125, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Center's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (16 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 USC00051458; 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 Center?
In a normal year in Center, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 213 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 53 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 213a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 39high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 53a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1941) is 95°F, on June 21, 1954; the lowest is −41°F, on December 9, 1978.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1990, with 11.13 in; the snowiest season is 1986–87, with 59.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00051458; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00051458. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Center?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Center, 5.2 kWh per square metre a day. January is the sunniest month (85%) and July the cloudiest (77%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.2 |
| February | 83% | 4.1 |
| March | 83% | 5.4 |
| April | 79% | 6.4 |
| May | 80% | 7.1 |
| June | 85% | 7.8 |
| July | 77% | 6.7 |
| August | 77% | 6.1 |
| September | 82% | 5.5 |
| October | 84% | 4.4 |
| November | 83% | 3.3 |
| December | 82% | 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 Center need?
A normal year in Center brings 8,288 heating degree days, 54% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 40 cooling degree days, 96% 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 1,429 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,460 | 0 |
| February | 1,148 | 0 |
| March | 936 | 0 |
| April | 669 | 0 |
| May | 419 | 0 |
| June | 176 | 5 |
| July | 63 | 24 |
| August | 91 | 10 |
| September | 265 | 1 |
| October | 631 | 0 |
| November | 1,011 | 0 |
| December | 1,420 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 8,288 | 40 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051458. 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.
How does Center's climate compare?
Center is warmer than 24 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 0. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 42.3°F is warmer than 10%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Center 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 Center share this climate record?
Hooper has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Hooper, CO77 people · 15 mi E
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 Center's climate
What is the coldest month in Center?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 4°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Center?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 10 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (6.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Center?
July, with 1.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.13 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Center in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Center in zone 5a in ZIP code 81125, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Center's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −18°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Center?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 24; in one year in ten it comes after June 8. Waiting until June 8 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Monte Vista, CO9 miles from this station, 40.4°F a year
- Del Norte, CO9 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Waverly (1 mi W), CO20 miles from this station, 40.4°F a year
- Alamosa, CO24 miles from this station, 42.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made