Central, AK Climate: Temperature by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Central's primary NOAA station, CENTRAL #2.
The climate verdict for Central
Winter sets the terms in Central, Alaska. A pronounced 76.7°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 23°F. July is the warmest month at 61°F and January the coldest at -16°F.
- 23°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 93 days
- frost-free growing season
Central: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00501466 · Central, AK 23°F mean
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-UNK · SWING-WIDE · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-PART
- TEMP-COLD 23°F
- RANK-COOL #1
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Kotzebue Ralph…
- PRCP-UNK Rain n/a
- SWING-WIDE 77°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 15,318 HDD
- STN-1 USC00501466
- BOOK-PART 4/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Kotzebue Ralph Wein, AK (+ 1 °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 AK station list.
- Hot Goldstream Creek, AK 24°F
- Near Kotzebue Ralph…, AK 24°F
- Near Port Alcan, AK 24°F
- Near Tok, AK 24°F
- Central (this station) 23°F
Central sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Central
Central: 0/100 · grade F
Central publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Central, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 23.0°F · 44.5° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 93 days/year | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 243 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Central · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
National standing · heating-led station
Where Central sits across the climate record
Available NOAA 1991–2020 fields for Central are ranked only against stations that publish the same field, missing metrics stay blank rather than estimated.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 100%
- Among 6,861 stations, Central sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Central is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -7°F (-22°C) | -24°F (-31°C) | -16°F (-26°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 3°F (-16°C) | -19°F (-28°C) | -8°F (-22°C) | N/A | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 17°F (-9°C) | -14°F (-26°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 42°F (5°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | N/A | 29.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 60°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | N/A | 16.3 | 0.0 |
| June | 72°F (22°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | N/A | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| July | 73°F (23°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | N/A | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| August | 66°F (19°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | N/A | 4.1 | 0.1 |
| September | 53°F (12°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | N/A | 21.8 | 0.0 |
| October | 29°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | N/A | 30.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 5°F (-15°C) | -10°F (-24°C) | -3°F (-19°C) | N/A | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | -1°F (-19°C) | -17°F (-27°C) | -9°F (-23°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 75°F around June 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 243 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -25°F near January 15.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 10, then returns to freezing around September 11, covering 243 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.
The widest day
March 27 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 33°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Central.
Where Central Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 243 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Daily temperature swings run wider than most of the country, peaking near 33°F between the normal high and low.
Central earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
August 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
93 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
15,318
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
46
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Central 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 (23°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 11.2°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 11.2°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 11.3°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 11.4°F off
Data-derived climate profile
How Central's climate pattern fits together
heating led · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Central logs 15,318 heating degree days, more than twice its 46 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 76.7°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 93 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.
Central's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 76.7°F between them. The annual average is 23°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
A moisture-range label is withheld because Central's annual precipitation total is unavailable. Monthly source values remain visible where NOAA provides them, and no annual amount is reconstructed from incomplete data.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Central's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Central, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Central's climate
How cold does Central get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Central? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Central's primary station: CENTRAL #2 (USC00501466). 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 0211690), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Central: 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 Central 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.