Chama, NM 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 Chama's primary NOAA station, CHAMA.
The climate verdict for Chama
Chama, New Mexico has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 42°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 42°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 22.4"
- annual precipitation · 92" snow
- 96 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Chama: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00291664 · Chama, NM 42°F mean · 22.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #617
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Georgetown
- PRCP-DRY 22.4"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,319 HDD
- STN-1 USC00291664
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Georgetown, CO (+ 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 NM station list.
- Chama (this station) 42°F
- Hot Alamosa San Luis, CO 42°F
- Near Georgetown, CO 42°F
- Near Kodiak, AK 42°F
- Near Center, CO 42°F
Climate Living Index · Chama
Chama: 14/100 · grade F
Chama publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Chama, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 22.4 in · 12.6 from 35 in | 56/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 42.2°F · 25.3° from 67.5°F | 10/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 229 calendar days | 2/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 91.9 inches/year | 2/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 96 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Chama · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Chama is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 22.3°F and warmest-month mean 63.2°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 63.2°F
- Coldest month
- 22.3°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 Chama sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Chama's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 91%
- Among 6,861 stations, Chama sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 31st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 40th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Chama compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Chama's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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
Chama's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 84 complete annual observations from 1890 to 2025, CHAMA warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Chama primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38°F (3°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 2.0" | 22.6" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 41°F (5°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 1.9" | 23.0" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 1.4" | 13.9" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 1.5" | 5.9" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 1.6" | 1.1" | 18.4 | 0.0 |
| June | 77°F (25°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 0.8" | 0.0" | 5.0 | 0.4 |
| July | 80°F (27°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 1.4 |
| August | 78°F (25°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| September | 72°F (22°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 6.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.7" | 2.1" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.7" | 9.7" | 28.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 1.9" | 13.6" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 81°F around July 8, short of 90°F on every date, while 229 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 17, then returns to freezing around October 2, covering 229 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 August 1, when 44% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 10 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 96 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 39°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Chama.
Where Chama Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 229 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 39°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Chama 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: 22.6"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 23.0"
8.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.9"
6.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.9"
7.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
7.6 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
12.3 days with precipitation
12.9 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.1"
7.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.7"
5.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.6"
7.9 days with precipitation
Chama spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 27% of the annual total and December through February 26%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Chama has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 3.0" and June 0.8". The three wettest months together take 34% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Chama's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 96 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 22.4" between them, or roughly 0.23 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Chama
Chama averages 91.9 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 32 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: 91.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 32 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 41% 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 18
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 14
50% probability date
Growing Season
96 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,319
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
33
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NM closest to Chama 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 (42°F here).
- Altamont, UT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Carson, ND 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Driggs, ID 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Elk City, ID 42°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (22.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hill City, SD 22.4" · 0.0" off
- Healy, KS 22.4" · 0.0" off
- Miller, SD 22.3" · 0.0" off
- Park City, UT 22.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Chama
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Chama's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,319 annual heating degree days against 33 for cooling. Its 40.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 96 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. Chama coldest normal
January
Averaging 22°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Chama typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Chama snow peak
February
Chama averages 91.9 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Chama's climate
How much snow does Chama get? ▼
How cold does Chama get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Chama? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Chama's primary station: CHAMA (USC00291664). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 3513970). Match rule for Chama: 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 Chama 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.