Chicken, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Chicken's primary NOAA station, CHICKEN.
The climate verdict for Chicken
Winter sets the terms in Chicken, Alaska. A pronounced 76.1°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 20°F. At 41/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 20°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 41/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 12.3"
- annual precipitation · 37" snow
Chicken: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00501684 · Chicken, AK 20°F mean · 12.3" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · BELOW-PEER · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 20°F
- RANK-COOL #1
- BELOW-PEER under Wiseman
- PRCP-DRY 12.3"
- SWING-WIDE 76°F
- COMF-LOW 41/100
- LOAD-HEAT 16,302 HDD
- STN-1 USC00501684
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Wiseman, AK (+ 2.4 °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 Deering, AK 23°F
- Near Wiseman, AK 23°F
- Near Kivalina, AK 23°F
- Near Central, AK 23°F
- Chicken (this station) 20°F
Chicken 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 · Chicken
Chicken: 8/100 · grade F
Chicken publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Chicken, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 41/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 36.6 inches/year | 31/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 12.3 in · 22.7 from 35 in | 19/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 20.2°F · 47.3° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 272 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Chicken · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Chicken is a continental Köppen climate: Dwc
Coldest-month mean -20.0°F and warmest-month mean 56.1°F place this station in continental, dry-winter, cool summer climates (Dwc). Class Dwc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-winter, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dwc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 56.1°F
- Coldest month
- -20.0°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 Chicken sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Chicken's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 100%
- Among 6,861 stations, Chicken sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 89%
- Chicken's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Chicken is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Chicken compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Chicken's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
41 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -11°F (-24°C) | -29°F (-34°C) | -20°F (-29°C) | 0.4" | 5.7" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 1°F (-17°C) | -22°F (-30°C) | -11°F (-24°C) | 0.3" | 2.6" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 20°F (-6°C) | -14°F (-25°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 0.3" | 2.7" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 42°F (6°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.3" | 2.3" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 58°F (15°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.0" | 1.0" | 22.5 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (20°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.4" | 0.0" | 5.1 | 0.0 |
| July | 70°F (21°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.8" | 0.0" | 1.9 | 0.1 |
| August | 64°F (18°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| September | 53°F (12°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 1.1" | 1.1" | 24.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 31°F (-1°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 0.6" | 6.1" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 4°F (-16°C) | -14°F (-26°C) | -5°F (-21°C) | 0.6" | 7.9" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | -7°F (-22°C) | -23°F (-30°C) | -15°F (-26°C) | 0.5" | 7.2" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 71°F around June 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 272 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -30°F near January 12.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 25, then returns to freezing around August 28, covering 272 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 July 26, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 13 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 61 wet dates a year.
The widest day
March 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 36°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Chicken.
Where Chicken Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 272 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 12 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Chicken 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: 5.7"
3.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.6"
2.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.7"
1.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.3"
1.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
5.0 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
6.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.1"
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.9"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
3.8 days with precipitation
Chicken runs a summer-peaked wet season
59% of Chicken'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 July at 2.8", on a wide 76.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. 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: July, June, August, taking 59% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: March at 0.3".
- Winter share: 9% 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.
How Chicken's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 61 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 12.3" between them, or roughly 0.20 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 Chicken
Chicken averages 36.6 inches of snowfall a year, with November the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 25 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: 36.6 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 25 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 30% 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
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
16,302
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
5
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Chicken 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 (20°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 14.0°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 14.0°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 14.1°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 14.2°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (12.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Chester, MT 12.3" · 0.0" off
- Hillsboro, NM 12.3" · 0.0" off
- Odessa, TX 12.3" · 0.0" off
- Thoreau, NM 12.3" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Chicken
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Chicken logs 16,302 heating degree days, more than twice its 5 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 76.1°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Chicken. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
-
1. Chicken coldest normal
January
Averaging -20°F (-29°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Chicken typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Chicken snow peak
November
Chicken averages 36.6 inches of snow a year, with November the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Chicken's climate
How much snow does Chicken get? ▼
How cold does Chicken get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Chicken? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Chicken's primary station: CHICKEN (USC00501684). 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 0213450), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Chicken: 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 Chicken 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.