Cliff (11 mi SE), New Mexico climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Cliff (11 mi SE)'s normal year runs from 21°F December nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 14.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.1°C, December lows of −6°C, July highs of 33°C, 369 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCliff (11 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00291910
- Location32.83°N 108.50°W
- Elevation4,773 ft (1,455 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Cliff (11 mi SE) is 73°F and the normal low 35°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 Cliff (11 mi SE).
- Jan 55° 20°
- Feb 60° 24°
- Mar 67° 28°
- Apr 74° 33°
- May 82° 41°
- Jun 91° 50°
- Jul 91° 59°
- Aug 89° 58°
- Sep 85° 50°
- Oct 76° 38°
- Nov 64° 26°
- Dec 55° 21°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Cliff (11 mi SE) each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.69 in), the least in April (0.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 20°F | 37.9°F | 1.16 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 60°F | 24°F | 41.7°F | 1.09 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 28°F | 47.1°F | 0.63 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 12 h |
| April | 74°F | 33°F | 53.2°F | 0.33 | 2 | <1 | 15 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 41°F | 61.3°F | 0.39 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 91°F | 50°F | 70.5°F | 0.64 | 4 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 91°F | 59°F | 74.8°F | 2.69 | 11 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 89°F | 58°F | 73.4°F | 2.45 | 10 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 85°F | 50°F | 67.4°F | 1.99 | 6 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 38°F | 56.8°F | 0.95 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 64°F | 26°F | 45.3°F | 0.84 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 55°F | 21°F | 37.8°F | 1.35 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 37°F | 55.6°F | 14.51 | 64 | 65 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | −6°C | 3.3°C | 29 mm |
| February | 15°C | −5°C | 5.4°C | 28 mm |
| March | 19°C | −2°C | 8.4°C | 16 mm |
| April | 23°C | 0°C | 11.8°C | 8 mm |
| May | 28°C | 5°C | 16.3°C | 10 mm |
| June | 33°C | 10°C | 21.4°C | 16 mm |
| July | 33°C | 15°C | 23.8°C | 68 mm |
| August | 32°C | 14°C | 23.0°C | 62 mm |
| September | 29°C | 10°C | 19.7°C | 51 mm |
| October | 24°C | 3°C | 13.8°C | 24 mm |
| November | 18°C | −3°C | 7.4°C | 21 mm |
| December | 13°C | −6°C | 3.2°C | 34 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291910; 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.
Which months are mildest at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00291910.
When is the last frost at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
In Cliff (11 mi SE), the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 15 in half of years and before October 3 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 91 year in 10 after May 24; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 151 year in 10 before October 3; 9 in 10 before October 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 157 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 177 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cliff (11 mi SE) in zone 7b in ZIP code 88028, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00291910; 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 at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
In a normal year in Cliff (11 mi SE), 65 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 64 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 65a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 64a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1944) is 109°F, on July 2, 1983; the lowest is −17°F, on December 23, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2022, with 21.93 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 28.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00291910; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00291910. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
Over a year 89% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Cliff (11 mi SE), 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (93%) and July the cloudiest (85%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 86% | 4.6 |
| March | 89% | 6.0 |
| April | 92% | 7.4 |
| May | 93% | 8.2 |
| June | 93% | 8.2 |
| July | 85% | 7.1 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 91% | 5.1 |
| November | 89% | 3.9 |
| December | 86% | 3.3 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Cliff (11 mi SE) record?
A normal year at Cliff (11 mi SE) brings 4,278 heating degree days, 20% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 875 cooling degree days, 4% fewer than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,393 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 842 | 0 |
| February | 651 | 0 |
| March | 553 | 0 |
| April | 355 | 1 |
| May | 141 | 27 |
| June | 11 | 176 |
| July | 0 | 304 |
| August | 0 | 261 |
| September | 29 | 101 |
| October | 261 | 5 |
| November | 593 | 0 |
| December | 843 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,278 | 875 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00291910. 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.
Have recent years at Cliff (11 mi SE) been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 57.6°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 55.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.9°F | +0.3°F | 17.68 |
| 2022 | 55.0°F | −0.6°F | 21.93 |
| 2023 | 56.2°F | +0.6°F | 12.36 |
| 2024 | 56.8°F | +1.2°F | 11.45 |
| 2025 | 57.6°F | +2.0°F | 11.75 |
Over 59 complete years from 1951 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.2°F per century (+0.29°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00291910; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cliff (11 mi SE)'s climate compare?
Cliff (11 mi SE) is warmer than 55 of the 98 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 55.6°F is warmer than 62%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cliff (11 mi SE) 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 Cliff (11 mi SE) share this climate record?
3 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.
- Gila, NM417 people · 8 mi NW
- Cliff, NM132 people · 11 mi NW
- Buckhorn, NM85 people · 18 mi NW
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 Cliff (11 mi SE)'s climate
What is the coldest month at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
December, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
July, with 2.69 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cliff (11 mi SE) in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cliff (11 mi SE) in zone 7b in ZIP code 88028, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come at Cliff (11 mi SE)?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; in one year in ten it comes after May 24. Waiting until May 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Redrock, NM16 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- White Signal, NM21 miles from this station, 56.7°F a year
- Fort Bayard, NM21 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Gila Hot Springs, NM30 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made