Cloudcroft, NM 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 Cloudcroft's primary NOAA station, CLOUDCROFT.
The climate verdict for Cloudcroft
A compact 29.4°F seasonal swing gives Cloudcroft, New Mexico a steadier-than-extreme annual shape. NOAA reports an annual average of 46°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 46°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 28.4"
- annual precipitation · 67" snow
- 136 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Cloudcroft: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00291931 · Cloudcroft, NM 46°F mean · 28.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-NARROW · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 46°F
- RANK-COOL #1,509
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Metlakatla
- PRCP-MID 28.4"
- SWING-NARROW 29°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,031 HDD
- STN-1 USC00291931
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Metlakatla, AK (+ 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.
- Cloudcroft (this station) 46°F
- Cold Port Alexander, AK 46°F
- Hot Beech Mtn, NC 46°F
- Near Metlakatla, AK 46°F
- Near Gascon, NM 46°F
Climate Living Index · Cloudcroft
Cloudcroft: 31/100 · grade F
Cloudcroft publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Cloudcroft, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 28.4 in · 6.6 from 35 in | 77/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 179 calendar days | 26/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 45.7°F · 21.8° from 67.5°F | 22/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 136 days/year | 16/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 66.8 inches/year | 12/100 · F |
Cloudcroft · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Cloudcroft is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 30.7°F and warmest-month mean 60.1°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
- 60.1°F
- Coldest month
- 30.7°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 Cloudcroft sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Cloudcroft's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 78%
- Among 6,861 stations, Cloudcroft sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 38th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 91%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Cloudcroft is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Cloudcroft compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Cloudcroft's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | 42°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 1.6" | 13.1" | 29.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 45°F (7°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 1.7" | 13.3" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 51°F (10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.4" | 9.8" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (14°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.8" | 3.7" | 17.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 66°F (19°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.2" | 0.1" | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| June | 74°F (24°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| July | 72°F (22°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 5.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 71°F (22°C) | 47°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 67°F (20°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.2" | 0.0" | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 2.1" | 3.2" | 13.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.4" | 7.3" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 43°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 2.1" | 16.3" | 29.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 75°F around June 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 179 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 18°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 19, then returns to freezing around October 24, covering 179 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 30, when 56% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is April 18 at 12%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 94 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 8 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Cloudcroft.
Where Cloudcroft Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 179 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Cloudcroft earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 13.1"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.3"
6.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.8"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.7"
3.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
4.9 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
16.7 days with precipitation
15.9 days with precipitation
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.2"
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
4.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 16.3"
5.9 days with precipitation
Cloudcroft runs a summer-peaked wet season
45% of Cloudcroft'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 5.5", on an unusually narrow 29.4°F seasonal spread. 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, August, September, taking 48% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: April at 0.8".
- Winter share: 19% 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 Cloudcroft's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 94 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 28.4" between them, or roughly 0.30 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 Cloudcroft
Cloudcroft averages 66.8 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 23 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: 66.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 23 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 23% 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
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 18
50% probability date
Growing Season
136 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,031
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
8
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NM closest to Cloudcroft 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 (46°F here).
- Alpine, AZ 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Bison, SD 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Brunswick, ME 46°F · 0.0°F off
- Canton, SD 46°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (28.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Central City, NE 28.5" · 0.0" off
- Flandreau, SD 28.5" · 0.0" off
- Plummer, ID 28.5" · 0.1" off
- Poteet, TX 28.4" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Cloudcroft
heating led · moderate · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Cloudcroft, at 7,031 degree days versus 8 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 29.4°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Only about 136 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. Cloudcroft coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 31°F (-1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Cloudcroft typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Cloudcroft snow peak
December
Cloudcroft averages 66.8 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Cloudcroft's climate
How much snow does Cloudcroft get? ▼
How cold does Cloudcroft get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Cloudcroft? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Cloudcroft's primary station: CLOUDCROFT (USC00291931). 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 3516280). Match rule for Cloudcroft: 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 Cloudcroft 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.