Colorado National Monument, Colorado climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Colorado National Monument's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 11.2 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.8°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 34°C, 285 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColorado National Monument
- Station IDUSC00051772
- Location39.10°N 108.73°W
- Elevation5,781 ft (1,762 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Colorado National Monument is 62°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Colorado National Monument.
- Jan 39° 21°
- Feb 45° 25°
- Mar 56° 34°
- Apr 63° 39°
- May 74° 49°
- Jun 87° 59°
- Jul 93° 65°
- Aug 90° 62°
- Sep 80° 54°
- Oct 66° 41°
- Nov 51° 31°
- Dec 39° 22°
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 Colorado National Monument each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in September (1.29 in), the least in February (0.64 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 21°F | 29.7°F | 0.83 | 6.2 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 25°F | 34.9°F | 0.64 | 3.9 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 34°F | 44.6°F | 0.94 | 2.1 | 6 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 39°F | 51.0°F | 1.11 | 0.7 | 7 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 49°F | 61.1°F | 1.17 | 0.1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 87°F | 59°F | 72.6°F | 0.65 | 0.0 | 4 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 93°F | 65°F | 78.7°F | 0.79 | 0.0 | 6 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 62°F | 75.7°F | 1.01 | 0.0 | 7 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 54°F | 66.9°F | 1.29 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 1.26 | 0.6 | 7 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 51°F | 31°F | 40.7°F | 0.80 | 2.8 | 5 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 22°F | 30.4°F | 0.75 | 5.4 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 42°F | 53.3°F | 11.24 | 21.8 | 71 | 62 | 128 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −6°C | −1.3°C | 21 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 7°C | −4°C | 1.6°C | 16 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 13°C | 1°C | 7.0°C | 24 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 17°C | 4°C | 10.6°C | 28 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 9°C | 16.2°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 15°C | 22.6°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 18°C | 25.9°C | 20 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 17°C | 24.3°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 12°C | 19.4°C | 33 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 32 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 10°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 20 mm | 7 cm |
| December | 4°C | −6°C | −0.9°C | 19 mm | 14 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051772; 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 Colorado National Monument?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00051772.
When is the last frost at Colorado National Monument?
In Colorado National Monument, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 16 in half of years and before October 1 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
- April 261 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 9
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 161 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 172 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 197 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 13 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Colorado National Monument in zone 7a in ZIP code 81507, 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 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00051772; 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 Colorado National Monument?
In a normal year in Colorado National Monument, 62 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 128 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 71 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 62a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 128a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 13high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 71a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1940) is 107°F, on July 10, 2021; the lowest is −18°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1965, with 16.32 in; the snowiest season is 1956–57, with 109.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00051772; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00051772. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Colorado National Monument?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Colorado National Monument, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.6 |
| February | 76% | 3.5 |
| March | 77% | 4.8 |
| April | 77% | 6.0 |
| May | 80% | 7.0 |
| June | 87% | 8.0 |
| July | 84% | 7.3 |
| August | 84% | 6.5 |
| September | 86% | 5.5 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 79% | 2.8 |
| December | 74% | 2.2 |
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 Colorado National Monument record?
A normal year at Colorado National Monument brings 5,442 heating degree days, 1% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,208 cooling degree days, 33% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,581 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,094 | 0 |
| February | 843 | 0 |
| March | 634 | 0 |
| April | 422 | 4 |
| May | 180 | 61 |
| June | 25 | 252 |
| July | 1 | 426 |
| August | 3 | 333 |
| September | 70 | 127 |
| October | 366 | 7 |
| November | 729 | 0 |
| December | 1,074 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,442 | 1,208 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00051772. 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 Colorado National Monument been warmer than normal?
Over 39 complete years from 1941 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Colorado National Monument's climate compare?
Colorado National Monument is warmer than 117 of the 125 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 20. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.3°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Colorado National Monument 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 Colorado National Monument share this climate record?
Redlands has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Redlands, CO8,771 people · 4 mi E
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 Colorado National Monument's climate
What is the coldest month at Colorado National Monument?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow at Colorado National Monument?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Colorado National Monument?
September, with 1.29 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.64 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Colorado National Monument in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Colorado National Monument in zone 7a in ZIP code 81507, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come at Colorado National Monument?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fruita, CO3 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Grand Junction, CO11 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Glade Park (17 mi W), CO20 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Palisade, CO21 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made