Conchas Dam, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Conchas Dam's normal year runs from 26°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 15.2 inches of precipitation and 8 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 35°C, 387 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationConchas Dam
- Station IDUSC00292030
- Location35.41°N 104.19°W
- Elevation4,244 ft (1,294 m)
- Population (census place)182
On October 23, the normal high in Conchas Dam is 72°F and the normal low 43°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 Conchas Dam.
- Jan 53° 26°
- Feb 57° 29°
- Mar 65° 36°
- Apr 72° 45°
- May 81° 54°
- Jun 92° 64°
- Jul 94° 68°
- Aug 92° 66°
- Sep 85° 59°
- Oct 74° 46°
- Nov 62° 35°
- Dec 52° 27°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Conchas Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 26°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.67 in), the least in February (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 26°F | 39.1°F | 0.38 | 2.2 | 2 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 29°F | 43.2°F | 0.28 | 1.1 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 36°F | 50.6°F | 0.67 | 1.0 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 45°F | 58.4°F | 0.94 | 0.2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 81°F | 54°F | 67.8°F | 1.44 | 0.0 | 5 | 8 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 64°F | 77.8°F | 1.90 | 0.0 | 6 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 94°F | 68°F | 81.1°F | 2.67 | 0.0 | 8 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 92°F | 66°F | 79.0°F | 2.37 | 0.0 | 9 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 59°F | 72.0°F | 2.11 | 0.0 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 46°F | 60.2°F | 1.31 | 0.7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 35°F | 48.5°F | 0.56 | 0.9 | 3 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 27°F | 39.5°F | 0.59 | 2.3 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 46°F | 59.8°F | 15.22 | 8.4 | 56 | 91 | 100 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −4°C | 3.9°C | 10 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 7 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 18°C | 2°C | 10.3°C | 17 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 22°C | 7°C | 14.7°C | 24 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 27°C | 12°C | 19.9°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 33°C | 18°C | 25.4°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 20°C | 27.3°C | 68 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 19°C | 26.1°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 15°C | 22.2°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 33 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 17°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 14 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 11°C | −3°C | 4.2°C | 15 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00292030; 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.
When is the best weather to visit Conchas Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, March has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00292030.
When is the last frost in Conchas Dam?
In Conchas Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 4 in half of years and after April 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 2 in half of years and before October 19 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 41 year in 10 after April 21; 9 in 10 after March 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 21 year in 10 before October 19; 9 in 10 before November 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 210 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 232 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 23 in half of springs and before November 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Conchas Dam in zone 7b in ZIP code 88416. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Conchas Dam's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (15 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00292030; 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 in Conchas Dam?
In a normal year in Conchas Dam, 91 days a year reach 90°F (17 of them 100°F or more), 100 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 56 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 91a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 100a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 56a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1936) is 114°F, on June 28, 1998; the lowest is −20°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 25.22 in; the snowiest season is 1985–86, with 28.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00292030; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00292030. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Conchas Dam?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Conchas Dam, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (88%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.3 |
| February | 83% | 4.2 |
| March | 85% | 5.5 |
| April | 85% | 6.7 |
| May | 86% | 7.5 |
| June | 88% | 7.8 |
| July | 86% | 7.3 |
| August | 86% | 6.6 |
| September | 87% | 5.7 |
| October | 87% | 4.6 |
| November | 87% | 3.5 |
| December | 83% | 2.9 |
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 much heating and cooling does Conchas Dam need?
A normal year in Conchas Dam brings 3,642 heating degree days, 32% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,762 cooling degree days, 94% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,775 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 803 | 0 |
| February | 612 | 0 |
| March | 447 | 2 |
| April | 221 | 23 |
| May | 62 | 149 |
| June | 1 | 384 |
| July | 0 | 501 |
| August | 0 | 434 |
| September | 20 | 230 |
| October | 187 | 38 |
| November | 498 | 2 |
| December | 790 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,642 | 1,762 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00292030. 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.
Has Conchas Dam been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 60.3°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.8°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.2°F | +0.4°F | 13.88 | 10.0 |
| 2023 | 60.3°F | +0.5°F | 11.94 | – |
Over 62 complete years from 1937 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00292030; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Conchas Dam's climate compare?
Conchas Dam is warmer than 75 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 62. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.8°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Conchas Dam 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.
Questions about Conchas Dam's climate
What is the coldest month in Conchas Dam?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 26°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Conchas Dam?
Yes: 8 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (2.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Conchas Dam?
July, with 2.67 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Conchas Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Conchas Dam in zone 7b in ZIP code 88416. By the same method at Conchas Dam's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Conchas Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 4; in one year in ten it comes after April 21. Waiting until April 21 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
- Newkirk, NM24 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Mosquero, NM30 miles from this station, 54.3°F a year
- Roy, NM37 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Tucumcari, NM37 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made