Cotulla, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Cotulla's normal year runs from 44°F January nights to 100°F August afternoons, with 21.7 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 22.8°C, January lows of 7°C, August highs of 38°C, 551 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCotulla La Salle County Airport
- Station IDUSW00012947
- Location28.46°N 99.22°W
- Elevation476 ft (145 m)
- Population3,661
On October 14, the normal high in Cotulla is 88°F and the normal low 64°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cotulla.
- Jan 67° 44°
- Feb 74° 48°
- Mar 80° 55°
- Apr 86° 61°
- May 93° 69°
- Jun 98° 74°
- Jul 99° 75°
- Aug 100° 75°
- Sep 94° 71°
- Oct 87° 63°
- Nov 76° 52°
- Dec 69° 45°
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 Cotulla each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 100°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 44°F. The most precipitation falls in May (3.01 in), the least in January (0.85 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67°F | 44°F | 55.7°F | 0.85 | 6 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 30 min |
| February | 74°F | 48°F | 60.9°F | 1.26 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 80°F | 55°F | 67.2°F | 1.57 | 5 | 5 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 86°F | 61°F | 73.4°F | 1.33 | 5 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 93°F | 69°F | 80.7°F | 3.01 | 6 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| June | 98°F | 74°F | 85.7°F | 2.20 | 5 | 28 | <1 | 14 h |
| July | 99°F | 75°F | 87.0°F | 2.26 | 6 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| August | 100°F | 75°F | 87.7°F | 1.67 | 4 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| September | 94°F | 71°F | 82.4°F | 2.98 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 87°F | 63°F | 74.7°F | 2.39 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 76°F | 52°F | 64.0°F | 1.15 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 h 50 min |
| December | 69°F | 45°F | 56.8°F | 1.01 | 6 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 85°F | 61°F | 73.0°F | 21.68 | 65 | 166 | 10 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°C | 7°C | 13.2°C | 22 mm |
| February | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 32 mm |
| March | 27°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 40 mm |
| April | 30°C | 16°C | 23.0°C | 34 mm |
| May | 34°C | 20°C | 27.1°C | 76 mm |
| June | 37°C | 23°C | 29.8°C | 56 mm |
| July | 37°C | 24°C | 30.6°C | 57 mm |
| August | 38°C | 24°C | 30.9°C | 42 mm |
| September | 34°C | 22°C | 28.0°C | 76 mm |
| October | 30°C | 17°C | 23.7°C | 61 mm |
| November | 24°C | 11°C | 17.8°C | 29 mm |
| December | 20°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 26 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00012947; 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 Cotulla?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, November and December. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USW00012947.
When is the last frost in Cotulla?
In Cotulla, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 11 in half of years and after March 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 3 in half of years and before November 15 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
- February 111 year in 10 after March 9; 9 in 10 after January 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 31 year in 10 before November 15; 9 in 10 before January 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 300 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 337 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 20 in half of springs and before December 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cotulla in zone 9a in ZIP code 78014, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Cotulla's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (19 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 Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00012947; 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 Cotulla?
In a normal year in Cotulla, 166 days a year reach 90°F (62 of them 100°F or more), 10 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 65 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 166a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 62a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 10a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 65a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1901) is 116°F, on June 28, 1902; the lowest is 16°F, on January 9, 2010.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2007, with 38.14 in; the snowiest season is 1931–32, with 2.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00012947; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00012947. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Cotulla?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Cotulla, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (91%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 3.2 |
| February | 72% | 3.8 |
| March | 74% | 4.7 |
| April | 77% | 5.6 |
| May | 79% | 6.0 |
| June | 87% | 6.9 |
| July | 88% | 6.8 |
| August | 91% | 6.6 |
| September | 83% | 5.3 |
| October | 83% | 4.6 |
| November | 77% | 3.5 |
| December | 73% | 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 Cotulla need?
A normal year in Cotulla brings 1,004 heating degree days, 81% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,951 cooling degree days, 4.4 times the median (908). One month needs 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 8,524 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 312 | 23 |
| February | 174 | 61 |
| March | 77 | 146 |
| April | 17 | 267 |
| May | 1 | 487 |
| June | 0 | 622 |
| July | 0 | 681 |
| August | 0 | 702 |
| September | 0 | 521 |
| October | 16 | 317 |
| November | 125 | 97 |
| December | 282 | 28 |
| Year (annual) | 1,004 | 3,951 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00012947. 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 Cotulla been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 77.0°F, 4.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 73.0°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 75.5°F | +2.5°F | 17.34 |
| 2022 | 75.0°F | +2.0°F | 18.45 |
| 2023 | 76.9°F | +3.9°F | 18.53 |
| 2024 | 77.0°F | +4.0°F | 18.65 |
Over 40 complete years from 1950 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.6°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00012947; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cotulla's climate compare?
Cotulla is warmer than 300 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 70. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 73.0°F is warmer than 97%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cotulla is BSh: hot 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 Cotulla's climate
What is the coldest month in Cotulla?
January, with a normal high of 67°F and a normal low of 44°F. The warmest is August (100°F by day, 75°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Cotulla?
May, with 3.01 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.85 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cotulla in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cotulla in zone 9a in ZIP code 78014, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Cotulla's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Cotulla?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 11; in one year in ten it comes after March 9. Waiting until March 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Dilley, TX16 miles from this station, 71.0°F a year
- Fowlerton, TX23 miles from this station, 71.0°F a year
- Encinal, TX35 miles from this station, 71.8°F a year
- Carrizo Springs, TX40 miles from this station, 70.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made