Cripple Creek, CO Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Cripple Creek's primary NOAA station, CRIPPLE CREEK 3NNW.
The climate verdict for Cripple Creek
Dryness leads the climate profile for Cripple Creek, Colorado, with 18.0 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 42°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 42°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 18.0"
- yearly precipitation total
- 123 days
- frost-free growing season
Cripple Creek: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00051977 · Cripple Creek, CO 42°F mean · 18.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #549
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Rustic
- PRCP-DRY 18.0"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,533 HDD
- STN-1 USC00051977
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Rustic, CO (+ 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 CO station list.
- Cripple Creek (this station) 42°F
- Cold Wolf Canyon, NM 42°F
- Hot Chemult, OR 42°F
- Near Rustic, CO 42°F
- Near Ruxton Park, CO 42°F
Climate Living Index · Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek: 14/100 · grade F
Cripple Creek publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Cripple Creek, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 18.0 in · 17.0 from 35 in | 40/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 41.6°F · 25.9° from 67.5°F | 8/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 123 days/year | 8/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 214 calendar days | 7/100 · F |
Cripple Creek · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Cripple Creek is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 24.3°F and warmest-month mean 62.3°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
- 62.3°F
- Coldest month
- 24.3°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 Cripple Creek sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Cripple Creek's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 92%
- Among 6,861 stations, Cripple Creek sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 76%
- Cripple Creek's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 73%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Cripple Creek is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Cripple Creek compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Cripple Creek's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 36°F (2°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.6" | 27.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.3" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 49°F (9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.7" | 22.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 59°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.8" | 14.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.8" | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| July | 76°F (24°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 3.2" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 72°F (22°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 3.4" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 67°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.7" | 2.6 | 0.0 |
| October | 55°F (13°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 0.9" | 16.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 0.6" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 34°F (1°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.6" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 76°F around July 12, short of 90°F on every date, while 214 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near December 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 10, then returns to freezing around October 10, covering 214 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.
The widest day
June 25 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Cripple Creek.
Where Cripple Creek Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 214 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Cripple Creek 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
Cripple Creek runs a summer-peaked wet season
47% of Cripple Creek'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 August at 3.4", on a 38°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: August, July, May, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.5".
- Winter share: 9% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
123 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,533
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
28
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Cripple Creek 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 (42°F here).
- Greenland, MI 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Johnson, VT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Judith Gap, MT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Oakes, ND 42°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (18.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Wallowa, OR 18.0" · 0.0" off
- Belle Fourche, SD 18.0" · 0.0" off
- Goodwell, OK 18.0" · 0.0" off
- Lemmon, SD 18.0" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Cripple Creek's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Cripple Creek's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,533 annual heating degree days against 28 for cooling. Its 38.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 123 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.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Cripple Creek's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.0°F. The annual average is 42°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Cripple Creek's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 18.0 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Cripple Creek's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Cripple Creek, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Cripple Creek's climate
How much rain does Cripple Creek get? ▼
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Cripple Creek's primary station: CRIPPLE CREEK 3NNW (USC00051977). 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 0818530). Match rule for Cripple Creek: 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 Cripple Creek 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.