Denali, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Denali's primary NOAA station, DENALI 27 N.
The climate verdict for Denali
Denali, Alaska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 29°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 29°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 23.5"
- yearly precipitation total
- 106 days
- frost-free growing season
Denali: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00096408 · Denali, AK 29°F mean · 23.5" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 29°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Silver Lake
- PRCP-DRY 23.5"
- SWING-WIDE 51°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 13,188 HDD
- STN-1 USW00096408
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Silver Lake, AK (+ 0.3 °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 AK station list.
- Denali (this station) 29°F
- Hot Silver Lake, AK 29°F
- Near Aurora, AK 29°F
- Near College Obsy, AK 29°F
- Cold Gilmore Creek, AK 28°F
Denali sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Denali
Denali: 12/100 · grade F
Denali publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Denali, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 23.5 in · 11.5 from 35 in | 60/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 106 days/year | 1/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 28.8°F · 38.7° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 238 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Denali · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Denali is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 4.3°F and warmest-month mean 55.6°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 55.6°F
- Coldest month
- 4.3°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 Denali sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Denali's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Denali sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 32nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 84%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Denali is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Denali compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Denali's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°F (-10°C) | -5°F (-21°C) | 4°F (-15°C) | 0.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 25°F (-4°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 0.7" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 22°F (-6°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 13°F (-11°C) | 1.2" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 38°F (4°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 1.1" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 54°F (12°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 2.0" | 11.4 | 0.0 |
| June | 63°F (17°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.9" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| July | 64°F (18°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 5.1" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 60°F (16°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.9" | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| September | 50°F (10°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 2.2" | 9.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 32°F (0°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 1.4" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 20°F (-7°C) | 2°F (-17°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 1.0" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 15°F (-10°C) | -6°F (-21°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 1.2" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 65°F around June 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 238 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -9°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 14, then returns to freezing around September 20, covering 238 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
May 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 21°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Denali.
Where Denali Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 238 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 21°F.
Denali earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Denali runs a summer-peaked wet season
51% of Denali'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 5.1", on a wide 51.3°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. 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, June, taking 51% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.7".
- Winter share: 11% 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 8
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
106 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
13,188
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
5
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Denali 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 (29°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 5.4°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 5.4°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 5.5°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 5.6°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (23.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Grangeville, ID 23.5" · 0.0" off
- Quinter, KS 23.5" · 0.0" off
- Arnold, NE 23.5" · 0.0" off
- Encinal, TX 23.5" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Denali's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Denali's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 13,188 annual heating degree days against 5 for cooling. Its 51.3°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 106 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 Denali's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 51.3°F. The annual average is 29°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Denali's 23.5 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Denali'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 Denali, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Denali's climate
How much rain does Denali get? ▼
How cold does Denali get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Denali? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Denali's primary station: DENALI 27 N (USW00096408). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Denali; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Denali 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.