Dulce, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Dulce's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 17.4 inches of precipitation and 56 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.6°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 31°C, 441 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDulce
- Station IDUSC00292608
- Location36.94°N 107.00°W
- Elevation6,793 ft (2,071 m)
- Population (census place)2,782
On October 23, the normal high in Dulce is 65°F and the normal low 27°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 Dulce.
- Jan 44° 10°
- Feb 48° 16°
- Mar 57° 22°
- Apr 64° 28°
- May 74° 34°
- Jun 84° 41°
- Jul 88° 50°
- Aug 85° 49°
- Sep 79° 41°
- Oct 68° 29°
- Nov 54° 20°
- Dec 44° 12°
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 Dulce each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.41 in), the least in June (0.66 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 10°F | 26.9°F | 1.46 | 13.4 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 48°F | 16°F | 31.8°F | 1.36 | 12.8 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 57°F | 22°F | 39.5°F | 1.14 | 6.3 | 8 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 28°F | 45.8°F | 1.16 | 2.7 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 34°F | 53.7°F | 1.09 | 0.4 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 84°F | 41°F | 62.4°F | 0.66 | 0.0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 88°F | 50°F | 68.9°F | 2.08 | 0.0 | 12 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 85°F | 49°F | 67.3°F | 2.41 | 0.0 | 13 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 79°F | 41°F | 59.8°F | 1.72 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 29°F | 48.3°F | 1.48 | 1.0 | 7 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 54°F | 20°F | 36.9°F | 1.32 | 5.7 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 12°F | 27.8°F | 1.49 | 13.4 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 29°F | 47.4°F | 17.37 | 55.7 | 96 | 23 | 217 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −12°C | −2.8°C | 37 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 9°C | −9°C | −0.1°C | 35 mm | 33 cm |
| March | 14°C | −5°C | 4.2°C | 29 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 18°C | −2°C | 7.7°C | 29 mm | 7 cm |
| May | 23°C | 1°C | 12.1°C | 28 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 29°C | 5°C | 16.9°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 10°C | 20.5°C | 53 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 10°C | 19.6°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 5°C | 15.4°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | −2°C | 9.1°C | 38 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 12°C | −7°C | 2.7°C | 34 mm | 14 cm |
| December | 7°C | −11°C | −2.3°C | 38 mm | 34 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00292608; 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 Dulce?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00292608.
When is the last frost in Dulce?
In Dulce, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 9 in half of years and after June 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 22 in half of years and before September 10 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
- June 91 year in 10 after June 27; 9 in 10 after May 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 221 year in 10 before September 10; 9 in 10 before October 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 103 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 130 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 23 in half of springs and before September 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Dulce in zone 5b in ZIP code 87528, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Dulce's NOAA station is in zone 5a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (28 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 USC00292608; 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 Dulce?
In a normal year in Dulce, 23 days a year reach 90°F, 217 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 23a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 217a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 19a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1906) is 99°F, on June 19, 1936; the lowest is −48°F, on February 8, 1933.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1965, with 26.12 in; the snowiest season is 1978–79, with 119.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00292608; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00292608. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Dulce?
Over a year 82% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Dulce, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (79%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81% | 3.1 |
| February | 80% | 4.0 |
| March | 81% | 5.3 |
| April | 81% | 6.5 |
| May | 83% | 7.4 |
| June | 87% | 7.9 |
| July | 80% | 6.8 |
| August | 80% | 6.3 |
| September | 84% | 5.6 |
| October | 85% | 4.5 |
| November | 83% | 3.3 |
| December | 79% | 2.7 |
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 Dulce need?
A normal year in Dulce brings 6,647 heating degree days, 24% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 262 cooling degree days, 71% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,010 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,181 | 0 |
| February | 930 | 0 |
| March | 792 | 0 |
| April | 576 | 0 |
| May | 350 | 1 |
| June | 107 | 30 |
| July | 10 | 131 |
| August | 19 | 89 |
| September | 169 | 11 |
| October | 518 | 0 |
| November | 843 | 0 |
| December | 1,153 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,647 | 262 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00292608. 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 Dulce been warmer than normal lately?
Over 47 complete years from 1907 to 2020, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.14°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 Dulce's climate compare?
Dulce is warmer than 9 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 83. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.4°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Dulce is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm summer. 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 Dulce share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Pagosa Springs, CO1,793 people · 23 mi N
- Lumberton, NM93 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 Dulce's climate
What is the coldest month in Dulce?
January, with a normal high of 44°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Dulce?
Yes: 56 inches in a normal year, falling on 33 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Dulce?
August, with 2.41 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.66 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Dulce in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Dulce in zone 5b in ZIP code 87528, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Dulce's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −15°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 5a.
How late can frost come in Dulce?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 9; in one year in ten it comes after June 27. Waiting until June 27 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
- Chama, NM24 miles from this station, 42.2°F a year
- Tierra Amarilla, NM27 miles from this station, 43.4°F a year
- El Vado Dam, NM28 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Ignacio, CO31 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made