Elizabeth, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Elizabeth's normal year runs from 17°F December nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 19.3 inches of precipitation and 75 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, December lows of −8°C, July highs of 29°C, 490 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElizabeth (2 mi NW)
- Station IDUSC00052631
- Location39.38°N 104.63°W
- Elevation6,611 ft (2,015 m)
- Population2,773
On October 23, the normal high in Elizabeth is 60°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Elizabeth.
- Jan 43° 18°
- Feb 44° 18°
- Mar 52° 25°
- Apr 58° 30°
- May 67° 40°
- Jun 80° 49°
- Jul 85° 56°
- Aug 82° 54°
- Sep 76° 47°
- Oct 63° 35°
- Nov 52° 25°
- Dec 43° 17°
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 Elizabeth each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.97 in), the least in January (0.65 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 18°F | 30.7°F | 0.65 | 7.9 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 18°F | 30.6°F | 1.05 | 10.2 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 52°F | 25°F | 38.2°F | 1.33 | 10.9 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 30°F | 44.0°F | 2.33 | 14.6 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 67°F | 40°F | 53.3°F | 2.40 | 2.8 | 10 | <1 | 6 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 80°F | 49°F | 64.4°F | 1.87 | 0.0 | 9 | 4 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 85°F | 56°F | 70.2°F | 2.97 | 0.0 | 12 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 82°F | 54°F | 68.1°F | 2.31 | 0.0 | 12 | 5 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 76°F | 47°F | 61.2°F | 1.48 | 0.3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 35°F | 48.8°F | 1.12 | 8.7 | 6 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 25°F | 38.3°F | 0.81 | 7.4 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 17°F | 30.4°F | 0.96 | 12.0 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 34°F | 48.2°F | 19.28 | 74.8 | 93 | 19 | 170 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −8°C | −0.7°C | 17 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 6°C | −8°C | −0.8°C | 27 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 11°C | −4°C | 3.4°C | 34 mm | 28 cm |
| April | 15°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 59 mm | 37 cm |
| May | 19°C | 4°C | 11.8°C | 61 mm | 7 cm |
| June | 26°C | 10°C | 18.0°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 13°C | 21.2°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 12°C | 20.1°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 8°C | 16.2°C | 38 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 17°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 28 mm | 22 cm |
| November | 11°C | −4°C | 3.5°C | 21 mm | 19 cm |
| December | 6°C | −8°C | −0.9°C | 24 mm | 30 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00052631; 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 Elizabeth?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00052631.
When is the last frost in Elizabeth?
In Elizabeth, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after June 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 18 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
- May 161 year in 10 after June 1; 9 in 10 after May 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 137 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 155 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 6 in half of springs and before October 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Elizabeth in zone 5b in ZIP code 80107, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00052631; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Elizabeth?
In a normal year in Elizabeth, 19 days a year reach 90°F, 170 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 170a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 25high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 21a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00052631.
How sunny is Elizabeth?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Elizabeth, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (85%) and May the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.6 |
| February | 78% | 3.5 |
| March | 78% | 4.7 |
| April | 76% | 5.8 |
| May | 76% | 6.5 |
| June | 82% | 7.2 |
| July | 83% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 6.3 |
| September | 85% | 5.4 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 81% | 2.9 |
| December | 79% | 2.3 |
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 Elizabeth need?
A normal year in Elizabeth brings 6,531 heating degree days, 22% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 425 cooling degree days, 53% 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 2,321 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,065 | 0 |
| February | 964 | 0 |
| March | 829 | 0 |
| April | 632 | 0 |
| May | 368 | 6 |
| June | 94 | 76 |
| July | 13 | 174 |
| August | 30 | 124 |
| September | 157 | 43 |
| October | 503 | 2 |
| November | 803 | 0 |
| December | 1,074 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,531 | 425 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00052631. 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 Elizabeth been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.0°F, 1.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.2°F | +3.0°F | 15.61 | 76.7 |
| 2022 | 49.8°F | +1.5°F | 13.33 | 86.6 |
| 2023 | 48.4°F | +0.2°F | 30.24 | 66.8 |
| 2024 | 49.9°F | +1.7°F | 19.38 | 91.5 |
| 2025 | 50.0°F | +1.8°F | 20.46 | 45.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00052631. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Elizabeth's climate compare?
Elizabeth is warmer than 56 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 103. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth share this climate record?
3 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.
- Ponderosa Park, CO3,556 people · 1 mi N
- Kiowa, CO734 people · 9 mi E
- Franktown, CO405 people · 6 mi W
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 Elizabeth's climate
What is the coldest month in Elizabeth?
December, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 56°F at night).
Does it snow in Elizabeth?
Yes: 75 inches in a normal year, falling on 33 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in April (14.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Elizabeth?
July, with 2.97 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.65 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Elizabeth in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Elizabeth in zone 5b in ZIP code 80107, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Elizabeth?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after June 1. Waiting until June 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Parker, CO11 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Castle Rock, CO15 miles from this station, 49.6°F a year
- Centennial, CO17 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Eastonville (2 mi NNW), CO19 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made