Estancia, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Estancia's normal year runs from 15°F December nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 13.6 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.8°C, December lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 344 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationEstancia (4 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00293060
- Location34.82°N 106.03°W
- Elevation6,140 ft (1,872 m)
- From the center4 miles
- Population1,314
On October 23, the normal high in Estancia is 69°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Estancia.
- Jan 48° 15°
- Feb 53° 18°
- Mar 62° 24°
- Apr 69° 31°
- May 79° 39°
- Jun 89° 47°
- Jul 90° 54°
- Aug 87° 52°
- Sep 82° 45°
- Oct 71° 33°
- Nov 59° 22°
- Dec 49° 15°
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 Estancia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.36 in), the least in February (0.36 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 15°F | 31.8°F | 0.53 | 4.1 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 18°F | 35.9°F | 0.36 | 2.6 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 24°F | 43.1°F | 0.59 | 2.1 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 31°F | 50.0°F | 0.49 | 0.6 | 3 | <1 | 19 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 39°F | 58.7°F | 1.16 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 47°F | 68.1°F | 1.19 | 0.0 | 4 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 90°F | 54°F | 72.1°F | 2.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 17 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 52°F | 69.9°F | 2.36 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 82°F | 45°F | 63.2°F | 1.77 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 33°F | 52.1°F | 1.37 | 0.8 | 5 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 59°F | 22°F | 40.4°F | 0.69 | 2.5 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 49°F | 15°F | 31.7°F | 0.69 | 5.2 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 33°F | 51.4°F | 13.56 | 17.9 | 57 | 43 | 183 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −9°C | −0.1°C | 13 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 12°C | −8°C | 2.2°C | 9 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 17°C | −4°C | 6.2°C | 15 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 21°C | −1°C | 10.0°C | 12 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 26°C | 4°C | 14.8°C | 29 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 8°C | 20.1°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 12°C | 22.3°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 11°C | 21.1°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 7°C | 17.3°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 1°C | 11.2°C | 35 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 15°C | −6°C | 4.7°C | 18 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 9°C | −9°C | −0.2°C | 18 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00293060; 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 Estancia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00293060.
When is the last frost in Estancia?
In Estancia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 18 in half of years and after June 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 1 in half of years and before September 21 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 181 year in 10 after June 2; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 11 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 135 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 156 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Estancia in zone 6a in ZIP code 87016, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00293060; 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 Estancia?
In a normal year in Estancia, 43 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 183 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 43a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 183a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1904) is 104°F, on June 19, 1989; the lowest is −37°F, on January 7, 1971.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1911, with 27.25 in; the snowiest season is 1915–16, with 55.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00293060; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00293060. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Estancia?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Estancia, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 84% | 3.4 |
| February | 84% | 4.3 |
| March | 86% | 5.8 |
| April | 88% | 7.0 |
| May | 89% | 7.8 |
| June | 91% | 8.1 |
| July | 86% | 7.3 |
| August | 87% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 90% | 4.9 |
| November | 87% | 3.7 |
| December | 83% | 3.0 |
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 Estancia need?
A normal year in Estancia brings 5,480 heating degree days, 2% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 547 cooling degree days, 40% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,760 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,031 | 0 |
| February | 815 | 0 |
| March | 681 | 0 |
| April | 452 | 0 |
| May | 210 | 14 |
| June | 26 | 119 |
| July | 2 | 221 |
| August | 5 | 155 |
| September | 91 | 37 |
| October | 399 | 0 |
| November | 738 | 0 |
| December | 1,032 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,480 | 547 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00293060. 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.
How does Estancia's climate compare?
Estancia is warmer than 32 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 51. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.4°F is warmer than 47%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Estancia is BSk: cold 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.
Which places near Estancia 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.
- McIntosh, NM1,310 people · 4 mi N
- Tajique, NM156 people · 16 mi W
- Chilili, NM27 people · 12 mi NW
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 Estancia's climate
What is the coldest month in Estancia?
December, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Estancia?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (5.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Estancia?
July, with 2.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.36 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Estancia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Estancia in zone 6a in ZIP code 87016, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Estancia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 18; in one year in ten it comes after June 2. Waiting until June 2 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
- Moriarty, NM13 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Clines Corners, NM24 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Mountainair, NM25 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Stanley, NM25 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made