Florissant Fossil Bed, 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 Florissant Fossil Bed's primary NOAA station, FLORISSANT FOSSIL BED.
The climate verdict for Florissant Fossil Bed
Dryness leads the climate profile for Florissant Fossil Bed, Colorado, with 15.0 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 40°F. At 35/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 4% of scores.
- 40°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 35/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.0"
- annual precipitation · 59" snow
Florissant Fossil Bed: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00052965 · Florissant Fossil Bed, CO 40°F mean · 15.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 40°F
- RANK-COOL #412
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lake City
- PRCP-DRY 15.0"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 35/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,972 HDD
- STN-1 USC00052965
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Lake City, 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.
- Florissant Foss… (this station) 40°F
- Hot Seward, AK 40°F
- Near Lake City, CO 40°F
- Near Los Alamos, NM 40°F
- Near Juneau Forecast…, AK 40°F
Climate Living Index · Florissant Fossil Bed
Florissant Fossil Bed: 9/100 · grade F
Florissant Fossil Bed publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Florissant Fossil Bed, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 35/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 15.0 in · 20.0 from 35 in | 28/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 58.9 inches/year | 16/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 40.3°F · 27.2° from 67.5°F | 5/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 250 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Florissant Fossil Bed · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Florissant Fossil Bed is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 22.0°F and warmest-month mean 60.2°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
- 60.2°F
- Coldest month
- 22.0°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 Florissant Fossil Bed sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Florissant Fossil Bed's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 94%
- Among 6,861 stations, Florissant Fossil Bed sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 83%
- Florissant Fossil Bed's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Florissant Fossil Bed is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Florissant Fossil Bed compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Florissant Fossil Bed's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
35 4th percentile score exceeds 4% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F (4°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 0.5" | 7.0" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 41°F (5°C) | 8°F (-14°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.4" | 7.7" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 49°F (10°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.9" | 11.7" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 56°F (13°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 1.1" | 9.4" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 65°F (18°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.6" | 3.8" | 22.2 | 0.0 |
| June | 75°F (24°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.6" | 0.1" | 6.0 | 0.1 |
| July | 79°F (26°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 2.9" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| August | 76°F (24°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| September | 71°F (21°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.3" | 0.7" | 13.4 | 0.0 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 0.7" | 4.4" | 28.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 0.5" | 7.3" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 39°F (4°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 0.4" | 6.8" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 79°F around July 10, short of 90°F on every date, while 250 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 4°F near December 24.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 26, then returns to freezing around September 20, covering 250 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.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 5, when 46% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 1 at 12%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 84 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 39°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Florissant Fossil Bed.
Where Florissant Fossil Bed Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 250 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 39°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Florissant Fossil Bed earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.0"
3.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.7"
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 11.7"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.4"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.8"
8.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
8.3 days with precipitation
12.7 days with precipitation
14.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
6.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.4"
4.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
4.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.8"
4.1 days with precipitation
Florissant Fossil Bed runs a summer-peaked wet season
50% of Florissant Fossil Bed'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 3.0", on a 38.2°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 50% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.4".
- 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.
Florissant Fossil Bed is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 84 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 15.0" between them. At roughly 0.18 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is August at about 14 wet days; the driest is January at about 4.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Florissant Fossil Bed
Florissant Fossil Bed averages 58.9 inches of snowfall a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 29 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 58.9 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 29 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 39% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,972
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
3
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Florissant Fossil Bed 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 (40°F here).
- Deer Lodge, MT 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Elliston, MT 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Jamestown, ND 40°F · 0.0°F off
- Los Alamos, NM 40°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Yoder, WY 15.0" · 0.0" off
- Cascade, MT 14.9" · 0.0" off
- Polson, MT 15.0" · 0.0" off
- Santa Rosa, NM 15.0" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Florissant Fossil Bed
heating led · dry · mid swing
Florissant Fossil Bed's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,972 annual heating degree days against 3 for cooling. Its 38.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Florissant Fossil Bed. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
-
1. Florissant Fossil Bed coldest normal
December
Averaging 22°F (-6°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Florissant Fossil Bed typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Florissant Fossil Bed snow peak
March
Florissant Fossil Bed averages 58.9 inches of snow a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Florissant Fossil Bed's climate
How much snow does Florissant Fossil Bed get? ▼
How cold does Florissant Fossil Bed get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Florissant Fossil Bed? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Florissant Fossil Bed's primary station: FLORISSANT FOSSIL BED (USC00052965). 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 Florissant Fossil Bed; 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 Florissant Fossil Bed 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.