Fruita, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fruita's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 9.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 35°C, 251 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFruita
- Station IDUSC00053146
- Location39.14°N 108.73°W
- Elevation4,498 ft (1,371 m)
- Population13,912
On October 23, the normal high in Fruita is 65°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fruita.
- Jan 39° 15°
- Feb 47° 21°
- Mar 59° 29°
- Apr 67° 35°
- May 78° 45°
- Jun 89° 53°
- Jul 95° 60°
- Aug 92° 58°
- Sep 83° 48°
- Oct 69° 36°
- Nov 54° 25°
- Dec 40° 16°
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 Fruita each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in October (1.18 in), the least in June (0.55 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 15°F | 27.0°F | 0.75 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 47°F | 21°F | 34.3°F | 0.77 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 59°F | 29°F | 44.1°F | 0.92 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 35°F | 51.1°F | 0.92 | 5 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 78°F | 45°F | 61.7°F | 0.85 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 89°F | 53°F | 70.8°F | 0.55 | 3 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 95°F | 60°F | 77.2°F | 0.66 | 4 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 92°F | 58°F | 74.9°F | 0.84 | 6 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 83°F | 48°F | 65.7°F | 1.12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 36°F | 52.4°F | 1.18 | 6 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 25°F | 39.5°F | 0.65 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 16°F | 28.3°F | 0.68 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 37°F | 52.2°F | 9.89 | 58 | 70 | 167 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −9°C | −2.8°C | 19 mm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 1.3°C | 20 mm |
| March | 15°C | −2°C | 6.7°C | 23 mm |
| April | 20°C | 2°C | 10.6°C | 23 mm |
| May | 26°C | 7°C | 16.5°C | 22 mm |
| June | 32°C | 11°C | 21.6°C | 14 mm |
| July | 35°C | 15°C | 25.1°C | 17 mm |
| August | 33°C | 15°C | 23.8°C | 21 mm |
| September | 28°C | 9°C | 18.7°C | 28 mm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 11.3°C | 30 mm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 4.2°C | 17 mm |
| December | 5°C | −9°C | −2.1°C | 17 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Colorado National Monument (3 miles away), gets 22 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00053146; 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 Fruita?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, May 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 USC00053146.
When is the last frost in Fruita?
In Fruita, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 27 in half of years and after May 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 11 in half of years and before September 28 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
- April 271 year in 10 after May 7; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 111 year in 10 before September 28; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 164 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fruita in zone 7a in ZIP code 81521, 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 USC00053146; 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 Fruita?
In a normal year in Fruita, 70 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 167 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 58 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 70a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 167a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 58a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 111°F, on July 14, 2002; the lowest is −36°F, on February 6, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1957, with 18.08 in; the snowiest season is 1938–39, with 40.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00053146; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00053146. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fruita?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fruita, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.6 |
| February | 76% | 3.5 |
| March | 77% | 4.8 |
| April | 77% | 6.0 |
| May | 80% | 7.0 |
| June | 87% | 8.0 |
| July | 84% | 7.3 |
| August | 84% | 6.5 |
| September | 86% | 5.5 |
| October | 82% | 4.0 |
| November | 79% | 2.8 |
| December | 74% | 2.2 |
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 Fruita need?
A normal year in Fruita brings 5,640 heating degree days, 5% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,022 cooling degree days, 13% more 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 3,351 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,179 | 0 |
| February | 860 | 0 |
| March | 648 | 0 |
| April | 419 | 2 |
| May | 147 | 45 |
| June | 22 | 196 |
| July | 1 | 379 |
| August | 2 | 309 |
| September | 69 | 90 |
| October | 393 | 2 |
| November | 764 | 0 |
| December | 1,137 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,640 | 1,022 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00053146. 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 Fruita been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 52.7°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.2°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.7°F | +1.5°F | 10.66 |
| 2023 | 52.7°F | +0.5°F | 7.37 |
Over 67 complete years from 1903 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00053146; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fruita's climate compare?
Fruita is warmer than 107 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.2°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fruita 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 Fruita share this climate record?
Loma has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Loma, CO1,365 people · 6 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 Fruita's climate
What is the coldest month in Fruita?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Fruita?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Fruita's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Colorado National Monument (3 miles away), records 22 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Fruita?
October, with 1.18 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.55 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fruita in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fruita in zone 7a in ZIP code 81521, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Fruita?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 27; in one year in ten it comes after May 7. Waiting until May 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Colorado National Monument, CO3 miles from this station, 53.3°F a year
- Grand Junction, CO10 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Palisade, CO21 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Glade Park (17 mi W), CO22 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made