Gateway, CO Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Gateway's primary NOAA station, GATEWAY 1ENE.
The climate verdict for Gateway
Dryness leads the climate profile for Gateway, Colorado, with 11.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 56°F. Its climate comfort score of 68/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 56% of station-mapped location scores.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 68/100
- comfort score, above 56% of station-mapped location scores
- 11.8"
- annual precipitation · 11" snow
- 184 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Gateway: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00053246 · Gateway, CO 56°F mean · 11.8" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,391
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Farmington
- PRCP-ARID 11.8"
- SWING-WIDE 46°F
- COMF-MID 68/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,547 HDD
- STN-1 USC00053246
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Farmington, MO (+ 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.
- Gateway (this station) 56°F
- Cold Du Quoin, IL 56°F
- Hot Ozark, MO 56°F
- Near Farmington, MO 56°F
- Near Crane Nsa, IN 56°F
Climate Living Index · Gateway
Gateway: 40/100 · grade D
Gateway publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Gateway, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 68/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 56.1°F · 11.4° from 67.5°F | 63/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 11.2 inches/year | 61/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 184 days/year | 53/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 11.8 in · 23.2 from 35 in | 18/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 194 calendar days | 17/100 · F |
Gateway · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Gateway's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 79.5°F
- Coldest month
- 33.1°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 Gateway sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Gateway's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 64th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 90%
- Gateway's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 66th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Gateway compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Gateway's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
68 Top 44% score exceeds 56% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Gateway's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 40 complete annual observations from 1959 to 2025, GATEWAY 1ENE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.30°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Gateway primary station fitted change +0.30 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F (7°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.7" | 3.5" | 28.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 52°F (11°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 0.7" | 1.9" | 22.8 | 0.0 |
| March | 63°F (17°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 1.0" | 1.0" | 15.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 71°F (21°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.1" | 0.5" | 5.2 | 0.1 |
| May | 80°F (27°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| June | 91°F (33°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 17.5 |
| July | 95°F (35°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 80°F (26°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 26.4 |
| August | 92°F (33°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.4 |
| September | 85°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.2 |
| October | 71°F (22°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.2" | 0.1" | 5.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 57°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 0.8" | 1.1" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 45°F (7°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.8" | 3.1" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Gateway works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 96°F by July 11 and hold at or above 90°F on 77 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 117 dates, bottoming at 20°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 13 through August 28, covering 77 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 14 to October 19.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 6, then returns to freezing around November 11, covering 117 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 3, when 23% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 19 at 12%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 66 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 34°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Gateway.
Where Gateway Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 12 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Heat is a defining feature of the normals calendar — the normal daily high reaches 90°F on roughly 77 days a year, more than four out of five ranked stations record.
Gateway 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: 3.5"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
5.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
5.9 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
3.3 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.1"
5.0 days with precipitation
Gateway spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 25% of the annual total and December through February 18%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Gateway has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 46.4°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: September averages 1.4" and June 0.5". The three wettest months together take 33% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Gateway is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 65 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 18% of the calendar, and they carry 11.8" 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 7 wet days; the driest is June at about 3.
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.
Snow reaches Gateway, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 11.2 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 8 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 20
50% probability date
Growing Season
184 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,547
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,331
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Gateway 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 (56°F here).
- Bushland, TX 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Colorado City, AZ 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Cullowhee, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Eldon, MO 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (11.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ovando, MT 11.8" · 0.0" off
- Fresno, CA 11.8" · 0.0" off
- King City, CA 11.8" · 0.0" off
- Benson, AZ 11.8" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Gateway's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Gateway's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,547 annual heating degree days against 1,331 for cooling. Its 46.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Gateway's frost-free season lasts about 184 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Gateway's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 46.4°F. The annual average is 56°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Gateway's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 11.8 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 11.2 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Gateway wettest normal
September
September concentrates the scarce annual total (11.8 inches).
Gateway driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Gateway's climate
How dry is Gateway? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Gateway get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Gateway? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Gateway's primary station: GATEWAY 1ENE (USC00053246). 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 Gateway; 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 Gateway 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.