John Martin Dam, 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 John Martin Dam's primary NOAA station, JOHN MARTIN DAM.
The climate verdict for John Martin Dam
Dryness leads the climate profile for John Martin Dam, Colorado, with 13.2 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 55°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 55°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.2"
- annual precipitation · 10" snow
- 174 days
- frost-free days per growing season
John Martin Dam: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00054388 · John Martin Dam, CO 55°F mean · 13.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 55°F
- RANK-MID #4,048
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Kanopolis Lake
- PRCP-DRY 13.2"
- SWING-WIDE 48°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,101 HDD
- STN-1 USC00054388
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Kanopolis Lake, KS (+ 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.
- John Martin Dam (this station) 55°F
- Cold Cottonwood Falls, KS 55°F
- Hot Greensburg, KS 55°F
- Near Kanopolis Lake, KS 55°F
- Near Milford Lake, KS 55°F
Climate Living Index · John Martin Dam
John Martin Dam: 35/100 · grade F
John Martin Dam publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for John Martin Dam, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 9.7 inches/year | 64/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 54.8°F · 12.7° from 67.5°F | 59/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 174 days/year | 45/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 13.2 in · 21.9 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 225 calendar days | 3/100 · F |
John Martin Dam · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
John Martin Dam'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
- 79.4°F
- Coldest month
- 31.3°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 John Martin Dam sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for John Martin Dam's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 59th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- John Martin Dam's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 74%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for John Martin Dam is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How John Martin Dam compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
John Martin Dam's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
John Martin Dam's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 42 complete annual observations from 1949 to 2025, JOHN MARTIN DAM warmed at a fitted rate of 0.11°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- John Martin Dam primary station fitted change +0.11 °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 | 46°F (8°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 0.2" | 1.7" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 50°F (10°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.3" | 2.4" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 61°F (16°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.7" | 1.4" | 22.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 69°F (21°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.2" | 0.2" | 8.5 | 0.6 |
| May | 79°F (26°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 5.8 |
| June | 90°F (32°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 1.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 17.7 |
| July | 95°F (35°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 2.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 24.2 |
| August | 92°F (33°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.9 |
| September | 85°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 12.2 |
| October | 72°F (22°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.0" | 0.2" | 8.9 | 2.0 |
| November | 58°F (15°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 0.4" | 0.9" | 24.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 47°F (8°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.4" | 2.9" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
John Martin Dam works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 95°F by July 12 and hold at or above 90°F on 78 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 147 dates, bottoming at 16°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 13 through August 29, covering 78 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 21 to October 20.
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 25, then returns to freezing around October 31, covering 147 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 July 26, when 22% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 28 at 6%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 47 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 15 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 John Martin Dam.
Where John Martin Dam Stands Nationally
Heat is a defining feature of the normals calendar — the normal daily high reaches 90°F on roughly 78 days a year, more than four out of five ranked stations record.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
John Martin Dam 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: 1.7"
1.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.4"
2.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.4"
3.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
4.5 days with precipitation
5.3 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
3.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
2.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.9"
2.1 days with precipitation
John Martin Dam runs a summer-peaked wet season
48% of John Martin Dam'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 July at 2.4", on a wide 48.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. 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: July, August, June, taking 48% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.2".
- Winter share: 7% 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.
How John Martin Dam's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 48 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.1" between them, or roughly 0.28 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Snow reaches John Martin Dam, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 9.7 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. 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 4 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 15
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
174 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,101
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,404
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to John Martin Dam 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 (55°F here).
- Courtland, KS 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Cynthiana, KY 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Free Union, VA 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Greensburg, KS 55°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Dayville, OR 13.1" · 0.0" off
- Hatch, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Harlowton, MT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Scipio, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where John Martin Dam's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
John Martin Dam's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,101 annual heating degree days against 1,404 for cooling. Its 48.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
John Martin Dam's frost-free season lasts about 174 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 John Martin Dam's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 48.1°F. The annual average is 55°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
John Martin Dam's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.2 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 9.7 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
John Martin Dam wettest normal
July
July concentrates the scarce annual total (13.2 inches).
John Martin Dam driest normal
January
January is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about John Martin Dam's climate
How dry is John Martin Dam? ▼
How many days above 90°F does John Martin Dam get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in John Martin Dam? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from John Martin Dam's primary station: JOHN MARTIN DAM (USC00054388). 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 John Martin Dam; 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 John Martin Dam 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.