Kaltag, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Kaltag's primary NOAA station, KALTAG AP.
The climate verdict for Kaltag
Winter sets the terms in Kaltag, Alaska. A pronounced 63.3°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 28°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 28°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.5"
- yearly precipitation total
- 101 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Kaltag: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00026502 · Kaltag, AK 28°F mean · 21.5" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 28°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Nome
- PRCP-DRY 21.5"
- SWING-WIDE 63°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 13,510 HDD
- STN-1 USW00026502
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Nome Muni, AK (+ 0.1 °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 AK station list.
- Kaltag (this station) 28°F
- Cold Tonsina, AK 28°F
- Hot Kobe Hill, AK 28°F
- Near Nome, AK 28°F
- Near N Pole, AK 28°F
Kaltag sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Kaltag
Kaltag: 11/100 · grade F
Kaltag publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Kaltag, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 21.5 in · 13.5 from 35 in | 53/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 229 calendar days | 2/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 27.9°F · 39.6° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 101 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Kaltag · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Kaltag is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean -4.0°F and warmest-month mean 59.3°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 59.3°F
- Coldest month
- -4.0°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 Kaltag sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Kaltag's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Kaltag sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- Kaltag's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Kaltag is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Kaltag compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Kaltag's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°F (-15°C) | -12°F (-25°C) | -4°F (-20°C) | 1.0" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 14°F (-10°C) | -6°F (-21°C) | 4°F (-15°C) | 1.3" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 21°F (-6°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 1.4" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 38°F (3°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 1.4" | 28.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 56°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.0" | 14.5 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (21°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.6" | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| July | 69°F (21°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 2.2" | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| August | 64°F (18°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 3.4" | 2.4 | 0.0 |
| September | 53°F (12°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 3.2" | 12.3 | 0.0 |
| October | 35°F (2°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 2.8" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 17°F (-8°C) | 2°F (-17°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 1.4" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 8°F (-13°C) | -8°F (-22°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 0.7" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 72°F around June 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 229 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -13°F near January 13.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 10, then returns to freezing around September 25, covering 229 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 17, when 56% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 23 at 21%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 125 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 5 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Kaltag.
Where Kaltag Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 229 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Kaltag earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
6.7 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
9.1 days with precipitation
11.7 days with precipitation
14.1 days with precipitation
18.0 days with precipitation
14.6 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
Kaltag spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 14%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Kaltag has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 63.3°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 3.4" and December 0.7". The three wettest months together take 43% 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.
Rain reaches Kaltag in small, frequent amounts
Kaltag records about 125 days with measurable precipitation a year and 21.5" in total, which works out to roughly 0.17 inches on an average wet day. Precipitation on 34% of all days, arriving that lightly, is the damp many-grey-days pattern rather than the storm-driven one.
Places in this band read as wetter than their annual totals suggest, because what people notice is the number of overcast days, not the depth in the gauge.
- Most wet days: August, about 18 of them.
- Fewest: December, about 7.
- Average depth per wet day: 0.17 inches.
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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 3
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
101 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
13,510
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
22
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Kaltag 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 (28°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 6.3°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 6.3°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 6.4°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 6.5°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Kyle, SD 21.6" · 0.0" off
- Placerville, CO 21.5" · 0.0" off
- Hayes Center, NE 21.5" · 0.0" off
- Mertzon, TX 21.6" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Kaltag's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Kaltag logs 13,510 heating degree days, more than twice its 22 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 63.3°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 101 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
Kaltag's calendar has a pronounced split: July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 63.3°F between them. The annual average is 28°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
Kaltag's 21.5 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Kaltag's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Kaltag, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Kaltag's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Kaltag's primary station: KALTAG AP (USW00026502). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0237430). Match rule for Kaltag: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Kaltag 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.