Kuparuk, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Kuparuk's primary NOAA station, KUPARUK.
The climate verdict for Kuparuk
Winter sets the terms in Kuparuk, Alaska. A pronounced 63.7°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 14°F. At 29/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 1% of scores.
- 14°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 29/100
- comfort score, above 1% of station-mapped location scores
- 4.7"
- annual precipitation · 36" snow
Kuparuk: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00505136 · Kuparuk, AK 14°F mean · 4.7" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 14°F
- RANK-COOL #1
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Utqiagvik (form…
- PRCP-ARID 4.7"
- SWING-WIDE 64°F
- COMF-LOW 29/100
- LOAD-HEAT 18,744 HDD
- STN-1 USC00505136
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), AK ( -0.8 °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.
- Hot Toolik Lake, AK 19°F
- Near Wainwright, AK 15°F
- Kuparuk (this station) 14°F
- Near Alpine, AK 14°F
- Cold Utqiagvik (form…, AK 13°F
Kuparuk 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 · Kuparuk
Kuparuk: 4/100 · grade F
Kuparuk publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Kuparuk, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 29/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 35.5 inches/year | 33/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 13.5°F · 54.0° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 275 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 4.7 in · 30.3 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Kuparuk · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Kuparuk falls in the polar Köppen band: ET
The warmest month stays below 10°C: tundra class (ET). Class ET is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: polar, specifically tundra.
- Köppen code
- ET
- Group
- Polar
- Warmest month
- 48.1°F
- Coldest month
- -15.6°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 Kuparuk sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Kuparuk's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 100%
- Among 6,861 stations, Kuparuk sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 99%
- Kuparuk'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 Kuparuk is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Kuparuk compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Kuparuk's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
29 1st percentile score exceeds 1% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Above this entry.
- 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
Kuparuk's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 38 complete annual observations from 1984 to 2025, KUPARUK warmed at a fitted rate of 1.01°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Kuparuk primary station fitted change +1.01 °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 | -9°F (-23°C) | -22°F (-30°C) | -16°F (-26°C) | 0.1" | 2.9" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | -9°F (-23°C) | -22°F (-30°C) | -15°F (-26°C) | 0.1" | 3.0" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | -6°F (-21°C) | -20°F (-29°C) | -13°F (-25°C) | 0.1" | 2.7" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 10°F (-12°C) | -4°F (-20°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 0.2" | 3.6" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 29°F (-1°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.1" | 2.1" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| June | 48°F (9°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 0.3" | 0.6" | 15.3 | 0.0 |
| July | 57°F (14°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 3.3 | 0.0 |
| August | 51°F (10°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.2" | 0.3" | 6.3 | 0.0 |
| September | 40°F (4°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 0.6" | 2.8" | 19.8 | 0.0 |
| October | 24°F (-4°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 0.4" | 7.5" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 8°F (-13°C) | -5°F (-21°C) | 2°F (-17°C) | 0.3" | 6.1" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | -4°F (-20°C) | -16°F (-27°C) | -10°F (-23°C) | 0.2" | 3.9" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 57°F around July 10, short of 90°F on every date, while 275 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -23°F near January 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into June 10, then returns to freezing around September 10, covering 275 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 8, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is May 17 at 10%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 75 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 1 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 18°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Kuparuk.
Where Kuparuk Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 275 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 5 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Kuparuk 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: 2.9"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.0"
3.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.7"
3.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.6"
4.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.1"
3.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
3.7 days with precipitation
8.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
11.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
8.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
9.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.1"
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.9"
6.1 days with precipitation
Kuparuk runs a summer-peaked wet season
53% of Kuparuk'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 1.2", on a wide 63.7°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: August, July, September, taking 58% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: March at 0.1".
- Winter share: 11% 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.
Kuparuk is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 75 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 21% of the calendar, and they carry 4.7" between them. At roughly 0.06 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 11 wet days; the driest is May 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.
Winter brings real snow to Kuparuk
Kuparuk averages 35.5 inches of snowfall a year, with October the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 65 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: 35.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 65 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 75% 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
18,744
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Kuparuk 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 (14°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 20.7°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 20.7°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 20.8°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 20.9°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (4.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Las Vegas, NV 4.8" · 0.1" off
- Tonopah, NV 4.8" · 0.1" off
- Bishop, CA 4.8" · 0.1" off
- Quartzsite, AZ 4.6" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Kuparuk
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Kuparuk logs 18,744 heating degree days, more than twice its 1 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 63.7°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Kuparuk. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
-
1. Kuparuk coldest normal
January
Averaging -16°F (-26°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Kuparuk typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Kuparuk snow peak
October
Kuparuk averages 35.5 inches of snow a year, with October the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Kuparuk's climate
How much snow does Kuparuk get? ▼
How cold does Kuparuk get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Kuparuk? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Kuparuk's primary station: KUPARUK (USC00505136). 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 Kuparuk; 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 Kuparuk 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.