Lance Creek, WY Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Lance Creek's primary NOAA station, LANCE CREEK 11NNE.
The climate verdict for Lance Creek
Dryness leads the climate profile for Lance Creek, Wyoming, with 14.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 47°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 47°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 14.3"
- annual precipitation · 41" snow
- 131 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Lance Creek: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00485374 · Lance Creek, WY 47°F mean · 14.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 47°F
- RANK-COOL #1,715
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Portage Wwtp
- PRCP-DRY 14.3"
- SWING-WIDE 49°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,331 HDD
- STN-1 USC00485374
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Portage Wwtp, WI (+ 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 WY station list.
- Lance Creek (this station) 47°F
- Hot Trempealeau Dam, WI 47°F
- Near Portage Wwtp, WI 47°F
- Near Gays Mills, WI 47°F
- Cold Charmany Farm, WI 46°F
Lance Creek sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Lance Creek
Lance Creek: 18/100 · grade F
Lance Creek publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Lance Creek, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 41.2 inches/year | 27/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 14.3 in · 20.7 from 35 in | 26/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 46.5°F · 21.0° from 67.5°F | 25/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 131 days/year | 13/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 217 calendar days | 6/100 · F |
Lance Creek · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Lance Creek'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
- 73.3°F
- Coldest month
- 24.2°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 Lance Creek sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Lance Creek's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 75%
- Among 6,861 stations, Lance Creek sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 85%
- Lance Creek's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 78%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Lance Creek is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Lance Creek compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Lance Creek's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F (3°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.3" | 4.9" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (4°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.4" | 7.8" | 27.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 49°F (10°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.8" | 6.7" | 26.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 2.1" | 5.8" | 17.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.7" | 1.8" | 6.1 | 0.4 |
| June | 80°F (27°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 5.5 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 18.1 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 15.4 |
| September | 77°F (25°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 1.3 | 5.1 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.1" | 2.8" | 17.3 | 0.1 |
| November | 48°F (9°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.6" | 4.8" | 26.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 37°F (3°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.3" | 6.6" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Lance Creek works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by July 23 and hold at or above 90°F on 25 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 192 dates, bottoming at 10°F around December 26.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 12 through August 5, covering 25 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 26 to September 28.
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 April 23, then returns to freezing around October 15, covering 192 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 May 21, when 32% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 22 at 10%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 64 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 29 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 Lance Creek.
Where Lance Creek Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 192 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Lance Creek 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: 4.9"
3.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.8"
3.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
4.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.8"
7.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.8"
10.3 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
5.9 days with precipitation
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
5.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.8"
3.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.6"
3.9 days with precipitation
Lance Creek spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 33% of the annual total and December through February 7%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Lance Creek has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 49.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.7" and January 0.3". The three wettest months together take 48% 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.
How Lance Creek's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 64 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 14.3" between them, or roughly 0.22 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.
Winter brings real snow to Lance Creek
Lance Creek averages 41.2 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 29 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: 41.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 29 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 29% 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
September 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 17
50% probability date
Growing Season
131 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,331
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
624
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Lance Creek 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 (47°F here).
- Beulah, MI 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Charles City, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Coggon, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
- Fort Dodge, IA 47°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (14.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Fort Morgan, CO 14.3" · 0.0" off
- Redstone, MT 14.3" · 0.0" off
- Ryegate, MT 14.3" · 0.0" off
- Sanderson, TX 14.3" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Lance Creek
heating led · dry · mid swing
Lance Creek's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,331 annual heating degree days against 624 for cooling. Its 49.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 131 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.
-
1. Lance Creek coldest normal
January
Averaging 24°F (-4°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Lance Creek typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Lance Creek snow peak
February
Lance Creek averages 41.2 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Lance Creek's climate
How much snow does Lance Creek get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Lance Creek get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Lance Creek? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Lance Creek's primary station: LANCE CREEK 11NNE (USC00485374). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 5644615), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Lance Creek: 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 Lance Creek 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.