Las Animas, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Las Animas's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 13.6 inches of precipitation and 16 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.5°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 35°C, 345 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLas Animas
- Station IDUSC00054834
- Location38.06°N 103.22°W
- Elevation3,890 ft (1,186 m)
- Population2,361
On October 23, the normal high in Las Animas is 68°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Las Animas.
- Jan 48° 16°
- Feb 52° 19°
- Mar 62° 28°
- Apr 70° 37°
- May 79° 48°
- Jun 90° 58°
- Jul 95° 63°
- Aug 92° 61°
- Sep 85° 52°
- Oct 71° 37°
- Nov 58° 25°
- Dec 48° 16°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Las Animas each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.63 in), the least in February (0.32 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 16°F | 31.6°F | 0.38 | 3.9 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 19°F | 35.5°F | 0.32 | 2.3 | 3 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 28°F | 45.0°F | 0.78 | 3.3 | 5 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 70°F | 37°F | 53.2°F | 1.36 | 0.4 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 79°F | 48°F | 63.3°F | 1.69 | 0.0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 90°F | 58°F | 73.9°F | 1.81 | 0.0 | 7 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 95°F | 63°F | 78.7°F | 2.63 | 0.0 | 7 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 92°F | 61°F | 76.4°F | 1.82 | 0.0 | 7 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 85°F | 52°F | 68.2°F | 0.93 | 0.0 | 4 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 37°F | 54.3°F | 1.10 | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 25°F | 41.6°F | 0.40 | 1.9 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 48°F | 16°F | 31.8°F | 0.36 | 2.9 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 38°F | 54.5°F | 13.58 | 16.2 | 57 | 83 | 151 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −9°C | −0.2°C | 10 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 11°C | −7°C | 1.9°C | 8 mm | 6 cm |
| March | 17°C | −2°C | 7.2°C | 20 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 21°C | 3°C | 11.8°C | 35 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 26°C | 9°C | 17.4°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 14°C | 23.3°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 17°C | 25.9°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 16°C | 24.7°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 11°C | 20.1°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 3°C | 12.4°C | 28 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 15°C | −4°C | 5.3°C | 10 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 9°C | −9°C | −0.1°C | 9 mm | 7 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00054834; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Las Animas?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00054834.
When is the last frost in Las Animas?
In Las Animas, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 29 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before October 2 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- April 291 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 15
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before October 2; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 166 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 185 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 18 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Las Animas in zone 6a in ZIP code 81054, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Las Animas's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00054834; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Las Animas?
In a normal year in Las Animas, 83 days a year reach 90°F (22 of them 100°F or more), 151 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 83a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 22a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 151a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 114°F, on June 24, 2012; the lowest is −32°F, on January 28, 1948.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 22.28 in; the snowiest season is 1997–98, with 54.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00054834; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00054834. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Las Animas?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Las Animas, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 2.7 |
| February | 76% | 3.5 |
| March | 81% | 4.9 |
| April | 80% | 6.1 |
| May | 82% | 7.0 |
| June | 87% | 7.6 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 89% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.5 |
| October | 84% | 4.1 |
| November | 84% | 3.0 |
| December | 79% | 2.4 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Las Animas need?
A normal year in Las Animas brings 5,125 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,318 cooling degree days, 45% more than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,861 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,034 | 0 |
| February | 827 | 0 |
| March | 622 | 0 |
| April | 361 | 7 |
| May | 132 | 81 |
| June | 11 | 278 |
| July | 1 | 427 |
| August | 2 | 356 |
| September | 58 | 155 |
| October | 343 | 13 |
| November | 704 | 0 |
| December | 1,029 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,125 | 1,318 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00054834. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Las Animas been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 55.5°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.5°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.6°F | +0.1°F | 13.37 | 11.8 |
| 2022 | 53.5°F | −1.0°F | 13.29 | 21.0 |
| 2023 | 54.1°F | −0.4°F | 16.98 | 12.8 |
| 2024 | 56.2°F | +1.7°F | 13.47 | 26.2 |
| 2025 | 55.5°F | +1.0°F | 12.64 | 13.0 |
Over 102 complete years from 1889 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00054834; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Las Animas's climate compare?
Las Animas is warmer than 123 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 37. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.5°F is warmer than 59%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Las Animas is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Questions about Las Animas's climate
What is the coldest month in Las Animas?
January, with a normal high of 48°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Las Animas?
Yes: 16 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Las Animas?
July, with 2.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.32 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Las Animas in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Las Animas in zone 6a in ZIP code 81054, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Las Animas's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Las Animas?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 29; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- John Martin Dam, CO16 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- La Junta, CO16 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Cheraw, CO16 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Rocky Ford, CO26 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made