Las Cruces, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Las Cruces's normal year runs from 30°F December nights to 96°F July afternoons, with 9.1 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.3°C, December lows of −1°C, July highs of 35°C, 232 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationState University
- Station IDUSC00298535
- Location32.28°N 106.76°W
- Elevation3,886 ft (1,185 m)
- Population116,998
On October 23, the normal high in Las Cruces is 77°F and the normal low 45°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 Cruces.
- Jan 59° 30°
- Feb 64° 34°
- Mar 71° 39°
- Apr 79° 46°
- May 87° 54°
- Jun 96° 64°
- Jul 96° 69°
- Aug 94° 68°
- Sep 88° 61°
- Oct 80° 48°
- Nov 68° 37°
- Dec 58° 30°
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 Cruces each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 96°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in July (1.77 in), the least in April (0.22 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 30°F | 44.2°F | 0.48 | 0.4 | 3 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 64°F | 34°F | 48.8°F | 0.36 | 0.1 | 3 | <1 | 12 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 39°F | 55.2°F | 0.26 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 79°F | 46°F | 62.1°F | 0.22 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 87°F | 54°F | 70.6°F | 0.38 | 0.0 | 2 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 96°F | 64°F | 80.0°F | 0.65 | 0.0 | 3 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 96°F | 69°F | 82.4°F | 1.77 | 0.0 | 9 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 94°F | 68°F | 80.6°F | 1.73 | 0.0 | 8 | 25 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 88°F | 61°F | 74.8°F | 1.41 | 0.0 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 80°F | 48°F | 64.0°F | 0.82 | 0.1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 68°F | 37°F | 52.2°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 58°F | 30°F | 43.9°F | 0.64 | 0.4 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 48°F | 63.2°F | 9.14 | 1.0 | 47 | 109 | 69 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | −1°C | 6.8°C | 12 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 18°C | 1°C | 9.3°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| March | 22°C | 4°C | 12.9°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 26°C | 8°C | 16.7°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 31°C | 12°C | 21.4°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 36°C | 18°C | 26.7°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 21°C | 28.0°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 20°C | 27.0°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 31°C | 16°C | 23.8°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 26°C | 9°C | 17.8°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 20°C | 3°C | 11.2°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 15°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 16 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298535; 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 Cruces?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00298535.
When is the last frost in Las Cruces?
In Las Cruces, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 12 in half of years and after April 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 13 in half of years and before October 30 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
- March 121 year in 10 after April 2; 9 in 10 after February 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 131 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before November 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 241 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 270 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 26 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Las Cruces in zone 8b in ZIP code 88001. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Las Cruces's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (25 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00298535; 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 Cruces?
In a normal year in Las Cruces, 109 days a year reach 90°F (19 of them 100°F or more), 69 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 47 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 109a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 69a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 47a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 110°F, on June 28, 1994; the lowest is −8°F, on January 8, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 19.60 in; the snowiest season is 1984–85, with 16.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00298535; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00298535. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Las Cruces?
Over a year 88% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Las Cruces, 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (84%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 52nd (with 5 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 86% | 4.6 |
| March | 88% | 5.9 |
| April | 91% | 7.2 |
| May | 92% | 8.0 |
| June | 92% | 8.0 |
| July | 86% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 5.0 |
| November | 87% | 3.8 |
| December | 84% | 3.2 |
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 Cruces need?
A normal year in Las Cruces brings 2,675 heating degree days, 50% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,059 cooling degree days, 2.3 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,425 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 643 | 0 |
| February | 454 | 0 |
| March | 305 | 3 |
| April | 120 | 33 |
| May | 18 | 193 |
| June | 0 | 449 |
| July | 0 | 538 |
| August | 0 | 485 |
| September | 3 | 296 |
| October | 94 | 61 |
| November | 384 | 1 |
| December | 654 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,675 | 2,059 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298535. 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 Cruces been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 65.3°F, 2.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.9°F | +0.7°F | 6.44 | 1.0 |
| 2022 | 63.3°F | +0.1°F | 8.82 | 0.3 |
| 2023 | 64.7°F | +1.5°F | 4.66 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 65.3°F | +2.1°F | 3.64 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 65.3°F | +2.1°F | 7.16 | 2.0 |
Over 133 complete years from 1852 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00298535; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Las Cruces's climate compare?
Las Cruces is warmer than 90 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 4. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.2°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Las Cruces is BWk: cold desert. 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.
Which places near Las Cruces share this climate record?
12 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- University Park, NM2,699 people · 1 mi SE
- San Ysidro, NM2,179 people · 6 mi NW
- Picacho Hills, NM1,995 people · 7 mi W
- Mesilla, NM1,828 people · 3 mi W
- Radium Springs, NM1,661 people · 16 mi NW
- White Sands, NM1,577 people · 18 mi E
- Doña Ana, NM1,154 people · 8 mi NW
- Butterfield Park, NM826 people · 11 mi NE
- San Pablo, NM729 people · 2 mi S
- Tortugas, NM642 people · 1 mi S
- Fairacres, NM395 people · 5 mi W
- Organ, NM151 people · 13 mi NE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Las Cruces's other NOAA stations record?
2 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Las Cruces. This page uses State University; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jornada Experiment Range USC00294426 | 23 mi N | 4,318 ft | 59.5°F | 21°F | 96°F | 10.4 | 1 | April 27 |
| Las Cruces (20 mi N) USW00003074 | 23 mi N | 4,327 ft | 59.3°F | 24°F | 94°F | 10.3 | – | April 24 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Las Cruces's climate
What is the coldest month in Las Cruces?
December, with a normal high of 58°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is July (96°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Las Cruces?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Las Cruces?
July, with 1.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Las Cruces in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Las Cruces in zone 8b in ZIP code 88001. By the same method at Las Cruces's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Las Cruces?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 12; in one year in ten it comes after April 2. Waiting until April 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Las Cruces in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- La Tuna (1 mi S), TX23 miles from this station, 65.1°F a year
- Santa Teresa, NM29 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Orogrande, NM40 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- El Paso, TX40 miles from this station, 66.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made