Luna, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Luna's normal year runs from 13°F December nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 17.6 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.0°C, December lows of −11°C, July highs of 30°C, 447 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLuna Ranger Station
- Station IDUSC00295273
- Location33.82°N 108.94°W
- Elevation7,050 ft (2,149 m)
- Population (census place)67
On October 14, the normal high in Luna is 72°F and the normal low 27°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 15%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Luna.
- Jan 52° 14°
- Feb 55° 17°
- Mar 61° 19°
- Apr 67° 25°
- May 75° 30°
- Jun 85° 37°
- Jul 85° 48°
- Aug 82° 47°
- Sep 79° 39°
- Oct 71° 27°
- Nov 61° 18°
- Dec 52° 13°
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 Luna each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in August (3.84 in), the least in April (0.45 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 14°F | 32.7°F | 1.21 | 5.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 55°F | 17°F | 35.6°F | 1.05 | 1.7 | 5 | <1 | 27 | 11 h |
| March | 61°F | 19°F | 40.1°F | 0.82 | 1.4 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 25°F | 45.9°F | 0.45 | 0.7 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 13 h |
| May | 75°F | 30°F | 52.5°F | 0.68 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 85°F | 37°F | 61.2°F | 0.61 | 0.0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 85°F | 48°F | 66.4°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 82°F | 47°F | 64.5°F | 3.84 | 0.0 | 15 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 39°F | 58.8°F | 2.16 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 7 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 71°F | 27°F | 48.8°F | 1.42 | 0.1 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 18°F | 39.3°F | 0.86 | 1.4 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 52°F | 13°F | 32.6°F | 1.11 | 6.9 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 28°F | 48.2°F | 17.58 | 17.6 | 78 | 15 | 233 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −10°C | 0.4°C | 31 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 13°C | −9°C | 2.0°C | 27 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 16°C | −7°C | 4.5°C | 21 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 20°C | −4°C | 7.7°C | 11 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 24°C | −1°C | 11.4°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 3°C | 16.2°C | 15 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 9°C | 19.1°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 8°C | 18.1°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 4°C | 14.9°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | −3°C | 9.3°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | −8°C | 4.1°C | 22 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 11°C | −11°C | 0.3°C | 28 mm | 18 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295273; 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 Luna?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00295273.
When is the last frost in Luna?
In Luna, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 17 in half of years and after July 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 21 in half of years and before September 8 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
- June 171 year in 10 after July 1; 9 in 10 after June 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 211 year in 10 before September 8; 9 in 10 before October 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 93 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 112 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after June 7 in half of springs and before September 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Luna in zone 6a in ZIP code 87824, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Luna's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (17 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00295273; 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 Luna?
In a normal year in Luna, 15 days a year reach 90°F, 233 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 233a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 100°F, on July 13, 1942; the lowest is −32°F, on January 22, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1992, with 22.14 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 71.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00295273; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00295273. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Luna?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Luna, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (89%) and July the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.5 |
| February | 83% | 4.4 |
| March | 86% | 5.8 |
| April | 89% | 7.2 |
| May | 89% | 7.9 |
| June | 88% | 7.8 |
| July | 74% | 6.2 |
| August | 77% | 6.0 |
| September | 83% | 5.6 |
| October | 89% | 4.9 |
| November | 87% | 3.8 |
| December | 83% | 3.1 |
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 Luna need?
A normal year in Luna brings 6,225 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 121 cooling degree days, 87% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,754 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,001 | 0 |
| February | 825 | 0 |
| March | 772 | 0 |
| April | 575 | 0 |
| May | 387 | 1 |
| June | 134 | 20 |
| July | 22 | 66 |
| August | 47 | 31 |
| September | 190 | 4 |
| October | 501 | 0 |
| November | 770 | 0 |
| December | 1,003 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,225 | 121 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295273. 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.
How does Luna's climate compare?
Luna is warmer than 10 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 85. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.2°F is warmer than 33%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Luna is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm summer. 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 Luna's climate
What is the coldest month in Luna?
December, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Luna?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (6.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Luna?
August, with 3.84 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.45 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Luna in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Luna in zone 6a in ZIP code 87824, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Luna's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −11°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Luna?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 17; in one year in ten it comes after July 1. Waiting until July 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alpine, AZ12 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Reserve, NM12 miles from this station, 53.7°F a year
- Springerville, AZ29 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Greer, AZ32 miles from this station, 44.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made