Marathon, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Marathon's normal year runs from 27°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 12.6 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.3 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, January lows of −3°C, July highs of 33°C, 320 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMarathon
- Station IDUSC00415579
- Location30.19°N 103.27°W
- Elevation3,989 ft (1,216 m)
- Population (census place)271
On October 23, the normal high in Marathon is 77°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 8%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Marathon.
- Jan 62° 27°
- Feb 66° 30°
- Mar 73° 38°
- Apr 81° 44°
- May 87° 53°
- Jun 92° 60°
- Jul 91° 62°
- Aug 91° 62°
- Sep 85° 57°
- Oct 79° 47°
- Nov 69° 34°
- Dec 62° 27°
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 Marathon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.26 in), the least in February (0.27 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62°F | 27°F | 44.1°F | 0.54 | 2 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 66°F | 30°F | 48.0°F | 0.27 | 2 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 73°F | 38°F | 55.3°F | 0.35 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 h |
| April | 81°F | 44°F | 62.4°F | 0.65 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 87°F | 53°F | 69.9°F | 1.56 | 4 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 92°F | 60°F | 76.0°F | 1.61 | 5 | 21 | <1 | 14 h |
| July | 91°F | 62°F | 76.6°F | 2.26 | 5 | 22 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 91°F | 62°F | 76.3°F | 1.70 | 4 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 85°F | 57°F | 70.8°F | 1.62 | 4 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 79°F | 47°F | 62.6°F | 1.27 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 69°F | 34°F | 51.6°F | 0.46 | 2 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 62°F | 27°F | 44.9°F | 0.29 | 2 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 45°F | 61.5°F | 12.58 | 36 | 95 | 75 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | −3°C | 6.7°C | 14 mm |
| February | 19°C | −1°C | 8.9°C | 7 mm |
| March | 23°C | 3°C | 12.9°C | 9 mm |
| April | 27°C | 7°C | 16.9°C | 17 mm |
| May | 31°C | 11°C | 21.1°C | 40 mm |
| June | 33°C | 15°C | 24.4°C | 41 mm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 24.8°C | 57 mm |
| August | 33°C | 16°C | 24.6°C | 43 mm |
| September | 30°C | 14°C | 21.6°C | 41 mm |
| October | 26°C | 8°C | 17.0°C | 32 mm |
| November | 21°C | 1°C | 10.9°C | 12 mm |
| December | 17°C | −3°C | 7.2°C | 7 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00415579; 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 Marathon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October and November. Of those, March has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00415579.
When is the last frost in Marathon?
In Marathon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 26 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 1 in half of years and before October 18 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 71 year in 10 after April 26; 9 in 10 after March 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 11 year in 10 before October 18; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 205 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 230 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 20 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Marathon in zone 8b in ZIP code 79842, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Marathon's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (19 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 Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00415579; 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 Marathon?
In a normal year in Marathon, 95 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 75 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 36 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 95a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 75a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 36a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1896) is 110°F, on August 30, 1943; the lowest is −6°F, on January 30, 1949.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 28.51 in; the snowiest season is 1914–15, with 28.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00415579; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00415579. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Marathon?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Marathon, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. April is the sunniest month (89%) and September the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.7 |
| February | 85% | 4.7 |
| March | 86% | 5.8 |
| April | 89% | 7.0 |
| May | 88% | 7.4 |
| June | 88% | 7.4 |
| July | 84% | 6.9 |
| August | 85% | 6.4 |
| September | 83% | 5.5 |
| October | 87% | 4.9 |
| November | 87% | 4.0 |
| December | 85% | 3.5 |
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 Marathon need?
A normal year in Marathon brings 2,732 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,494 cooling degree days, 65% more than 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 4,889 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 649 | 0 |
| February | 475 | 0 |
| March | 306 | 5 |
| April | 118 | 40 |
| May | 26 | 178 |
| June | 0 | 330 |
| July | 0 | 358 |
| August | 0 | 349 |
| September | 14 | 188 |
| October | 118 | 45 |
| November | 402 | 1 |
| December | 625 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,732 | 1,494 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00415579. 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 Marathon's climate compare?
Marathon is warmer than 45 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.5°F is warmer than 78%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Marathon 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 Marathon's climate
What is the coldest month in Marathon?
January, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Marathon?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.3 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Marathon?
July, with 2.26 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.27 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Marathon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Marathon in zone 8b in ZIP code 79842, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Marathon's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Marathon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 26. Waiting until April 26 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alpine, TX27 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Persimmon Gap, TX37 miles from this station, 68.3°F a year
- Fort Davis, TX46 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Marfa, TX48 miles from this station, 59.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made