Mcallen, TX 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 Mcallen's primary NOAA station, MCALLEN.
The climate verdict for Mcallen
Mcallen, Texas is cooling-led and dry. Its 18.7 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 76°F. It scores 76/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 69% of them.
- 76°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 76/100
- comfort score, above 69% of station-mapped location scores
- 18.7"
- precipitation, annual total
Mcallen: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00415701 · Mcallen, TX 76°F mean · 18.7" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 76°F
- RANK-WARM #6,792
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Palm Springs
- PRCP-DRY 18.7"
- SWING-NARROW 28°F
- COMF-TOP 76/100
- LOAD-COOL 4,437 CDD
- STN-1 USC00415701
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Palm Springs, CA ( -0.4 °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 TX station list.
- Mcallen (this station) 76°F
- Cold Edinburg, TX 75°F
- Near Palm Springs, CA 75°F
- Near Weslaco, TX 75°F
- Near Harlingen Rio G…, TX 75°F
Mcallen sits in Texas, the #4 hottest U.S. state at 66.2°F statewide annual average - see all 50 hottest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Mcallen
Mcallen: 59/100 · grade C
Mcallen publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mcallen, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 76/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 0.1 inches/year | 89/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 75.5°F · 8.0° from 67.5°F | 75/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 18.7 in · 16.3 from 35 in | 42/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 159 calendar days | 40/100 · D |
Mcallen · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mcallen's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSh
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: hot semi-arid steppe (BSh). Class BSh is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically hot semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSh
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 88.0°F
- Coldest month
- 60.4°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 · cooling-led station
Where Mcallen sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mcallen's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 1% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Mcallen sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 75%
- Mcallen's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 93%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Mcallen is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mcallen compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mcallen's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
76 Top 31% score exceeds 69% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Mcallen's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 49 complete annual observations from 1942 to 2025, MCALLEN warmed at a fitted rate of 0.23°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Mcallen primary station fitted change +0.23 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71°F (22°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| February | 76°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| March | 82°F (28°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| April | 87°F (30°C) | 65°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.9 |
| May | 92°F (33°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 21.5 |
| June | 96°F (36°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 86°F (30°C) | 3.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 28.7 |
| July | 98°F (36°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 87°F (31°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.4 |
| August | 99°F (37°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 88°F (31°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.9 |
| September | 94°F (34°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 84°F (29°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 24.4 |
| October | 89°F (32°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 16.3 |
| November | 80°F (26°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| December | 73°F (23°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 0.6" | 0.1" | 0.3 | 0.4 |
The year, day by day
The year in Mcallen runs from a mild 49°F around January 3 to 100°F at the peak near August 7, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 9 through October 14, covering 159 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs January 1 to December 31.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 49°F around January 3.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is September 11, when 19% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 30 at 8%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 43 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 22 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 23°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mcallen.
Where Mcallen Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 159 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Mcallen earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
3.2 days with precipitation
3.2 days with precipitation
3.5 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
3.4 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
3.5 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
2.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
3.3 days with precipitation
Mcallen 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 10%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Mcallen has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry an unusually narrow 27.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: September averages 3.8" and December 0.6". 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.
When it rains in Mcallen, it arrives in quantity
18.7" of precipitation falls across only about 43 wet days here, averaging 0.43 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 43 a year, 12% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.43 inches
- Most wet days
- September, about 6
- Fewest wet days
- November, about 3
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Snow reaches Mcallen, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 0.1 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
January 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 9
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
594
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
4,437
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside TX closest to Mcallen 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 (76°F here).
- Phoenix, AZ 76°F · 0.1°F off
- Marco Island, FL 75°F · 0.2°F off
- Stuart, FL 75°F · 0.2°F off
- Punta Gorda, FL 76°F · 0.3°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (18.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Oakland, CA 18.7" · 0.0" off
- Alberton, MT 18.7" · 0.0" off
- Harrold, SD 18.6" · 0.0" off
- Max, ND 18.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Mcallen's climate pattern fits together
cooling led · dry · low swing
Warm-season load persists through a relatively even calendar in Mcallen. Cooling totals 4,437 degree days, more than double the 594 heating measure, and the 27.6°F seasonal range is compact rather than sharply divided.
Heat demand sits beside limited local precipitation: Mcallen receives 18.7 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. Month-level precipitation is the useful check on when that small annual total arrives.
The calendar stays thermally compact and dry. August and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, only 27.6°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 76°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Mcallen. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Mcallen's primary station, so the summer figures are a thirty-year average rather than a ceiling: individual years have run hotter and will again. For Mcallen that means a descriptive range only — not an official NOAA classification and not a prediction for next summer.
Questions about Mcallen's climate
How much rain does Mcallen get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Mcallen get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Mcallen? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mcallen's primary station: MCALLEN (USC00415701). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 4845384). Match rule for Mcallen: 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 Mcallen 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.