McKinley Park, Alaska climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
McKinley Park's normal year runs from −6°F January nights to 66°F July afternoons, with 15.9 inches of precipitation and 77 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of −2.2°C, January lows of −21°C, July highs of 19°C, 404 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMcKinley Park
- Station IDUSC00505778
- Location63.72°N 148.97°W
- Elevation2,070 ft (631 m)
On October 23, the normal high in McKinley Park is 29°F and the normal low 12°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 32%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for McKinley Park.
- Jan 10° -6°
- Feb 20° -1°
- Mar 25° 0°
- Apr 41° 17°
- May 55° 31°
- Jun 65° 41°
- Jul 66° 45°
- Aug 61° 41°
- Sep 51° 31°
- Oct 34° 16°
- Nov 18° 2°
- Dec 14° -2°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at McKinley Park each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 66°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −6°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.12 in), the least in April (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°F | −6°F | 2.2°F | 0.61 | 9.6 | 8 | <1 | 31 | 5 h 30 min |
| February | 20°F | −1°F | 9.3°F | 0.71 | 9.6 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| March | 25°F | 0°F | 12.5°F | 0.51 | 8.2 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 11 h 40 min |
| April | 41°F | 17°F | 28.7°F | 0.43 | 6.9 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 14 h 50 min |
| May | 55°F | 31°F | 43.0°F | 0.84 | 2.6 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 18 h 10 min |
| June | 65°F | 41°F | 53.0°F | 2.42 | 0.1 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 20 h 40 min |
| July | 66°F | 45°F | 55.5°F | 3.12 | 0.0 | 16 | <1 | <1 | 19 h 40 min |
| August | 61°F | 41°F | 50.9°F | 3.01 | 0.0 | 17 | <1 | 2 | 16 h 30 min |
| September | 51°F | 31°F | 40.8°F | 1.74 | 5.0 | 13 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 10 min |
| October | 34°F | 16°F | 24.7°F | 0.84 | 9.4 | 10 | <1 | 28 | 10 h |
| November | 18°F | 2°F | 9.8°F | 0.84 | 12.9 | 11 | <1 | 29 | 6 h 40 min |
| December | 14°F | −2°F | 5.6°F | 0.83 | 12.4 | 10 | <1 | 31 | 4 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 38°F | 18°F | 28.0°F | 15.90 | 76.7 | 123 | <1 | 242 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −12°C | −21°C | −16.6°C | 15 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −7°C | −18°C | −12.6°C | 18 mm | 24 cm |
| March | −4°C | −18°C | −10.8°C | 13 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 5°C | −8°C | −1.8°C | 11 mm | 18 cm |
| May | 13°C | 0°C | 6.1°C | 21 mm | 7 cm |
| June | 19°C | 5°C | 11.7°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 16°C | 5°C | 10.5°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 10°C | −1°C | 4.9°C | 44 mm | 13 cm |
| October | 1°C | −9°C | −4.1°C | 21 mm | 24 cm |
| November | −8°C | −17°C | −12.3°C | 21 mm | 33 cm |
| December | −10°C | −19°C | −14.7°C | 21 mm | 31 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00505778; 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.
Which months are mildest at McKinley Park?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June and July. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (14).
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 USC00505778.
When is the last frost at McKinley Park?
In McKinley Park, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 6 in half of years and after June 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before August 25 in half of years and before August 9 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 61 year in 10 after June 30; 9 in 10 after May 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- August 251 year in 10 before August 9; 9 in 10 before September 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 77 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 106 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 21 in half of springs and before September 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts McKinley Park in zone 3b in ZIP code 99755, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 3a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −36°F (29 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 Alaska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00505778; 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 at McKinley Park?
In a normal year in McKinley Park, a 90°F day is rare, 242 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 123 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 242a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 138high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 123a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 22a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1923) is 91°F, on June 22, 1991; the lowest is −54°F, on February 5, 1999.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1967, with 27.59 in; the snowiest season is 2021–22, with 176.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00505778; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00505778. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at McKinley Park?
Over a year 65% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at McKinley Park, 2.5 kWh per square metre a day. April is the sunniest month (78%) and October the cloudiest (53%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 0.2 |
| February | 61% | 0.8 |
| March | 78% | 2.6 |
| April | 78% | 4.4 |
| May | 69% | 5.1 |
| June | 62% | 5.1 |
| July | 59% | 4.4 |
| August | 59% | 3.4 |
| September | 59% | 2.2 |
| October | 53% | 0.9 |
| November | 56% | 0.3 |
| December | 66% | 0.1 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does McKinley Park record?
A normal year at McKinley Park brings 13,469 heating degree days, 2.5 times the median U.S. place (5,373), and 4 cooling degree days, 100% fewer than the median (908). Eleven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 414 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,947 | 0 |
| February | 1,558 | 0 |
| March | 1,627 | 0 |
| April | 1,088 | 0 |
| May | 682 | 0 |
| June | 361 | 2 |
| July | 298 | 2 |
| August | 436 | 1 |
| September | 726 | 0 |
| October | 1,249 | 0 |
| November | 1,657 | 0 |
| December | 1,840 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 13,469 | 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00505778. 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.
Have recent years at McKinley Park been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 29.9°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 28.0°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26.1°F | −1.9°F | 23.52 | 158.5 |
| 2022 | 27.9°F | −0.1°F | 14.97 | 99.7 |
| 2023 | 28.5°F | +0.5°F | 13.92 | 101.0 |
| 2024 | 28.8°F | +0.8°F | 12.23 | 72.5 |
| 2025 | 29.9°F | +1.9°F | 19.56 | 89.9 |
Over 72 complete years from 1928 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.4°F per century (+0.30°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00505778; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does McKinley Park's climate compare?
McKinley Park is warmer than 25 of the 85 places with their own NOAA record in Alaska, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 28.0°F is warmer than 1%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, McKinley Park is Dfc: continental, no dry season, cool 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.
Which places near McKinley Park share this climate record?
Denali Park has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Denali Park, AK787 people · 13 mi SE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about McKinley Park's climate
What is the coldest month at McKinley Park?
January, with a normal high of 10°F and a normal low of −6°F. The warmest is July (66°F by day, 45°F at night).
Does it snow at McKinley Park?
Yes: 77 inches in a normal year, falling on 61 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in November (12.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month at McKinley Park?
July, with 3.12 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is McKinley Park in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts McKinley Park in zone 3b in ZIP code 99755, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −36°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 3a.
How late can frost come at McKinley Park?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 6; in one year in ten it comes after June 30. Waiting until June 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alaska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Healy, AK11 miles from this station, 28.6°F a year
- Cantwell, AK22 miles from this station, 27.2°F a year
- Kobe Hill, AK36 miles from this station, 28.2°F a year
- Clear Sky, AK37 miles from this station, 27.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made