Melrose, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Melrose's normal year runs from 25°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 16.2 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.1°C, January lows of −4°C, July highs of 34°C, 412 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMelrose
- Station IDUSC00295617
- Location34.43°N 103.63°W
- Elevation4,599 ft (1,402 m)
- Population603
On October 23, the normal high in Melrose is 72°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 13%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Melrose.
- Jan 54° 25°
- Feb 59° 28°
- Mar 67° 34°
- Apr 75° 41°
- May 84° 51°
- Jun 92° 60°
- Jul 93° 64°
- Aug 91° 63°
- Sep 85° 56°
- Oct 75° 44°
- Nov 63° 33°
- Dec 54° 26°
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 Melrose each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.75 in), the least in February (0.35 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 25°F | 39.7°F | 0.47 | 2.8 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 28°F | 43.6°F | 0.35 | 1.3 | 3 | <1 | 20 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 34°F | 50.7°F | 0.72 | 1.1 | 3 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 41°F | 58.2°F | 0.84 | 0.7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 51°F | 67.3°F | 1.58 | 0.0 | 5 | 9 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 60°F | 76.3°F | 1.91 | 0.0 | 7 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 64°F | 78.7°F | 2.52 | 0.0 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 63°F | 77.2°F | 2.75 | 0.0 | 8 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 56°F | 70.5°F | 2.02 | 0.0 | 5 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 44°F | 59.5°F | 2.12 | 0.5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 33°F | 47.8°F | 0.41 | 1.0 | 3 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 54°F | 26°F | 39.9°F | 0.52 | 3.6 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 44°F | 59.1°F | 16.21 | 11.0 | 53 | 80 | 103 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −4°C | 4.3°C | 12 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 15°C | −2°C | 6.4°C | 9 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 20°C | 1°C | 10.4°C | 18 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 24°C | 5°C | 14.6°C | 21 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 29°C | 11°C | 19.6°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 33°C | 16°C | 24.6°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 18°C | 25.9°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 17°C | 25.1°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 13°C | 21.4°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 7°C | 15.3°C | 54 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 17°C | 1°C | 8.8°C | 10 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 12°C | −3°C | 4.4°C | 13 mm | 9 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295617; 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 Melrose?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, March 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 USC00295617.
When is the last frost in Melrose?
In Melrose, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 17 in half of years and after April 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 26 in half of years and before October 13 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 171 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after April 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 261 year in 10 before October 13; 9 in 10 before November 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 190 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 212 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 5 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Melrose in zone 7a in ZIP code 88124, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Melrose's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 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 USC00295617; 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 Melrose?
In a normal year in Melrose, 80 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 103 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 53 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 80a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 103a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 53a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1908) is 108°F, on June 24, 1990; the lowest is −20°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1984, with 27.55 in; the snowiest season is 1986–87, with 40.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00295617; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00295617. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Melrose?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Melrose, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.4 |
| February | 83% | 4.2 |
| March | 84% | 5.5 |
| April | 87% | 6.9 |
| May | 87% | 7.5 |
| June | 91% | 7.9 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 89% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.7 |
| October | 86% | 4.6 |
| November | 86% | 3.5 |
| December | 83% | 3.0 |
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 Melrose need?
A normal year in Melrose brings 3,621 heating degree days, 33% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,501 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 4,476 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 783 | 0 |
| February | 601 | 0 |
| March | 445 | 1 |
| April | 219 | 17 |
| May | 58 | 129 |
| June | 1 | 339 |
| July | 0 | 423 |
| August | 0 | 380 |
| September | 22 | 187 |
| October | 197 | 25 |
| November | 518 | 1 |
| December | 778 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,621 | 1,501 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295617. 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 Melrose been warmer than normal lately?
Over 64 complete years from 1942 to 2017, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.8°F per century (+0.21°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Melrose's climate compare?
Melrose is warmer than 72 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 70. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.1°F is warmer than 72%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Melrose 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 Melrose's climate
What is the coldest month in Melrose?
January, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Melrose?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 5 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (3.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Melrose?
August, with 2.75 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.35 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Melrose in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Melrose in zone 7a in ZIP code 88124, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Melrose's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Melrose?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 17; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 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
- Portales, NM24 miles from this station, 60.1°F a year
- Clovis, NM24 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Ragland (3 mi SSW), NM25 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Elida, NM34 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made