Mesa Verde National Park, CO 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 Mesa Verde National Park's primary NOAA station, MESA VERDE NP.
The climate verdict for Mesa Verde National Park
Dryness leads the climate profile for Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, with 17.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 50°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 50°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 17.1"
- annual precipitation · 65" snow
- 158 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Mesa Verde National Park: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00055531 · Mesa Verde National Park, CO 50°F mean · 17.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-COOL #2,676
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lehighton
- PRCP-DRY 17.1"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,047 HDD
- STN-1 USC00055531
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Lehighton, PA (+ 0.1 °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 CO station list.
- Mesa Verde Nati… (this station) 50°F
- Cold Enterprise, UT 50°F
- Hot Smoky Valley -…, NV 50°F
- Near Lehighton, PA 50°F
- Near Plymouth, MA 50°F
Climate Living Index · Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park: 38/100 · grade F
Mesa Verde National Park publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mesa Verde National Park, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 147 calendar days | 49/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 49.9°F · 17.6° from 67.5°F | 40/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 17.1 in · 17.9 from 35 in | 36/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 158 days/year | 32/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 65.0 inches/year | 13/100 · F |
Mesa Verde National Park · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mesa Verde National Park is a continental Köppen climate: Dsa
Coldest-month mean 29.8°F and warmest-month mean 72.5°F place this station in continental, dry-summer, hot summer climates (Dsa). Class Dsa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-summer, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dsa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 72.5°F
- Coldest month
- 29.8°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 · heating-led station
Where Mesa Verde National Park sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mesa Verde National Park's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 39th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 78%
- Mesa Verde National Park's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 47th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mesa Verde National Park compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mesa Verde National Park's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 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
Mesa Verde National Park's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 78 complete annual observations from 1925 to 2024, MESA VERDE NP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.16°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Mesa Verde National Park primary station fitted change +0.16 °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 | 40°F (4°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 2.0" | 18.1" | 30.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 43°F (6°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 1.7" | 12.0" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 51°F (11°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 1.4" | 8.0" | 22.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.1" | 5.0" | 14.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.1" | 0.6" | 3.8 | 0.1 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 2.8 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 9.0 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| September | 76°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 1.4" | 1.5" | 7.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.2" | 5.6" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 40°F (4°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 1.5" | 14.2" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 12, short of 90°F on every date, while 147 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 19°F near December 25.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 31, then returns to freezing around November 6, covering 147 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 2, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 15 at 13%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 85 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mesa Verde National Park.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 18.1"
7.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 12.0"
8.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.0"
6.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
5.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
6.7 days with precipitation
3.3 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.5"
6.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.6"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 14.2"
7.6 days with precipitation
Mesa Verde National Park spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 23% of the annual total and December through February 30%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Mesa Verde National Park has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 42.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 2.0" and June 0.5". The three wettest months together take 34% 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.
How Mesa Verde National Park's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 85 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 17.1" between them, or roughly 0.20 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park averages 65.0 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 29 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 65.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 29 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 38% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 9
50% probability date
Growing Season
158 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,047
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
582
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Mesa Verde National Park 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 (50°F here).
- Cedar Rapids, IA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Centerville, IA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Chalmers, IN 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Coulee Dam, WA 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (17.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bisbee, AZ 17.1" · 0.0" off
- Sedona, AZ 17.1" · 0.0" off
- Bowman, ND 17.1" · 0.0" off
- Morgan, UT 17.1" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Mesa Verde National Park
heating led · dry · mid swing
Mesa Verde National Park's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,047 annual heating degree days against 582 for cooling. Its 42.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Mesa Verde National Park's frost-free season lasts about 158 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Mesa Verde National Park coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 30°F (-1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Mesa Verde National Park typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Mesa Verde National Park snow peak
January
Mesa Verde National Park averages 65.0 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Mesa Verde National Park's climate
How much snow does Mesa Verde National Park get? ▼
How cold does Mesa Verde National Park get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Mesa Verde National Park? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mesa Verde National Park's primary station: MESA VERDE NP (USC00055531). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Mesa Verde National Park; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Mesa Verde National Park 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.