Mile 42 Steese, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Mile 42 Steese's primary NOAA station, MILE 42 STEESE.
The climate verdict for Mile 42 Steese
Winter sets the terms in Mile 42 Steese, Alaska. A pronounced 61.2°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 28°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 28°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 15.4"
- yearly precipitation total
- 90 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Mile 42 Steese: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00505880 · Mile 42 Steese, AK 28°F mean · 15.4" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 28°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Delta Junction
- PRCP-DRY 15.4"
- SWING-WIDE 61°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 13,640 HDD
- STN-1 USC00505880
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Delta Junction, AK ( -0.3 °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 AK station list.
- Mile 42 Steese (this station) 28°F
- Cold Clear Sky, AK 27°F
- Near Delta Junction, AK 27°F
- Near Dry Creek, AK 27°F
- Near Cantwell, AK 27°F
Mile 42 Steese sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Mile 42 Steese
Mile 42 Steese: 6/100 · grade F
Mile 42 Steese publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mile 42 Steese, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 15.4 in · 19.6 from 35 in | 30/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 27.6°F · 39.9° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 90 days/year | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 240 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Mile 42 Steese · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mile 42 Steese is a continental Köppen climate: Dsc
Coldest-month mean -2.8°F and warmest-month mean 58.4°F place this station in continental, dry-summer, cool summer climates (Dsc). Class Dsc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-summer, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dsc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 58.4°F
- Coldest month
- -2.8°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 Mile 42 Steese sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mile 42 Steese's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Mile 42 Steese sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 82%
- Mile 42 Steese's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 98%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Mile 42 Steese is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mile 42 Steese compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mile 42 Steese's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°F (-15°C) | -11°F (-24°C) | -3°F (-19°C) | 0.6" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 14°F (-10°C) | -5°F (-21°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | 0.6" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 24°F (-4°C) | -1°F (-18°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 0.4" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 43°F (6°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 0.3" | 28.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 58°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 0.9" | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| June | 69°F (21°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.1" | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| July | 70°F (21°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 3.0" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| August | 64°F (18°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 3.3" | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| September | 53°F (12°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 1.7" | 17.6 | 0.0 |
| October | 34°F (1°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 0.9" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 14°F (-10°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 6°F (-14°C) | 1.1" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 8°F (-13°C) | -7°F (-22°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 0.5" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 72°F around June 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 240 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -12°F near January 10.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 10, then returns to freezing around September 14, covering 240 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 July 18, when 50% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 27 at 11%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 105 wet dates a year.
The widest day
March 25 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mile 42 Steese.
Where Mile 42 Steese Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 240 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 15 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Mile 42 Steese earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
6.6 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
4.1 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
7.9 days with precipitation
12.3 days with precipitation
15.8 days with precipitation
14.8 days with precipitation
10.5 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
Mile 42 Steese runs a summer-peaked wet season
55% of Mile 42 Steese's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is August at 3.3", on a wide 61.2°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: August, July, June, taking 55% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: April at 0.3".
- Winter share: 11% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Mile 42 Steese is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 105 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 29% of the calendar, and they carry 15.4" between them. At roughly 0.15 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is July at about 16 wet days; the driest is March at about 4.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
August 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 28
50% probability date
Growing Season
90 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
13,640
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
22
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Mile 42 Steese 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 (28°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 6.6°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 6.6°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 6.7°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 6.8°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (15.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Cheyenne, WY 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Lompoc, CA 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Tioga, ND 15.4" · 0.0" off
- Kit Carson, CO 15.4" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Mile 42 Steese's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Mile 42 Steese logs 13,640 heating degree days, more than twice its 22 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 61.2°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
Only about 90 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in this dry, high-range record. The gap is 61.2°F, so a single annual figure is especially lossy; the annual average is 28°f. Compare monthly temperature and precipitation together before drawing a seasonal conclusion about Mile 42 Steese.
Mile 42 Steese's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 15.4 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Mile 42 Steese's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Mile 42 Steese, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Mile 42 Steese's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mile 42 Steese's primary station: MILE 42 STEESE (USC00505880). 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 Mile 42 Steese; 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 Mile 42 Steese 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.