Montezuma Castle National Monument, AZ 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 Montezuma Castle National Monument's primary NOAA station, MONTEZUMA CASTLE NM.
The climate verdict for Montezuma Castle National Monument
Dryness leads the climate profile for Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona, with 13.2 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 62°F. It scores 83/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 81% of them.
- 62°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 83/100
- comfort score, above 81% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.2"
- annual precipitation
- 197 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Montezuma Castle National Monument: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00025635 · Montezuma Castle National Monument, AZ 62°F mean · 13.2" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 62°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,420
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ada
- PRCP-DRY 13.2"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-TOP 83/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00025635
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ada, OK (+ 0 °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 AZ station list.
- Montezuma Castl… (this station) 62°F
- Hot Chico Univ Farm, CA 62°F
- Near Ada, OK 62°F
- Near Ardmore, TN 62°F
- Near Belhaven, NC 62°F
Climate Living Index · Montezuma Castle National Monument
Montezuma Castle National Monument: 46/100 · grade D
Montezuma Castle National Monument publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Montezuma Castle National Monument, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 83/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 0.0 inches/year | 90/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 61.6°F · 5.9° from 67.5°F | 82/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 197 days/year | 62/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 13.2 in · 21.8 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 232 calendar days | 1/100 · F |
Montezuma Castle National Monument · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Montezuma Castle National Monument's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 82.4°F
- Coldest month
- 41.8°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 · balanced station
Where Montezuma Castle National Monument sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Montezuma Castle National Monument's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 21% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Montezuma Castle National Monument sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Montezuma Castle National Monument's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 39th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Montezuma Castle National Monument compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Montezuma Castle National Monument's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
83 Top 19% score exceeds 81% 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%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Montezuma Castle National Monument's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 50 complete annual observations from 1940 to 2023, MONTEZUMA CASTLE NM 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.
- Montezuma Castle National Monument 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 | 61°F (16°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 25.7 | 0.0 |
| February | 65°F (18°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 19.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 72°F (22°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 8.4 | 0.5 |
| April | 79°F (26°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 2.4 | 3.4 |
| May | 88°F (31°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 15.2 |
| June | 98°F (37°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 27.0 |
| July | 101°F (38°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.7 |
| August | 99°F (37°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 28.7 |
| September | 93°F (34°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 22.8 |
| October | 82°F (28°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 1.5 | 7.2 |
| November | 69°F (21°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 15.6 | 0.1 |
| December | 59°F (15°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 25.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Montezuma Castle National Monument works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 101°F by July 5 and hold at or above 90°F on 126 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 106 dates, bottoming at 25°F around December 17.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 23 through September 25, covering 126 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 9 to November 14.
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.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 27, then returns to freezing around November 14, covering 106 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 3, when 25% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 8 at 4%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 49 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 10 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 45°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Montezuma Castle National Monument.
Where Montezuma Castle National Monument Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 126 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 45°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Montezuma Castle National Monument earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
4.9 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
4.3 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
1.0 days with precipitation
6.7 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
4.4 days with precipitation
3.4 days with precipitation
3.1 days with precipitation
4.4 days with precipitation
Montezuma Castle National Monument spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 31%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Montezuma Castle National Monument has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 2.1" and June 0.2". The three wettest months together take 39% 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 Montezuma Castle National Monument's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 50 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.2" between them, or roughly 0.27 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.
Montezuma Castle National Monument's record shows no measurable snowfall
This station measured snowfall across the 1991-2020 period and recorded none: the annual normal is 0.0 inches. That is a measured zero rather than missing data, which is a meaningful distinction here , most stations in the database simply do not report snow at all, and those pages say nothing about it.
A thirty-year normal of zero describes the typical year at this station. It is not a claim that snow has never fallen in the area.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 30
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 16
50% probability date
Growing Season
197 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,053
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,826
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AZ closest to Montezuma Castle National Monument 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 (62°F here).
- Ada, OK 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Ardmore, TN 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Belhaven, NC 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Haleyville, AL 62°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hatch, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Harlowton, MT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Scipio, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Dayville, OR 13.1" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Montezuma Castle National Monument's limited precipitation lands
mixed demand · dry · mid swing
Local precipitation is sparse in this otherwise mixed profile. The station reports 13.2 inches annually, within PlainClimate's dry band. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. The monthly distribution matters because the total alone does not reveal the timing.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Montezuma Castle National Monument's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.6°F. The annual average is 62°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Montezuma Castle National Monument's normal, at 3,053 and 1,826 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 197-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
Montezuma Castle National Monument wettest normal
August
August concentrates the scarce annual total (13.2 inches).
Montezuma Castle National Monument driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Montezuma Castle National Monument's climate
How dry is Montezuma Castle National Monument? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Montezuma Castle National Monument get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Montezuma Castle National Monument? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Montezuma Castle National Monument's primary station: MONTEZUMA CASTLE NM (USC00025635). 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 Montezuma Castle National Monument; 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 Montezuma Castle National Monument 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.