Mountainair, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Mountainair's normal year runs from 22°F December nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 12.9 inches of precipitation and 14 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 31°C, 329 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationMountainair
- Station IDUSC00295965
- Location34.52°N 106.26°W
- Elevation6,520 ft (1,987 m)
- Population927
On October 23, the normal high in Mountainair is 67°F and the normal low 38°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Mountainair.
- Jan 47° 23°
- Feb 52° 26°
- Mar 60° 31°
- Apr 68° 36°
- May 77° 44°
- Jun 87° 54°
- Jul 87° 59°
- Aug 85° 58°
- Sep 79° 51°
- Oct 69° 41°
- Nov 57° 29°
- Dec 47° 22°
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 Mountainair each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.51 in), the least in April (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 23°F | 34.9°F | 0.57 | 2.7 | 3 | <1 | 29 | 10 h |
| February | 52°F | 26°F | 38.8°F | 0.44 | 3.2 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 11 h |
| March | 60°F | 31°F | 45.6°F | 0.66 | 2.0 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 68°F | 36°F | 52.1°F | 0.43 | 0.6 | 2 | <1 | 15 | 13 h |
| May | 77°F | 44°F | 60.4°F | 0.74 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 14 h |
| June | 87°F | 54°F | 70.3°F | 0.89 | 0.0 | 4 | 13 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 59°F | 73.1°F | 2.51 | 0.0 | 7 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 58°F | 71.4°F | 2.44 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 51°F | 65.2°F | 1.72 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 41°F | 55.0°F | 1.22 | 0.2 | 4 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 29°F | 43.0°F | 0.57 | 1.2 | 3 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 47°F | 22°F | 34.5°F | 0.75 | 4.2 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 40°F | 53.7°F | 12.94 | 14.1 | 47 | 39 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 14 mm | 7 cm |
| February | 11°C | −4°C | 3.8°C | 11 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 16°C | 0°C | 7.6°C | 17 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 20°C | 2°C | 11.2°C | 11 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 25°C | 7°C | 15.8°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 12°C | 21.3°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 15°C | 22.8°C | 64 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.9°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.4°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 5°C | 12.8°C | 31 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 14°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 14 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 8°C | −5°C | 1.4°C | 19 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295965; 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 Mountainair?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, August, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00295965.
When is the last frost in Mountainair?
In Mountainair, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 19 in half of years and before October 4 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
- May 21 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 191 year in 10 before October 4; 9 in 10 before November 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 167 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 189 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Mountainair in zone 7a in ZIP code 87036, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Mountainair's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (21 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 USC00295965; 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 Mountainair?
In a normal year in Mountainair, 39 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 47 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 4high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 47a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 102°F, on June 26, 1994; the lowest is −25°F, on January 7, 1971.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1907, with 22.86 in; the snowiest season is 1914–15, with 94.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00295965; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00295965. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Mountainair?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Mountainair, 5.7 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 | 84% | 3.4 |
| February | 84% | 4.3 |
| March | 86% | 5.8 |
| April | 88% | 7.0 |
| May | 89% | 7.8 |
| June | 91% | 8.1 |
| July | 86% | 7.3 |
| August | 87% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 90% | 4.9 |
| November | 87% | 3.7 |
| 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 Mountainair need?
A normal year in Mountainair brings 4,823 heating degree days, 10% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 721 cooling degree days, 21% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,128 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 933 | 0 |
| February | 735 | 0 |
| March | 600 | 0 |
| April | 388 | 1 |
| May | 170 | 27 |
| June | 14 | 171 |
| July | 1 | 254 |
| August | 2 | 199 |
| September | 61 | 67 |
| October | 312 | 2 |
| November | 660 | 0 |
| December | 947 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,823 | 721 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00295965. 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 Mountainair been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 54.2°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.7°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 53.2°F | −0.5°F | – | – |
| 2023 | 54.2°F | +0.5°F | – | – |
Over 30 complete years from 1955 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.1°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00295965; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Mountainair's climate compare?
Mountainair is warmer than 48 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 48. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.7°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Mountainair 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.
Which places near Mountainair share this climate record?
5 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Willard, NM216 people · 14 mi E
- Torreon, NM150 people · 14 mi N
- Punta de Agua, NM45 people · 6 mi N
- Deer Canyon, NM0 people · 7 mi S
- Manzano, NM0 people · 10 mi NW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Mountainair's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Mountainair. This page uses Mountainair; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountainair (8 mi NW) USC00295968 | 8 mi N | 6,672 ft | 51.2°F | 18°F | 88°F | 17.0 | 37 | May 7 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Mountainair's climate
What is the coldest month in Mountainair?
December, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Mountainair?
Yes: 14 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (4.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Mountainair?
July, with 2.51 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Mountainair in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Mountainair in zone 7a in ZIP code 87036, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Mountainair's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Mountainair?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 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
- Gran Quivira National Mon, NM21 miles from this station, 54.1°F a year
- Estancia, NM25 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Los Lunas, NM33 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Bernardo, NM34 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made