Nenana, Alaska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Nenana's normal year runs from −12°F January nights to 73°F July afternoons, with 12.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of −1.1°C, January lows of −24°C, July highs of 23°C, 314 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationNenana Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00026435
- Location64.55°N 149.07°W
- Elevation360 ft (110 m)
- Population339
On October 14, the normal high in Nenana is 36°F and the normal low 23°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Nenana.
- Jan 5° -12°
- Feb 15° -5°
- Mar 24° 1°
- Apr 45° 23°
- May 63° 39°
- Jun 72° 49°
- Jul 73° 53°
- Aug 67° 48°
- Sep 55° 37°
- Oct 35° 21°
- Nov 15° 1°
- Dec 8° -9°
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 Nenana each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 73°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of −12°F. The most precipitation falls in August (2.34 in), the least in April (0.29 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°F | −12°F | -3.2°F | 0.58 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 5 h 10 min |
| February | 15°F | −5°F | 4.7°F | 0.44 | 6 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 30 min |
| March | 24°F | 1°F | 12.5°F | 0.36 | 5 | <1 | 31 | 11 h 30 min |
| April | 45°F | 23°F | 33.9°F | 0.29 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 15 h |
| May | 63°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 0.62 | 6 | <1 | 10 | 18 h 30 min |
| June | 72°F | 49°F | 60.8°F | 1.76 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 21 h 20 min |
| July | 73°F | 53°F | 63.0°F | 2.32 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 20 h |
| August | 67°F | 48°F | 57.4°F | 2.34 | 13 | <1 | 1 | 16 h 40 min |
| September | 55°F | 37°F | 46.4°F | 1.43 | 10 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 10 min |
| October | 35°F | 21°F | 27.7°F | 0.87 | 8 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| November | 15°F | 1°F | 7.9°F | 0.79 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 6 h 30 min |
| December | 8°F | −9°F | -0.3°F | 0.57 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 4 h |
| Year (annual) | 40°F | 20°F | 30.1°F | 12.37 | 94 | <1 | 228 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −15°C | −24°C | −19.6°C | 15 mm |
| February | −10°C | −21°C | −15.2°C | 11 mm |
| March | −4°C | −17°C | −10.8°C | 9 mm |
| April | 7°C | −5°C | 1.1°C | 7 mm |
| May | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 16 mm |
| June | 22°C | 10°C | 16.0°C | 45 mm |
| July | 23°C | 12°C | 17.2°C | 59 mm |
| August | 19°C | 9°C | 14.1°C | 59 mm |
| September | 13°C | 3°C | 8.0°C | 36 mm |
| October | 1°C | −6°C | −2.4°C | 22 mm |
| November | −9°C | −17°C | −13.4°C | 20 mm |
| December | −13°C | −23°C | −17.9°C | 14 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026435; 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 Nenana?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July and August. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (10).
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 USW00026435.
When is the last frost in Nenana?
In Nenana, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 15 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 11 in half of years and before August 27 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 151 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after May 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 111 year in 10 before August 27; 9 in 10 before September 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 117 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 138 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before September 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Nenana in zone 2a in ZIP code 99760, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Nenana's NOAA station is in zone 2a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −47°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alaska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00026435; 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 Nenana?
In a normal year in Nenana, a 90°F day is rare, 228 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 94 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 228a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 154high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 94a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1916) is 98°F, on June 28, 1934; the lowest is −69°F, on December 28, 1961.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1967, with 19.74 in; the snowiest season is 1966–67, with 83.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00026435; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00026435. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Nenana?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Nenana, 2.6 kWh per square metre a day. March is the sunniest month (85%) and October the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 0.2 |
| February | 76% | 0.9 |
| March | 85% | 2.6 |
| April | 84% | 4.5 |
| May | 75% | 5.3 |
| June | 71% | 5.6 |
| July | 67% | 4.8 |
| August | 68% | 3.7 |
| September | 68% | 2.4 |
| October | 61% | 0.9 |
| November | 63% | 0.3 |
| December | 78% | 0.1 |
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 Nenana need?
A normal year in Nenana brings 12,753 heating degree days, 2.4 times the median U.S. place (5,373), and 66 cooling degree days, 93% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,116 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 2,113 | 0 |
| February | 1,690 | 0 |
| March | 1,627 | 0 |
| April | 932 | 0 |
| May | 451 | 1 |
| June | 149 | 23 |
| July | 96 | 34 |
| August | 244 | 8 |
| September | 558 | 0 |
| October | 1,158 | 0 |
| November | 1,714 | 0 |
| December | 2,023 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 12,753 | 66 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026435. 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 Nenana been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 28.7°F, 1.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 30.1°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 28.7°F | −1.4°F | 12.11 |
Over 54 complete years from 1917 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.0°F per century (+0.34°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00026435; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Nenana's climate compare?
Nenana is warmer than 36 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Alaska, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 30.1°F is warmer than 1%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Nenana is Dsb: continental, dry-summer, warm summer. 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 Nenana share this climate record?
Four Mile Road has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Four Mile Road, AK0 people · 4 mi N
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Nenana's climate
What is the coldest month in Nenana?
January, with a normal high of 5°F and a normal low of −12°F. The warmest is July (73°F by day, 53°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Nenana?
August, with 2.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.29 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Nenana in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Nenana in zone 2a in ZIP code 99760, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Nenana's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −47°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 2a.
How late can frost come in Nenana?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 15; in one year in ten it comes after May 29. Waiting until May 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alaska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Clear Sky, AK21 miles from this station, 27.2°F a year
- Kobe Hill, AK27 miles from this station, 28.2°F a year
- Keystone Ridge, AK35 miles from this station, 31.2°F a year
- Ester, AK37 miles from this station, 26.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made