Paonia, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Paonia's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 90°F July afternoons, with 14.3 inches of precipitation and 41 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 364 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPaonia (1 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00056306
- Location38.85°N 107.62°W
- Elevation5,581 ft (1,701 m)
- Population1,464
On October 23, the normal high in Paonia is 64°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Paonia.
- Jan 39° 16°
- Feb 45° 22°
- Mar 56° 29°
- Apr 63° 34°
- May 73° 43°
- Jun 85° 51°
- Jul 90° 57°
- Aug 88° 56°
- Sep 80° 48°
- Oct 67° 37°
- Nov 53° 27°
- Dec 40° 17°
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 Paonia each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 90°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in September (1.53 in), the least in June (0.62 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 16°F | 27.4°F | 1.21 | 11.4 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 45°F | 22°F | 33.4°F | 1.18 | 7.2 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 29°F | 42.3°F | 1.23 | 4.8 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 34°F | 48.7°F | 1.20 | 1.7 | 8 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 43°F | 57.7°F | 1.28 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 85°F | 51°F | 67.6°F | 0.62 | 0.0 | 5 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 90°F | 57°F | 73.8°F | 1.03 | 0.0 | 7 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 88°F | 56°F | 71.8°F | 1.33 | 0.0 | 8 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 80°F | 48°F | 63.8°F | 1.53 | 0.1 | 8 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 37°F | 52.0°F | 1.44 | 0.8 | 7 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 53°F | 27°F | 39.9°F | 1.05 | 5.2 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 40°F | 17°F | 28.4°F | 1.23 | 10.1 | 8 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 36°F | 50.6°F | 14.33 | 41.4 | 86 | 45 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −9°C | −2.6°C | 31 mm | 29 cm |
| February | 7°C | −6°C | 0.8°C | 30 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 13°C | −2°C | 5.7°C | 31 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 9.3°C | 30 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 23°C | 6°C | 14.3°C | 33 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 10°C | 19.8°C | 16 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 14°C | 23.2°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 13°C | 22.1°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 9°C | 17.7°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 37 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 12°C | −3°C | 4.4°C | 27 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 5°C | −8°C | −2.0°C | 31 mm | 26 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00056306; 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 Paonia?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00056306.
When is the last frost in Paonia?
In Paonia, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 3 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 12 in half of years and before September 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 31 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 121 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 159 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 180 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Paonia in zone 6b in ZIP code 81428, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Paonia's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (25 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00056306; 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 Paonia?
In a normal year in Paonia, 45 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 45a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 15high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 17a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 105°F, on July 6, 1989; the lowest is −26°F, on January 7, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 23.75 in; the snowiest season is 1908–09, with 77.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00056306; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00056306. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Paonia?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Paonia, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (85%) and December the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.7 |
| February | 74% | 3.6 |
| March | 79% | 5.1 |
| April | 76% | 6.0 |
| May | 76% | 6.8 |
| June | 85% | 7.9 |
| July | 80% | 7.0 |
| August | 79% | 6.2 |
| September | 82% | 5.4 |
| October | 81% | 4.1 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 Paonia need?
A normal year in Paonia brings 5,912 heating degree days, 10% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 683 cooling degree days, 25% 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 2,863 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,164 | 0 |
| February | 883 | 0 |
| March | 704 | 0 |
| April | 488 | 0 |
| May | 240 | 14 |
| June | 44 | 123 |
| July | 2 | 275 |
| August | 5 | 216 |
| September | 91 | 55 |
| October | 404 | 1 |
| November | 755 | 0 |
| December | 1,133 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,912 | 683 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00056306. 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 Paonia been warmer than normal lately?
Over 47 complete years from 1958 to 2015, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.1°F per century (+0.28°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Paonia's climate compare?
Paonia is warmer than 86 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 44. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Paonia is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Paonia share this climate record?
4 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.
- Hotchkiss, CO942 people · 6 mi SW
- Crawford, CO407 people · 10 mi S
- Lazear, CO164 people · 10 mi SW
- Somerset, CO0 people · 10 mi NE
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 Paonia's climate
What is the coldest month in Paonia?
January, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (90°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Paonia?
Yes: 41 inches in a normal year, falling on 21 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (11.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Paonia?
September, with 1.53 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.62 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Paonia in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Paonia in zone 6b in ZIP code 81428, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Paonia's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −4°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Paonia?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 3; 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
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cedaredge, CO15 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, CO21 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Bonham Reservoir, CO23 miles from this station, 33.1°F a year
- Delta, CO23 miles from this station, 51.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made