Phantom Ranch, Arizona climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Phantom Ranch's normal year runs from 36°F December nights to 104°F July afternoons, with 9.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 19.8°C, December lows of 2°C, July highs of 40°C, 245 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPhantom Ranch
- Station IDUSC00026471
- Location36.11°N 112.09°W
- Elevation2,530 ft (771 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Phantom Ranch is 79°F and the normal low 52°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 Phantom Ranch.
- Jan 57° 35°
- Feb 63° 40°
- Mar 73° 46°
- Apr 81° 52°
- May 91° 61°
- Jun 102° 70°
- Jul 104° 75°
- Aug 101° 72°
- Sep 95° 66°
- Oct 82° 55°
- Nov 68° 44°
- Dec 56° 36°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Phantom Ranch each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 104°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.54 in), the least in June (0.18 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 35°F | 46.1°F | 0.99 | 6 | <1 | 6 | 10 h |
| February | 63°F | 40°F | 51.5°F | 0.96 | 6 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 73°F | 46°F | 59.1°F | 0.86 | 5 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 81°F | 52°F | 66.6°F | 0.43 | 4 | 6 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 91°F | 61°F | 75.7°F | 0.42 | 3 | 20 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 102°F | 70°F | 85.8°F | 0.18 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 104°F | 75°F | 89.7°F | 0.92 | 6 | 31 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 101°F | 72°F | 86.5°F | 1.54 | 8 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 95°F | 66°F | 80.2°F | 0.94 | 5 | 25 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 82°F | 55°F | 68.4°F | 0.96 | 4 | 8 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 68°F | 44°F | 55.6°F | 0.60 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 56°F | 36°F | 45.9°F | 0.83 | 5 | <1 | 7 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 81°F | 54°F | 67.6°F | 9.63 | 54 | 150 | 16 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 25 mm |
| February | 17°C | 4°C | 10.8°C | 24 mm |
| March | 23°C | 8°C | 15.1°C | 22 mm |
| April | 27°C | 11°C | 19.2°C | 11 mm |
| May | 33°C | 16°C | 24.3°C | 11 mm |
| June | 39°C | 21°C | 29.9°C | 5 mm |
| July | 40°C | 24°C | 32.1°C | 23 mm |
| August | 38°C | 22°C | 30.3°C | 39 mm |
| September | 35°C | 19°C | 26.8°C | 24 mm |
| October | 28°C | 13°C | 20.2°C | 24 mm |
| November | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 15 mm |
| December | 13°C | 2°C | 7.7°C | 21 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00026471; 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.
Which months are mildest at Phantom Ranch?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00026471.
When is the last frost at Phantom Ranch?
In Phantom Ranch, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 9 in half of years and after March 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 5 in half of years and before November 21 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
- February 91 year in 10 after March 4; 9 in 10 after January 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 51 year in 10 before November 21; 9 in 10 before December 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 295 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 335 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 22 in half of springs and before December 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Phantom Ranch in zone 7a in ZIP code 86023, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (28 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 Arizona · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00026471; 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 at Phantom Ranch?
In a normal year in Phantom Ranch, 150 days a year reach 90°F (85 of them 100°F or more), 16 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 54 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 150a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 85a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 16a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 54a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1935) is 120°F, on July 27, 1974; the lowest is 12°F, on December 14, 1967.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2004, with 15.36 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 3.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00026471; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00026471. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Phantom Ranch?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Phantom Ranch, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (93%) and December the cloudiest (78%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81% | 3.0 |
| February | 79% | 3.9 |
| March | 84% | 5.4 |
| April | 86% | 6.8 |
| May | 88% | 7.7 |
| June | 93% | 8.4 |
| July | 84% | 7.1 |
| August | 85% | 6.6 |
| September | 90% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 4.6 |
| November | 86% | 3.4 |
| December | 78% | 2.6 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Phantom Ranch record?
A normal year at Phantom Ranch brings 2,165 heating degree days, 60% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,142 cooling degree days, 3.5 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,817 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 587 | 0 |
| February | 380 | 0 |
| March | 200 | 17 |
| April | 62 | 110 |
| May | 10 | 343 |
| June | 0 | 624 |
| July | 0 | 767 |
| August | 0 | 668 |
| September | 0 | 456 |
| October | 44 | 149 |
| November | 289 | 7 |
| December | 594 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,165 | 3,142 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00026471. 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.
Have recent years at Phantom Ranch been warmer than normal?
2023 averaged 68.0°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 67.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 68.0°F | +0.4°F | 11.31 |
Over 30 complete years from 1975 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.8°F per century (+0.32°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00026471; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Phantom Ranch's climate compare?
Phantom Ranch is warmer than 60 of the 97 places with their own NOAA record in Arizona, and wetter than 36. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 67.6°F is warmer than 93%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Phantom Ranch is BWh: hot desert. 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.
Questions about Phantom Ranch's climate
What is the coldest month at Phantom Ranch?
December, with a normal high of 56°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (104°F by day, 75°F at night).
What is the rainiest month at Phantom Ranch?
August, with 1.54 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.18 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Phantom Ranch in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Phantom Ranch in zone 7a in ZIP code 86023, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come at Phantom Ranch?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 9; in one year in ten it comes after March 4. Waiting until March 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arizona climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Grand Canyon Visitor Center, AZ3 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Grand Canyon National Park 2, AZ5 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Bright Angel Ranger Station, AZ7 miles from this station, 43.4°F a year
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport, AZ12 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made