Raton Filter Plant, New Mexico climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Raton Filter Plant's normal year runs from 21°F December nights to 81°F July afternoons, with 18.6 inches of precipitation and 29 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.8°C, December lows of −6°C, July highs of 27°C, 472 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRaton Filter Plant
- Station IDUSC00297279
- Location36.92°N 104.43°W
- Elevation6,932 ft (2,113 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Raton Filter Plant is 61°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 15%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Raton Filter Plant.
- Jan 45° 21°
- Feb 47° 22°
- Mar 54° 28°
- Apr 60° 33°
- May 69° 43°
- Jun 78° 52°
- Jul 81° 56°
- Aug 79° 55°
- Sep 74° 49°
- Oct 64° 38°
- Nov 53° 29°
- Dec 45° 21°
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 Raton Filter Plant each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 81°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.50 in), the least in February (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45°F | 21°F | 33.0°F | 0.51 | 5.7 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 47°F | 22°F | 34.5°F | 0.43 | 4.3 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 28°F | 40.6°F | 1.21 | 5.8 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 33°F | 46.4°F | 1.27 | 1.9 | 6 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 69°F | 43°F | 55.7°F | 2.09 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 78°F | 52°F | 65.1°F | 1.96 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 56°F | 68.9°F | 3.50 | 0.0 | 12 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 79°F | 55°F | 67.1°F | 3.49 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 74°F | 49°F | 61.0°F | 1.61 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 38°F | 50.8°F | 1.32 | 1.7 | 5 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 53°F | 29°F | 40.7°F | 0.59 | 3.8 | 3 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 21°F | 32.9°F | 0.62 | 5.3 | 4 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 37°F | 49.7°F | 18.60 | 28.8 | 79 | 9 | 149 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −6°C | 0.6°C | 13 mm | 14 cm |
| February | 8°C | −6°C | 1.4°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 31 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 8.0°C | 32 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.2°C | 53 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 11°C | 18.4°C | 50 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.5°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.5°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 3°C | 10.4°C | 34 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 15 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 7°C | −6°C | 0.5°C | 16 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00297279; 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 Raton Filter Plant?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00297279.
When is the last frost at Raton Filter Plant?
In Raton Filter Plant, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 25 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 51 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 156 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Raton Filter Plant in zone 6a in ZIP code 87740, 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 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (23 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 USC00297279; 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 Raton Filter Plant?
In a normal year in Raton Filter Plant, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 149 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 79 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 149a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 79a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1953) is 98°F, on June 26, 2012; the lowest is −26°F, on January 12, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1991, with 23.50 in; the snowiest season is 1989–90, with 77.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00297279; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00297279. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Raton Filter Plant?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Raton Filter Plant, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. October is the sunniest month (86%) and July the cloudiest (81%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 84% | 3.2 |
| February | 83% | 4.1 |
| March | 83% | 5.4 |
| April | 83% | 6.5 |
| May | 83% | 7.3 |
| June | 84% | 7.5 |
| July | 81% | 6.9 |
| August | 82% | 6.4 |
| September | 85% | 5.6 |
| October | 86% | 4.5 |
| November | 86% | 3.4 |
| December | 83% | 2.8 |
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 Raton Filter Plant record?
A normal year at Raton Filter Plant brings 5,874 heating degree days, 9% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 326 cooling degree days, 64% 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 2,303 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 994 | 0 |
| February | 855 | 0 |
| March | 755 | 0 |
| April | 558 | 0 |
| May | 298 | 8 |
| June | 67 | 68 |
| July | 14 | 135 |
| August | 25 | 92 |
| September | 143 | 23 |
| October | 441 | 0 |
| November | 729 | 0 |
| December | 997 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,874 | 326 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00297279. 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 Raton Filter Plant been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 51.2°F, 1.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.7°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 49.8°F | +0.1°F | 16.04 | – |
| 2023 | 50.5°F | +0.8°F | 16.87 | – |
| 2024 | 51.3°F | +1.6°F | 17.98 | 39.7 |
| 2025 | 51.2°F | +1.5°F | 14.85 | – |
Over 51 complete years from 1954 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.5°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00297279; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Raton Filter Plant's climate compare?
Raton Filter Plant is warmer than 21 of the 98 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 87. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.7°F is warmer than 39%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Raton Filter Plant 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 Raton Filter Plant share this climate record?
2 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.
- Segundo, CO149 people · 22 mi NW
- Weston, CO42 people · 29 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.
Questions about Raton Filter Plant's climate
What is the coldest month at Raton Filter Plant?
December, with a normal high of 45°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (81°F by day, 56°F at night).
Does it snow at Raton Filter Plant?
Yes: 29 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Raton Filter Plant?
July, with 3.50 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Raton Filter Plant in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Raton Filter Plant in zone 6a in ZIP code 87740, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come at Raton Filter Plant?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 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
- Lake Maloya, NM6 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Raton, NM13 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Trinidad, CO24 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Maxwell, NM25 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made