Rifle, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rifle's normal year runs from 13°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 10.7 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.5°C, January lows of −10°C, July highs of 33°C, 273 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRifle Garfield County Airport
- Station IDUSW00003016
- Location39.53°N 107.73°W
- Elevation5,530 ft (1,686 m)
- Population10,663
On October 23, the normal high in Rifle is 62°F and the normal low 31°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 Rifle.
- Jan 37° 13°
- Feb 44° 20°
- Mar 55° 27°
- Apr 63° 33°
- May 74° 40°
- Jun 86° 48°
- Jul 92° 55°
- Aug 89° 54°
- Sep 80° 45°
- Oct 66° 34°
- Nov 50° 23°
- Dec 37° 14°
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 Rifle each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 13°F. The most precipitation falls in September (1.34 in), the least in December (0.57 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 13°F | 25.1°F | 0.70 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 44°F | 20°F | 31.6°F | 0.60 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 27°F | 41.2°F | 0.76 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 33°F | 47.7°F | 1.01 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 40°F | 57.3°F | 1.14 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 86°F | 48°F | 67.2°F | 0.68 | 5 | 13 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 92°F | 55°F | 73.7°F | 0.96 | 8 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 54°F | 71.3°F | 1.07 | 9 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 45°F | 62.5°F | 1.34 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 34°F | 49.5°F | 1.27 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 23°F | 36.5°F | 0.63 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| December | 37°F | 14°F | 25.6°F | 0.57 | 7 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 34°F | 49.1°F | 10.73 | 86 | 54 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −10°C | −3.8°C | 18 mm |
| February | 6°C | −7°C | −0.2°C | 15 mm |
| March | 13°C | −3°C | 5.1°C | 19 mm |
| April | 17°C | 0°C | 8.7°C | 26 mm |
| May | 24°C | 5°C | 14.1°C | 29 mm |
| June | 30°C | 9°C | 19.6°C | 17 mm |
| July | 33°C | 13°C | 23.2°C | 24 mm |
| August | 32°C | 12°C | 21.8°C | 27 mm |
| September | 27°C | 7°C | 16.9°C | 34 mm |
| October | 19°C | 1°C | 9.7°C | 32 mm |
| November | 10°C | −5°C | 2.5°C | 16 mm |
| December | 3°C | −10°C | −3.6°C | 14 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Rifle's own co-op station Rifle (3 mi ENE) does: 27 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003016; 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 Rifle?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, September and October. Of those, September 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 USW00003016.
When is the last frost in Rifle?
In Rifle, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 11 in half of years and after May 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 23 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 111 year in 10 after May 27; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 143 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 167 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rifle in zone 6a in ZIP code 81652, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rifle's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°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 Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00003016; 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 Rifle?
In a normal year in Rifle, 54 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 86 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 54a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 86a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1997) is 104°F, on July 9, 2021; the lowest is −21°F, on December 22, 1998.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2005, with 16.37 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003016; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003016. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rifle?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rifle, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (70%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.5 |
| February | 72% | 3.4 |
| March | 77% | 4.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.7 |
| May | 73% | 6.5 |
| June | 84% | 7.7 |
| July | 81% | 7.0 |
| August | 79% | 6.2 |
| September | 82% | 5.3 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.7 |
| December | 70% | 2.1 |
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 Rifle need?
A normal year in Rifle brings 6,398 heating degree days, 19% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 631 cooling degree days, 31% 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 2,679 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,237 | 0 |
| February | 934 | 0 |
| March | 738 | 0 |
| April | 518 | 0 |
| May | 252 | 12 |
| June | 47 | 112 |
| July | 1 | 270 |
| August | 5 | 199 |
| September | 113 | 38 |
| October | 479 | 0 |
| November | 855 | 0 |
| December | 1,220 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,398 | 631 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003016. 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 Rifle been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 52.1°F, 3.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.1°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.1°F | +2.0°F | 8.47 |
| 2022 | 48.6°F | −0.5°F | 12.41 |
| 2023 | 48.8°F | −0.3°F | 14.03 |
| 2024 | 51.4°F | +2.3°F | 11.56 |
| 2025 | 52.1°F | +3.0°F | 6.97 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003016. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rifle's climate compare?
Rifle is warmer than 65 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 16. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.1°F is warmer than 36%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rifle 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 Rifle 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.
- New Castle, CO4,894 people · 11 mi E
- Silt, CO3,727 people · 4 mi E
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 Rifle's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Rifle. This page uses Rifle Garfield County Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle (3 mi ENE) USC00057033 | 2 mi N | 5,469 ft | 46.4°F | 10°F | 88°F | 12.8 | 27 | May 23 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Rifle's climate
What is the coldest month in Rifle?
January, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 13°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Rifle?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Rifle's NOAA station; Rifle's own co-op station Rifle (3 mi ENE) records 27 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Rifle?
September, with 1.34 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.57 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rifle in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rifle in zone 6a in ZIP code 81652, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rifle's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Rifle?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 11; in one year in ten it comes after May 27. Waiting until May 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Glenwood Springs, CO22 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Collbran, CO24 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Shoshone, CO27 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Bonham Reservoir, CO30 miles from this station, 33.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made