Rio Rancho #1, New Mexico climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Rio Rancho #1's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 10.4 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 13.4°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 34°C, 265 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRio Rancho #1
- Station IDUSC00297477
- Location35.28°N 106.62°W
- Elevation5,230 ft (1,594 m)
On October 14, the normal high in Rio Rancho #1 is 73°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rio Rancho #1.
- Jan 47° 22°
- Feb 54° 25°
- Mar 63° 32°
- Apr 72° 39°
- May 80° 48°
- Jun 92° 58°
- Jul 94° 63°
- Aug 91° 61°
- Sep 84° 54°
- Oct 72° 41°
- Nov 58° 29°
- Dec 47° 23°
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 Rio Rancho #1 each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.77 in), the least in June (0.42 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 22°F | 34.4°F | 0.53 | 1.6 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 10 h |
| February | 54°F | 25°F | 39.5°F | 0.51 | 2.0 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 32°F | 47.6°F | 0.47 | 0.6 | 3 | <1 | 17 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 39°F | 55.8°F | 0.57 | 0.0 | 4 | <1 | 5 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 48°F | 64.4°F | 0.64 | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 58°F | 75.0°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 3 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 94°F | 63°F | 78.4°F | 1.44 | 0.0 | 10 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 61°F | 75.9°F | 1.77 | 0.0 | 10 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 54°F | 68.8°F | 1.33 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 41°F | 56.2°F | 1.39 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 29°F | 43.3°F | 0.62 | 0.7 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 47°F | 23°F | 34.8°F | 0.76 | 3.8 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 41°F | 56.2°F | 10.45 | 9.3 | 62 | 85 | 131 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −6°C | 1.3°C | 13 mm | 4 cm |
| February | 12°C | −4°C | 4.2°C | 13 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 17°C | 0°C | 8.7°C | 12 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 4°C | 13.2°C | 14 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 27°C | 9°C | 18.0°C | 16 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 34°C | 14°C | 23.9°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 17°C | 25.8°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 16°C | 24.4°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 12°C | 20.4°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 5°C | 13.4°C | 35 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 14°C | −2°C | 6.3°C | 16 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 19 mm | 10 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00297477; 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 Rio Rancho #1?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00297477.
When is the last frost at Rio Rancho #1?
In Rio Rancho #1, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 12 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
- April 161 year in 10 after May 2; 9 in 10 after April 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 12; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 191 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 218 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 30 in half of springs and before November 2 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rio Rancho #1 in zone 7b in ZIP code 87048, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00297477; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Rio Rancho #1?
In a normal year in Rio Rancho #1, 85 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 131 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 62 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 85a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 131a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 62a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00297477.
How sunny is it at Rio Rancho #1?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Rio Rancho #1, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (90%) and December the cloudiest (81%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.2 |
| February | 82% | 4.1 |
| March | 85% | 5.6 |
| April | 85% | 6.8 |
| May | 87% | 7.7 |
| June | 90% | 8.1 |
| July | 85% | 7.2 |
| August | 86% | 6.6 |
| September | 87% | 5.8 |
| October | 88% | 4.7 |
| November | 86% | 3.5 |
| December | 81% | 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 Rio Rancho #1 record?
A normal year at Rio Rancho #1 brings 4,475 heating degree days, 17% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,292 cooling degree days, 42% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,951 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 947 | 0 |
| February | 714 | 0 |
| March | 538 | 0 |
| April | 282 | 5 |
| May | 100 | 82 |
| June | 3 | 304 |
| July | 0 | 417 |
| August | 1 | 338 |
| September | 25 | 139 |
| October | 280 | 7 |
| November | 649 | 0 |
| December | 936 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,475 | 1,292 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00297477. 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 Rio Rancho #1 been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 59.2°F, 3.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 56.2°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57.0°F | +0.8°F | 5.18 | 4.3 |
| 2022 | 56.0°F | −0.2°F | 10.43 | 10.8 |
| 2023 | 57.7°F | +1.5°F | 6.47 | 8.1 |
| 2024 | 58.8°F | +2.5°F | 7.46 | 5.9 |
| 2025 | 59.2°F | +3.0°F | 7.60 | 2.4 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00297477. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rio Rancho #1's climate compare?
Rio Rancho #1 is warmer than 58 of the 98 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 21. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 56.2°F is warmer than 64%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rio Rancho #1 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 Rio Rancho #1 share this climate record?
Bernalillo 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.
- Bernalillo, NM9,159 people · 4 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 Rio Rancho #1's climate
What is the coldest month at Rio Rancho #1?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow at Rio Rancho #1?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (3.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Rio Rancho #1?
August, with 1.77 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rio Rancho #1 in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rio Rancho #1 in zone 7b in ZIP code 87048, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at Rio Rancho #1?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 2. Waiting until May 2 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
- Rio Rancho, NM2 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Corrales, NM2 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Placitas, NM8 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- Jemez Dam, NM9 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made