Rocky Ford, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rocky Ford's normal year runs from 16°F December nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 12.6 inches of precipitation and 25 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, December lows of −9°C, July highs of 34°C, 320 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRocky Ford (2 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00057167
- Location38.04°N 103.69°W
- Elevation4,170 ft (1,271 m)
- Population3,781
On October 23, the normal high in Rocky Ford is 69°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rocky Ford.
- Jan 48° 15°
- Feb 52° 19°
- Mar 63° 27°
- Apr 71° 36°
- May 80° 46°
- Jun 90° 56°
- Jul 93° 60°
- Aug 91° 59°
- Sep 85° 50°
- Oct 72° 36°
- Nov 58° 24°
- Dec 47° 16°
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 Rocky Ford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.35 in), the least in January (0.30 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 15°F | 31.5°F | 0.30 | 4.6 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 52°F | 19°F | 35.6°F | 0.36 | 3.8 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 27°F | 45.1°F | 0.76 | 4.7 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 36°F | 53.2°F | 1.33 | 1.8 | 5 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 80°F | 46°F | 62.7°F | 1.53 | 0.1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 90°F | 56°F | 72.9°F | 1.53 | 0.0 | 6 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 93°F | 60°F | 76.7°F | 2.35 | 0.0 | 7 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 91°F | 59°F | 74.7°F | 1.87 | 0.0 | 7 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 85°F | 50°F | 67.1°F | 0.82 | 0.1 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 36°F | 53.8°F | 0.94 | 2.1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 24°F | 40.7°F | 0.43 | 3.3 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 47°F | 16°F | 31.3°F | 0.37 | 4.3 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 37°F | 53.8°F | 12.59 | 24.8 | 57 | 83 | 159 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −9°C | −0.3°C | 8 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 11°C | −7°C | 2.0°C | 9 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 17°C | −3°C | 7.3°C | 19 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 22°C | 2°C | 11.8°C | 34 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 26°C | 8°C | 17.1°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 13°C | 22.7°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 16°C | 24.8°C | 60 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 15°C | 23.7°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 10°C | 19.5°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 2°C | 12.1°C | 24 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 14°C | −5°C | 4.8°C | 11 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 8°C | −9°C | −0.4°C | 9 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057167; 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 Rocky Ford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October 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 USC00057167.
When is the last frost in Rocky Ford?
In Rocky Ford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 26 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 11 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 26; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 159 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 178 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rocky Ford in zone 6a in ZIP code 81067, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rocky Ford's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 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 USC00057167; 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 Rocky Ford?
In a normal year in Rocky Ford, 83 days a year reach 90°F (13 of them 100°F or more), 159 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 83a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 13a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 159a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 108°F, on July 20, 2005; the lowest is −30°F, on January 28, 1948.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 22.37 in; the snowiest season is 1947–48, with 57.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00057167; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00057167. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rocky Ford?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rocky Ford, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 2.7 |
| February | 76% | 3.5 |
| March | 81% | 4.9 |
| April | 80% | 6.1 |
| May | 82% | 7.0 |
| June | 87% | 7.6 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 89% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.5 |
| October | 84% | 4.1 |
| November | 84% | 3.0 |
| December | 79% | 2.4 |
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 Rocky Ford need?
A normal year in Rocky Ford brings 5,165 heating degree days, 4% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,107 cooling degree days, 22% more 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 3,609 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,038 | 0 |
| February | 824 | 0 |
| March | 619 | 0 |
| April | 359 | 4 |
| May | 132 | 62 |
| June | 10 | 248 |
| July | 1 | 363 |
| August | 2 | 304 |
| September | 56 | 118 |
| October | 353 | 8 |
| November | 729 | 0 |
| December | 1,043 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,165 | 1,107 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057167. 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 Rocky Ford been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.1°F, 0.7°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 53.8°F. 0 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.7°F | −1.1°F | 12.83 | 14.0 |
| 2022 | 51.3°F | −2.5°F | 13.06 | 28.0 |
| 2023 | 51.9°F | −1.9°F | 13.88 | 16.9 |
| 2024 | 53.7°F | −0.1°F | 13.44 | 45.6 |
| 2025 | 53.1°F | −0.7°F | 8.57 | 30.3 |
Over 122 complete years from 1890 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.5°F per century (+0.14°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00057167; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rocky Ford's climate compare?
Rocky Ford is warmer than 118 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 27. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.8°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rocky Ford 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 Rocky Ford 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.
- Swink, CO587 people · 4 mi SE
- Manzanola, CO326 people · 11 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 Rocky Ford's climate
What is the coldest month in Rocky Ford?
December, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 60°F at night).
Does it snow in Rocky Ford?
Yes: 25 inches in a normal year, falling on 13 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (4.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Rocky Ford?
July, with 2.35 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.30 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rocky Ford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rocky Ford in zone 6a in ZIP code 81067, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rocky Ford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Rocky Ford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- La Junta, CO10 miles from this station, 54.8°F a year
- Cheraw, CO11 miles from this station, 52.5°F a year
- Ordway, CO13 miles from this station, 52.1°F a year
- Las Animas, CO26 miles from this station, 54.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made