Rustic, CO Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Rustic's primary NOAA station, RUSTIC 9WSW.
The climate verdict for Rustic
Dryness leads the climate profile for Rustic, Colorado, with 13.2 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 42°F. At 34/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 2% of scores.
- 42°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.2"
- annual precipitation · 73" snow
- 103 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Rustic: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00057296 · Rustic, CO 42°F mean · 13.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 42°F
- RANK-COOL #549
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chemult
- PRCP-DRY 13.2"
- SWING-MID 37°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 8,533 HDD
- STN-1 USC00057296
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Chemult, OR (+ 0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every CO station list.
- Rustic (this station) 42°F
- Cold Wolf Canyon, NM 42°F
- Hot Lamoille, NV 42°F
- Near Chemult, OR 42°F
- Near Ruxton Park, CO 42°F
Climate Living Index · Rustic
Rustic: 8/100 · grade F
Rustic publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Rustic, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 13.2 in · 21.8 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 73.2 inches/year | 9/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 41.6°F · 25.9° from 67.5°F | 8/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 222 calendar days | 4/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 103 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Rustic · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Rustic is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 25.3°F and warmest-month mean 62.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 62.7°F
- Coldest month
- 25.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Rustic sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Rustic's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 92%
- Among 6,861 stations, Rustic sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Rustic's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 75%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Rustic is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Rustic compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Rustic's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
34 2nd percentile score exceeds 2% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F (2°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 6.4" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 36°F (2°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 7.9" | 27.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 44°F (7°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.9" | 13.0" | 28.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 49°F (10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.5" | 15.7" | 25.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 59°F (15°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.7" | 5.5" | 14.7 | 0.0 |
| June | 72°F (22°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| July | 78°F (26°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| August | 76°F (25°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 38°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.4" | 1.7" | 5.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.1" | 6.7" | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 44°F (7°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 0.7" | 8.2" | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 36°F (2°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 0.5" | 8.1" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 78°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 222 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 14°F near February 7.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 14, then returns to freezing around October 6, covering 222 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 2, when 33% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 16 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 85 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Rustic.
Where Rustic Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 222 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Rustic earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 6.4"
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.9"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.0"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 15.7"
8.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.5"
9.7 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.7"
7.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.2"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.1"
5.4 days with precipitation
Rustic spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 34% of the annual total and December through February 11%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Rustic has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 37.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 1.7" and January 0.5". The three wettest months together take 37% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Rustic is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 85 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 13.2" between them. At roughly 0.16 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is July at about 10 wet days; the driest is January at about 4.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Rustic
Rustic averages 73.2 inches of snowfall a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 30 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 73.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 30 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 56% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 16
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 5
50% probability date
Growing Season
103 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
8,533
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
46
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Rustic on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (42°F here).
- Greenland, MI 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Johnson, VT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Judith Gap, MT 42°F · 0.0°F off
- Oakes, ND 42°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hatch, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Harlowton, MT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Scipio, UT 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Dayville, OR 13.1" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Rustic
heating led · dry · mid swing
Rustic's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 8,533 annual heating degree days against 46 for cooling. Its 37.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 103 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Rustic coldest normal
December
Averaging 25°F (-4°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Rustic typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Rustic snow peak
April
Rustic averages 73.2 inches of snow a year, with April the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Rustic's climate
How much snow does Rustic get? ▼
How cold does Rustic get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Rustic? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Rustic's primary station: RUSTIC 9WSW (USC00057296). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Rustic; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Rustic comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.