Rye, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Rye's normal year runs from 23°F December nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 25.4 inches of precipitation and 130 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.0°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 644 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRye (1 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00057317
- Location37.91°N 104.95°W
- Elevation7,141 ft (2,177 m)
- Population203
On October 23, the normal high in Rye is 60°F and the normal low 36°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rye.
- Jan 44° 23°
- Feb 45° 24°
- Mar 52° 30°
- Apr 58° 35°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 79° 53°
- Jul 82° 58°
- Aug 79° 56°
- Sep 73° 51°
- Oct 62° 39°
- Nov 51° 30°
- Dec 43° 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 in Rye each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.79 in), the least in February (1.20 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 23°F | 33.3°F | 1.25 | 18.1 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 45°F | 24°F | 34.3°F | 1.20 | 20.3 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 52°F | 30°F | 41.0°F | 2.37 | 23.9 | 8 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 35°F | 46.5°F | 3.26 | 21.1 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.4°F | 2.39 | 2.6 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 79°F | 53°F | 65.9°F | 1.81 | 0.0 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 58°F | 69.8°F | 3.79 | 0.0 | 14 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 79°F | 56°F | 67.6°F | 3.08 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 73°F | 51°F | 61.9°F | 1.73 | 0.6 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 1.73 | 9.1 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 51°F | 30°F | 40.7°F | 1.55 | 13.4 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 43°F | 23°F | 32.9°F | 1.21 | 21.1 | 7 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 39°F | 50.0°F | 25.37 | 130.2 | 107 | 7 | 141 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −5°C | 0.7°C | 32 mm | 46 cm |
| February | 7°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 30 mm | 52 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 60 mm | 61 cm |
| April | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 83 mm | 54 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 13.0°C | 61 mm | 7 cm |
| June | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 14°C | 21.0°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 10°C | 16.6°C | 44 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 44 mm | 23 cm |
| November | 11°C | −1°C | 4.8°C | 39 mm | 34 cm |
| December | 6°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 31 mm | 54 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057317; 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 Rye?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00057317.
When is the last frost in Rye?
In Rye, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 27 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 20; 9 in 10 after April 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 156 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 26 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rye in zone 6a in ZIP code 81069, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Rye's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°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 Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00057317; 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 Rye?
In a normal year in Rye, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 141 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 107 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 141a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 21high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 107a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 28a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1997) is 96°F, on June 26, 2012; the lowest is −16°F, on February 2, 2011.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2004, with 37.54 in; the snowiest season is 1997–98, with 211.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00057317; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00057317. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Rye?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Rye, 5.2 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (87%) and April the cloudiest (80%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.0 |
| February | 81% | 3.9 |
| March | 82% | 5.2 |
| April | 80% | 6.3 |
| May | 81% | 7.0 |
| June | 84% | 7.5 |
| July | 83% | 7.0 |
| August | 84% | 6.4 |
| September | 87% | 5.6 |
| October | 85% | 4.4 |
| November | 85% | 3.3 |
| December | 81% | 2.6 |
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 Rye need?
A normal year in Rye brings 5,884 heating degree days, 10% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 443 cooling degree days, 51% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,468 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 981 | 0 |
| February | 861 | 0 |
| March | 744 | 0 |
| April | 554 | 1 |
| May | 309 | 13 |
| June | 71 | 100 |
| July | 16 | 165 |
| August | 32 | 114 |
| September | 141 | 49 |
| October | 452 | 2 |
| November | 729 | 0 |
| December | 995 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,884 | 443 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057317. 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 Rye been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.4°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.0°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.5°F | +0.5°F | 26.04 | 96.1 |
| 2022 | 49.5°F | −0.5°F | 24.24 | 144.4 |
| 2023 | 49.8°F | −0.2°F | 26.57 | 88.4 |
| 2024 | 51.7°F | +1.7°F | 28.88 | 155.2 |
| 2025 | 51.4°F | +1.4°F | 22.18 | 75.3 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00057317. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rye's climate compare?
Rye is warmer than 75 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 117. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.0°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rye is Cfb: temperate, no dry season, warm summer. 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 Rye 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.
- Colorado City, CO1,791 people · 6 mi E
- Beulah Valley, CO762 people · 11 mi N
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 Rye's climate
What is the coldest month in Rye?
December, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow in Rye?
Yes: 130 inches in a normal year, falling on 42 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (23.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Rye?
July, with 3.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 1.20 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rye in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rye in zone 6a in ZIP code 81069, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Rye's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −5°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Rye?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 20. Waiting until May 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sheep Mountain, CO21 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Walsenburg, CO21 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Westcliffe, CO32 miles from this station, 42.8°F a year
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, CO33 miles from this station, 44.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made