Saguache, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Saguache's normal year runs from 7°F January nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 8.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.6°C, January lows of −14°C, July highs of 27°C, 213 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSaguache
- Station IDUSC00057337
- Location38.09°N 106.14°W
- Elevation7,701 ft (2,347 m)
- Population530
On October 23, the normal high in Saguache is 59°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Saguache.
- Jan 36° 7°
- Feb 41° 11°
- Mar 51° 22°
- Apr 59° 27°
- May 68° 36°
- Jun 78° 44°
- Jul 80° 50°
- Aug 79° 49°
- Sep 73° 40°
- Oct 62° 30°
- Nov 49° 20°
- Dec 36° 8°
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 Saguache each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 7°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.86 in), the least in January (0.20 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 7°F | 21.2°F | 0.20 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 41°F | 11°F | 26.3°F | 0.26 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 51°F | 22°F | 36.3°F | 0.39 | 4 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 27°F | 43.1°F | 0.70 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 68°F | 36°F | 52.2°F | 0.53 | 4 | <1 | 7 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 78°F | 44°F | 60.5°F | 0.62 | 4 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 80°F | 50°F | 64.9°F | 1.29 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 79°F | 49°F | 63.7°F | 1.86 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 73°F | 40°F | 56.9°F | 0.99 | 6 | <1 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 30°F | 45.9°F | 0.66 | 5 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 49°F | 20°F | 34.1°F | 0.58 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 36°F | 8°F | 21.7°F | 0.31 | 2 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 29°F | 43.9°F | 8.39 | 58 | 5 | 205 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −14°C | −6.0°C | 5 mm |
| February | 5°C | −11°C | −3.2°C | 7 mm |
| March | 11°C | −6°C | 2.4°C | 10 mm |
| April | 15°C | −3°C | 6.2°C | 18 mm |
| May | 20°C | 2°C | 11.2°C | 13 mm |
| June | 25°C | 6°C | 15.8°C | 16 mm |
| July | 27°C | 10°C | 18.3°C | 33 mm |
| August | 26°C | 9°C | 17.6°C | 47 mm |
| September | 23°C | 5°C | 13.8°C | 25 mm |
| October | 17°C | −1°C | 7.7°C | 17 mm |
| November | 9°C | −7°C | 1.2°C | 15 mm |
| December | 2°C | −14°C | −5.7°C | 8 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057337; 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 Saguache?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, June 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 USC00057337.
When is the last frost in Saguache?
In Saguache, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after May 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 28 in half of years and before September 18 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 161 year in 10 after May 31; 9 in 10 after May 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 281 year in 10 before September 18; 9 in 10 before October 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 135 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 156 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Saguache in zone 5b in ZIP code 81149, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00057337; 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 in Saguache?
In a normal year in Saguache, 5 days a year reach 90°F, 205 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 58 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 205a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 30high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 58a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 99°F, on July 31, 2002; the lowest is −34°F, on January 7, 1971.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1957, with 16.22 in; the snowiest season is 1997–98, with 59.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00057337; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00057337. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Saguache?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Saguache, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. March is the sunniest month (82%) and May the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 2.9 |
| February | 78% | 3.8 |
| March | 82% | 5.3 |
| April | 76% | 6.1 |
| May | 74% | 6.6 |
| June | 82% | 7.5 |
| July | 75% | 6.6 |
| August | 76% | 6.0 |
| September | 81% | 5.4 |
| October | 82% | 4.2 |
| November | 80% | 3.0 |
| December | 79% | 2.5 |
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 Saguache need?
A normal year in Saguache brings 7,759 heating degree days, 44% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 96 cooling degree days, 89% 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 1,578 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,356 | 0 |
| February | 1,084 | 0 |
| March | 890 | 0 |
| April | 657 | 0 |
| May | 397 | 1 |
| June | 147 | 13 |
| July | 52 | 49 |
| August | 69 | 29 |
| September | 247 | 4 |
| October | 592 | 0 |
| November | 926 | 0 |
| December | 1,342 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,759 | 96 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00057337. 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 Saguache been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 45.0°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.9°F. 1 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43.9°F | at normal | 9.00 |
| 2022 | 43.1°F | −0.8°F | 9.13 |
| 2023 | 43.1°F | −0.8°F | 6.05 |
| 2024 | 45.0°F | +1.1°F | 11.42 |
Over 61 complete years from 1888 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.0°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00057337; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Saguache's climate compare?
Saguache is warmer than 35 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 4. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.9°F is warmer than 15%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Saguache 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 Saguache share this climate record?
Bonanza 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.
- Bonanza, CO12 people · 15 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 Saguache's climate
What is the coldest month in Saguache?
January, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 7°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 50°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Saguache?
August, with 1.86 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is January with 0.20 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Saguache in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Saguache in zone 5b in ZIP code 81149, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Saguache?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 31. Waiting until May 31 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Crestone, CO26 miles from this station, 43.6°F a year
- Center, CO26 miles from this station, 42.3°F a year
- Sargents, CO27 miles from this station, 36.9°F a year
- Del Norte, CO29 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made