Sanders, AZ Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Sanders's primary NOAA station, SANDERS.
The climate verdict for Sanders
Dryness leads the climate profile for Sanders, Arizona, with 8.2 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 52°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 52°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 8.2"
- annual precipitation · 4" snow
- 139 days
- frost-free growing season
Sanders: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00027488 · Sanders, AZ 52°F mean · 8.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Espanola
- PRCP-ARID 8.2"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,275 HDD
- STN-1 USC00027488
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Espanola, NM (+ 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 AZ station list.
- Sanders (this station) 52°F
- Cold Pendleton, OR 52°F
- Hot Espanola, NM 52°F
- Near Blacksburg Nwso, VA 52°F
- Near Pelton Dam, OR 52°F
Climate Living Index · Sanders
Sanders: 30/100 · grade F
Sanders publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Sanders, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 3.6 inches/year | 73/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 52.2°F · 15.3° from 67.5°F | 50/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 139 days/year | 18/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 206 calendar days | 11/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 8.2 in · 26.8 from 35 in | 8/100 · F |
Sanders · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Sanders's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 73.3°F
- Coldest month
- 33.3°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 Sanders sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Sanders's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 50th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 97%
- Sanders's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 36th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Sanders compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Sanders's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | 48°F (9°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 0.9" | 0.8" | 28.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 52°F (11°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.4" | 0.7" | 25.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 60°F (16°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 0.7" | 0.7" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 68°F (20°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 16.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 77°F (25°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 3.8 | 0.9 |
| June | 88°F (31°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 13.9 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.1 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.5 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| October | 70°F (21°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 58°F (15°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 0.7" | 0.3" | 23.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 48°F (9°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.7" | 1.1" | 28.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Sanders works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by July 5 and hold at or above 90°F on 30 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 176 dates, bottoming at 18°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 26 through July 25, covering 30 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs April 26 to October 16.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 20, then returns to freezing around October 28, covering 176 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 July 31, when 18% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 10 at 4%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 30 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 7 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 43°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Sanders.
Where Sanders Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 8 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 43°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Sanders 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: 0.8"
2.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
1.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
2.6 days with precipitation
1.2 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
1.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
1.8 days with precipitation
Sanders spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 33% of the annual total and December through February 24%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Sanders has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 40°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: August averages 1.4" and June 0.1". The three wettest months together take 42% 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.
How Sanders's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 30 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 8.2" between them, or roughly 0.27 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Snow reaches Sanders, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 3.6 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 2 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 8
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
139 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,275
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
641
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AZ closest to Sanders 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 (52°F here).
- Ashland, OR 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Athens, WV 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Corvallis, OR 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Crescent City, CA 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (8.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Idaho Falls, ID 8.2" · 0.0" off
- Coalinga, CA 8.2" · 0.0" off
- Marysvale, UT 8.2" · 0.0" off
- Reno, NV 8.1" · 0.1" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Sanders's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Sanders's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,275 annual heating degree days against 641 for cooling. Its 40.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 139 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.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Sanders's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 40.0°F. The annual average is 52°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Sanders's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 8.2 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 3.6 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Sanders wettest normal
August
August concentrates the scarce annual total (8.2 inches).
Sanders driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Sanders's climate
How dry is Sanders? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Sanders get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Sanders? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Sanders's primary station: SANDERS (USC00027488). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as a census-designated place (GEOID 0463050), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Sanders: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Sanders 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.