Sanford, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sanford's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 97°F July afternoons, with 19.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.6°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 36°C, 488 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSanford Dam
- Station IDUSC00418040
- Location35.70°N 101.55°W
- Elevation2,936 ft (895 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population130
On October 14, the normal high in Sanford is 76°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sanford.
- Jan 52° 21°
- Feb 55° 24°
- Mar 65° 31°
- Apr 73° 40°
- May 83° 50°
- Jun 92° 61°
- Jul 97° 66°
- Aug 94° 64°
- Sep 87° 57°
- Oct 75° 43°
- Nov 63° 31°
- Dec 52° 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 Sanford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 97°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in June (2.99 in), the least in February (0.48 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 21°F | 36.7°F | 0.60 | 2 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 24°F | 39.4°F | 0.48 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 31°F | 48.1°F | 1.20 | 4 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 40°F | 56.5°F | 1.73 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 50°F | 66.6°F | 2.30 | 7 | 9 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 61°F | 76.8°F | 2.99 | 7 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 97°F | 66°F | 81.1°F | 2.29 | 7 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 94°F | 64°F | 79.2°F | 2.93 | 8 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 57°F | 71.7°F | 1.55 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 43°F | 59.3°F | 1.89 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 31°F | 46.6°F | 0.70 | 4 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 23°F | 37.6°F | 0.56 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 43°F | 58.3°F | 19.22 | 63 | 94 | 103 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −6°C | 2.6°C | 15 mm |
| February | 13°C | −5°C | 4.1°C | 12 mm |
| March | 18°C | 0°C | 8.9°C | 30 mm |
| April | 23°C | 4°C | 13.6°C | 44 mm |
| May | 28°C | 10°C | 19.2°C | 58 mm |
| June | 34°C | 16°C | 24.9°C | 76 mm |
| July | 36°C | 19°C | 27.3°C | 58 mm |
| August | 35°C | 18°C | 26.2°C | 74 mm |
| September | 30°C | 14°C | 22.1°C | 39 mm |
| October | 24°C | 6°C | 15.2°C | 48 mm |
| November | 17°C | −1°C | 8.1°C | 18 mm |
| December | 11°C | −5°C | 3.1°C | 14 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Borger station (9 miles away), gets 15 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00418040; 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 Sanford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00418040.
When is the last frost in Sanford?
In Sanford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 in half of years and before October 11 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
- April 201 year in 10 after May 4; 9 in 10 after April 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 187 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 206 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 9 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sanford in zone 7a in ZIP code 79078, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sanford's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00418040; 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 Sanford?
In a normal year in Sanford, 94 days a year reach 90°F (25 of them 100°F or more), 103 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 63 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 94a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 103a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 9high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 63a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1993) is 114°F, on July 14, 2020; the lowest is −8°F, on February 15, 2021.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 34.31 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 15.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00418040; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00418040. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sanford?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sanford, 5.2 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (89%) and February the cloudiest (79%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.1 |
| February | 79% | 3.9 |
| March | 82% | 5.2 |
| April | 83% | 6.4 |
| May | 84% | 7.0 |
| June | 89% | 7.6 |
| July | 89% | 7.3 |
| August | 87% | 6.4 |
| September | 87% | 5.5 |
| October | 83% | 4.3 |
| November | 84% | 3.3 |
| December | 80% | 2.7 |
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 Sanford need?
A normal year in Sanford brings 4,149 heating degree days, 23% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,739 cooling degree days, 92% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,609 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 877 | 0 |
| February | 716 | 0 |
| March | 527 | 4 |
| April | 279 | 24 |
| May | 88 | 136 |
| June | 5 | 357 |
| July | 0 | 499 |
| August | 1 | 441 |
| September | 31 | 230 |
| October | 221 | 45 |
| November | 554 | 2 |
| December | 851 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,149 | 1,739 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00418040. 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 Sanford been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 59.7°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.3°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58.8°F | +0.5°F | 15.45 |
| 2022 | 59.0°F | +0.7°F | 12.74 |
| 2023 | 59.8°F | +1.5°F | 24.05 |
| 2024 | 61.3°F | +3.0°F | 19.53 |
| 2025 | 59.7°F | +1.4°F | 24.78 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00418040. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sanford's climate compare?
Sanford is warmer than 18 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 43. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.3°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sanford 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 Sanford 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.
- Fritch, TX1,763 people · 5 mi SW
- Lake Meredith Estates, TX164 people · 4 mi SW
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 Sanford's climate
What is the coldest month in Sanford?
January, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (97°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Sanford?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Sanford's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Borger station (9 miles away), records 15 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Sanford?
June, with 2.99 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.48 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sanford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sanford in zone 7a in ZIP code 79078, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sanford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Sanford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 4. Waiting until May 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Borger, TX9 miles from this station, 60.9°F a year
- Panhandle, TX26 miles from this station, 58.0°F a year
- Dumas, TX27 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Amarillo, TX34 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made