Santa Rita Exp Range, AZ Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Santa Rita Exp Range's primary NOAA station, SANTA RITA EXP RANGE.
The climate verdict for Santa Rita Exp Range
Santa Rita Exp Range, Arizona has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 65°F. It scores 96/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 96% of them.
- 65°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 96/100
- comfort score, above 96% of station-mapped location scores
- 20.6"
- precipitation, annual total
- 283 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Santa Rita Exp Range: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00027593 · Santa Rita Exp Range, AZ 65°F mean · 20.6" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 65°F
- RANK-UPPER #6,106
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Bakersfield
- PRCP-DRY 20.6"
- SWING-MID 31°F
- COMF-TOP 96/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00027593
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Bakersfield, TX (+ 0 °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.
- Santa Rita (this station) 65°F
- Hot Clayton, AL 65°F
- Near Bakersfield, TX 65°F
- Near Burnet, TX 65°F
- Near China Lake Naf, CA 65°F
Climate Living Index · Santa Rita Exp Range
Santa Rita Exp Range: 84/100 · grade B
Santa Rita Exp Range publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Santa Rita Exp Range, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 96/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 283 days/year | 98/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 65.3°F · 2.2° from 67.5°F | 93/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 55 calendar days | 90/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 20.6 in · 14.4 from 35 in | 50/100 · D |
Santa Rita Exp Range · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Santa Rita Exp Range is a temperate Köppen climate: Csa
Coldest-month mean 49.2°F and warmest-month mean 80.0°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, hot summer climates (Csa). Class Csa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Csa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 80.0°F
- Coldest month
- 49.2°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 · balanced station
Where Santa Rita Exp Range sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Santa Rita Exp Range's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 11% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Santa Rita Exp Range sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 71%
- Santa Rita Exp Range's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 89%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Santa Rita Exp Range is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Santa Rita Exp Range compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Santa Rita Exp Range's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
96 Top 4% score exceeds 96% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61°F (16°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 1.5" | 4.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 64°F (18°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.4" | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 70°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.1" | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 76°F (25°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.6" | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| May | 84°F (29°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| June | 93°F (34°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 20.9 |
| July | 92°F (33°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 4.9" | 0.0 | 19.5 |
| August | 89°F (32°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 4.3" | 0.0 | 14.5 |
| September | 87°F (31°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 2.0" | 0.0 | 9.9 |
| October | 79°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.1" | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| November | 69°F (21°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 1.1" | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 60°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 2.1" | 6.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Santa Rita Exp Range runs from a mild 38°F around December 20 to 95°F at the peak near June 21, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 31 through July 24, covering 55 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 15 to November 13.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 38°F around December 20.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 3, when 42% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is April 29 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 65 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 7 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Santa Rita Exp Range.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
4.7 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
1.9 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
12.9 days with precipitation
6.4 days with precipitation
3.8 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
Santa Rita Exp Range runs a summer-peaked wet season
46% of Santa Rita Exp Range's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is July at 4.9", on a 30.8°F seasonal spread. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: July, August, December, taking 55% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: June at 0.3".
- Winter share: 24% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
How Santa Rita Exp Range's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 64 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 20.6" between them, or roughly 0.32 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 5
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
283 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
1,976
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,095
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AZ closest to Santa Rita Exp Range 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 (65°F here).
- Burnet, TX 65°F · 0.0°F off
- Clayton, AL 65°F · 0.0°F off
- Marlin, TX 65°F · 0.0°F off
- Minden, LA 65°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (20.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Farmington, UT 20.6" · 0.0" off
- Custer, SD 20.7" · 0.0" off
- Martin, SD 20.7" · 0.0" off
- Ojai, CA 20.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Santa Rita Exp Range's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · moderate · mid swing
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Santa Rita Exp Range's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 30.8°F. The annual average is 65°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Santa Rita Exp Range's normal, at 1,976 and 2,095 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
The frost-free window extends for about 283 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
Santa Rita Exp Range's 20.6 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Santa Rita Exp Range's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Santa Rita Exp Range, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Santa Rita Exp Range's climate
How much rain does Santa Rita Exp Range get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Santa Rita Exp Range get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Santa Rita Exp Range? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Santa Rita Exp Range's primary station: SANTA RITA EXP RANGE (USC00027593). 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 Santa Rita Exp Range; 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 Santa Rita Exp Range 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.