Santa Rosa, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Santa Rosa's normal year runs from 25°F December nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 15.0 inches of precipitation and 11 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.7°C, December lows of −4°C, July highs of 34°C, 381 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSanta Rosa
- Station IDUSC00298107
- Location34.96°N 104.72°W
- Elevation4,650 ft (1,417 m)
- Population2,824
On October 23, the normal high in Santa Rosa is 74°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 10%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Santa Rosa.
- Jan 56° 25°
- Feb 60° 27°
- Mar 68° 33°
- Apr 75° 40°
- May 83° 48°
- Jun 92° 58°
- Jul 93° 62°
- Aug 91° 60°
- Sep 85° 53°
- Oct 76° 41°
- Nov 65° 31°
- Dec 55° 25°
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 Santa Rosa each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.39 in), the least in November (0.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 25°F | 40.2°F | 0.81 | 3.1 | 2 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| February | 60°F | 27°F | 43.2°F | 0.47 | 1.6 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 68°F | 33°F | 50.4°F | 0.85 | 1.5 | 3 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 40°F | 57.5°F | 0.80 | 0.3 | 3 | <1 | 6 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 48°F | 65.7°F | 1.28 | 0.0 | 4 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 58°F | 75.0°F | 1.55 | 0.0 | 6 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 62°F | 77.2°F | 2.39 | 0.0 | 7 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 60°F | 75.7°F | 2.16 | 0.0 | 8 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 53°F | 69.1°F | 1.99 | 0.0 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 41°F | 58.7°F | 1.50 | 0.2 | 4 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 31°F | 47.6°F | 0.46 | 1.4 | 3 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 25°F | 39.9°F | 0.75 | 3.2 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 42°F | 58.4°F | 15.01 | 11.3 | 51 | 77 | 115 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | −4°C | 4.6°C | 21 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 15°C | −3°C | 6.2°C | 12 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 20°C | 0°C | 10.2°C | 22 mm | 4 cm |
| April | 24°C | 4°C | 14.2°C | 20 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 28°C | 9°C | 18.7°C | 33 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 33°C | 14°C | 23.9°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 16°C | 25.1°C | 61 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 16°C | 24.3°C | 55 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 12°C | 20.6°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 5°C | 14.8°C | 38 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 18°C | −1°C | 8.7°C | 12 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 13°C | −4°C | 4.4°C | 19 mm | 8 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298107; 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 Santa Rosa?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00298107.
When is the last frost in Santa Rosa?
In Santa Rosa, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 20 in half of years and after May 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 10 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 6; 9 in 10 after April 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 10; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 183 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 207 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 4 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Santa Rosa in zone 7a in ZIP code 88435, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00298107; 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 Santa Rosa?
In a normal year in Santa Rosa, 77 days a year reach 90°F (5 of them 100°F or more), 115 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 51 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 77a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 5a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 115a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 51a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1908) is 109°F, on June 24, 1990; the lowest is −25°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1997, with 27.99 in; the snowiest season is 1923–24, with 40.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00298107; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00298107. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Santa Rosa?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Santa Rosa, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (90%) and December the cloudiest (84%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.4 |
| February | 84% | 4.3 |
| March | 85% | 5.6 |
| April | 87% | 6.9 |
| May | 87% | 7.6 |
| June | 90% | 7.9 |
| July | 88% | 7.4 |
| August | 87% | 6.7 |
| September | 87% | 5.8 |
| October | 86% | 4.6 |
| November | 86% | 3.6 |
| December | 84% | 3.0 |
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 Santa Rosa need?
A normal year in Santa Rosa brings 3,674 heating degree days, 32% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,278 cooling degree days, 41% 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 4,179 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 770 | 0 |
| February | 610 | 0 |
| March | 453 | 1 |
| April | 235 | 10 |
| May | 69 | 92 |
| June | 1 | 301 |
| July | 0 | 380 |
| August | 0 | 330 |
| September | 24 | 149 |
| October | 210 | 15 |
| November | 523 | 1 |
| December | 778 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,674 | 1,278 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298107. 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.
How does Santa Rosa's climate compare?
Santa Rosa is warmer than 66 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 57. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.4°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa 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.
- Puerto de Luna, NM401 people · 10 mi SE
- Pastura, NM7 people · 17 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 Santa Rosa's climate
What is the coldest month in Santa Rosa?
December, with a normal high of 55°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Santa Rosa?
Yes: 11 inches in a normal year, falling on 6 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Santa Rosa?
July, with 2.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 0.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Santa Rosa in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Santa Rosa in zone 7a in ZIP code 88435, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Santa Rosa?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 20; in one year in ten it comes after May 6. Waiting until May 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Dilia, NM25 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Newkirk, NM27 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Sumner Lake, NM31 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Yeso (2 mi S), NM39 miles from this station, 58.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made