Shaw, CO 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 Shaw's primary NOAA station, SHAW 4ENE.
The climate verdict for Shaw
Dryness leads the climate profile for Shaw, Colorado, with 16.4 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 49°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.
- 49°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 16.4"
- annual precipitation · 45" snow
- 145 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Shaw: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00057560 · Shaw, CO 49°F mean · 16.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 49°F
- RANK-COOL #2,470
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lowell
- PRCP-DRY 16.4"
- SWING-WIDE 45°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,458 HDD
- STN-1 USC00057560
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Lowell, MA (+ 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 CO station list.
- Shaw (this station) 49°F
- Cold Jackson Reynold…, MI 49°F
- Hot Sunnyside City…, UT 49°F
- Near Lowell, MA 49°F
- Near Timpanogos Cave, UT 49°F
Climate Living Index · Shaw
Shaw: 28/100 · grade F
Shaw publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Shaw, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 49.0°F · 18.5° from 67.5°F | 36/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 16.4 in · 18.6 from 35 in | 33/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 44.7 inches/year | 24/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 145 days/year | 22/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 186 calendar days | 22/100 · F |
Shaw · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Shaw'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
- 72.9°F
- Coldest month
- 27.9°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 Shaw sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Shaw's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 36th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 79%
- Shaw's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 59th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Shaw compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Shaw'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 | 42°F (5°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.3" | 5.2" | 30.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 44°F (7°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 0.5" | 7.0" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 55°F (13°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 0.9" | 8.2" | 26.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.6" | 6.2" | 16.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 71°F (22°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.3" | 0.9" | 3.9 | 0.8 |
| June | 83°F (28°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 8.0 |
| July | 89°F (31°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 2.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 16.9 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.5 |
| September | 79°F (26°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.2" | 0.6" | 1.0 | 5.1 |
| October | 65°F (18°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 1.2" | 4.6" | 12.2 | 0.1 |
| November | 52°F (11°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.6" | 5.1" | 25.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 42°F (6°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.4" | 6.9" | 30.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 89°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 186 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 14°F near December 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 21, then returns to freezing around October 19, covering 186 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 28, when 31% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 19 at 13%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 75 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 19 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 33°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Shaw.
Where Shaw Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 186 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Daily temperature swings run wider than most of the country, peaking near 33°F between the normal high and low.
Shaw 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: 5.2"
3.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.0"
4.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.2"
5.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.2"
7.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.9"
8.6 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
5.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.6"
5.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.1"
4.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.9"
4.4 days with precipitation
Shaw runs a summer-peaked wet season
45% of Shaw'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 2.9", on a wide 45°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. 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, May, taking 46% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: January at 0.3".
- Winter share: 8% 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 Shaw's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 75 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 16.4" between them, or roughly 0.22 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.
Winter brings real snow to Shaw
Shaw averages 44.7 inches of snowfall a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 25 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 44.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 25 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 27% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 12
50% probability date
Growing Season
145 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,458
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
654
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Shaw 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 (49°F here).
- Altona, IL 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Burney, CA 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Cairo, NY 49°F · 0.0°F off
- Condon, OR 49°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Roy, NM 16.4" · 0.0" off
- Hinsdale, MT 16.3" · 0.0" off
- Coalville, UT 16.4" · 0.0" off
- Colstrip, MT 16.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Shaw
heating led · dry · mid swing
Shaw's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,458 annual heating degree days against 654 for cooling. Its 45.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 145 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.
-
1. Shaw coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 28°F (-2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Shaw typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Shaw snow peak
March
Shaw averages 44.7 inches of snow a year, with March the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Shaw's climate
How much snow does Shaw get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Shaw get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Shaw? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Shaw's primary station: SHAW 4ENE (USC00057560). 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 Shaw; 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 Shaw 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.