Shirley Basin, WY 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 Shirley Basin's primary NOAA station, SHIRLEY BASIN.
The climate verdict for Shirley Basin
Dryness leads the climate profile for Shirley Basin, Wyoming, with 11.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 38°F. July is the warmest month at 64°F and January the coldest at 15°F.
- 38°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 11.1"
- annual precipitation
Shirley Basin: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00488192 · Shirley Basin, WY 38°F mean · 11.1" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 38°F
- RANK-COOL #206
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Grand Portage
- PRCP-ARID 11.1"
- SWING-WIDE 49°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 9,876 HDD
- STN-1 USC00488192
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Grand Portage, MN (+ 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 WY station list.
- Shirley Basin (this station) 38°F
- Cold Spicer, CO 38°F
- Hot Grand Portage, MN 38°F
- Near Crater Lake Nps…, OR 38°F
- Near Jackson, WY 38°F
Shirley Basin sits in Wyoming, the #5 coldest U.S. state at 43.3°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Shirley Basin
Shirley Basin: 4/100 · grade F
Shirley Basin publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Shirley Basin, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 11.1 in · 23.9 from 35 in | 16/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 38.0°F · 29.5° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 238 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Shirley Basin · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Shirley Basin is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 14.7°F and warmest-month mean 63.5°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 63.5°F
- Coldest month
- 14.7°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 Shirley Basin sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Shirley Basin's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 97%
- Among 6,861 stations, Shirley Basin sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 92%
- Shirley Basin's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 77%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Shirley Basin is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28°F (-2°C) | 1°F (-17°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 0.5" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 31°F (-1°C) | 4°F (-15°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 0.6" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 41°F (5°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.8" | 30.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 50°F (10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.3" | 28.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 60°F (16°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.8" | 19.3 | 0.0 |
| June | 73°F (23°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.4" | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 1.3" | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| August | 80°F (26°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.8" | 2.3 | 0.1 |
| September | 69°F (21°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 0.9" | 16.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 54°F (12°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 0.8" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 40°F (4°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 0.4" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 29°F (-2°C) | 3°F (-16°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 0.4" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 25, short of 90°F on every date, while 238 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 0°F near January 1.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 15, then returns to freezing around September 21, covering 238 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 April 19, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is November 18 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 94 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 26 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 37°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Shirley Basin.
Where Shirley Basin Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 238 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 11 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Shirley Basin earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
7.2 days with precipitation
8.5 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
10.6 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
5.4 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
Shirley Basin spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 31% of the annual total and December through February 14%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Shirley Basin has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 48.8°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 1.8" and December 0.4". The three wettest months together take 40% 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.
Shirley Basin is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 93 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 26% of the calendar, and they carry 11.1" between them. At roughly 0.12 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is April at about 11 wet days; the driest is November at about 5.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
9,876
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
62
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WY closest to Shirley Basin 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 (38°F here).
- Cook, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Wright, MN 38°F · 0.0°F off
- Cavalier, ND 38°F · 0.1°F off
- Ely, MN 38°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (11.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Gildford, MT 11.1" · 0.0" off
- Alcalde, NM 11.1" · 0.0" off
- Odessa, WA 11.1" · 0.0" off
- Klamath Falls, OR 11.1" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Shirley Basin's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Shirley Basin's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 9,876 annual heating degree days against 62 for cooling. Its 48.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Shirley Basin. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Shirley Basin's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 48.8°F. The annual average is 38°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Shirley Basin's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 11.1 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Shirley Basin wettest normal
May
May concentrates the scarce annual total (11.1 inches).
Shirley Basin driest normal
November
November is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Shirley Basin's climate
How dry is Shirley Basin? ▼
How cold does Shirley Basin get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Shirley Basin? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Shirley Basin's primary station: SHIRLEY BASIN (USC00488192). 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 Shirley Basin; 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 Shirley Basin 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.