Socorro, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Socorro's normal year runs from 24°F December nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 10.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.2°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 33°C, 255 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSocorro
- Station IDUSC00298387
- Location34.06°N 106.88°W
- Elevation4,593 ft (1,400 m)
- Population8,348
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Socorro.
- Jan 52° 23°
- Feb 59° 28°
- Mar 67° 34°
- Apr 75° 41°
- May 83° 49°
- Jun 91° 57°
- Jul 92° 63°
- Aug 89° 61°
- Sep 84° 53°
- Oct 73° 42°
- Nov 61° 31°
- Dec 51° 24°
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 Socorro each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.43 in), the least in February (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 23°F | 37.8°F | 0.30 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 59°F | 28°F | 43.6°F | 0.28 | 3 | <1 | 22 | 11 h |
| March | 67°F | 34°F | 50.5°F | 0.51 | 3 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 41°F | 57.7°F | 0.34 | 2 | <1 | 6 | 13 h |
| May | 83°F | 49°F | 65.8°F | 0.38 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 91°F | 57°F | 74.1°F | 0.42 | 3 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 63°F | 77.4°F | 2.43 | 9 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 89°F | 61°F | 75.1°F | 2.09 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 84°F | 53°F | 68.5°F | 1.34 | 7 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 42°F | 57.1°F | 0.94 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 31°F | 45.5°F | 0.45 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 51°F | 24°F | 37.1°F | 0.57 | 4 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 42°F | 57.5°F | 10.05 | 54 | 82 | 126 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −5°C | 3.2°C | 8 mm |
| February | 15°C | −2°C | 6.4°C | 7 mm |
| March | 20°C | 1°C | 10.3°C | 13 mm |
| April | 24°C | 5°C | 14.3°C | 9 mm |
| May | 28°C | 9°C | 18.8°C | 10 mm |
| June | 33°C | 14°C | 23.4°C | 11 mm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 25.2°C | 62 mm |
| August | 32°C | 16°C | 23.9°C | 53 mm |
| September | 29°C | 12°C | 20.3°C | 34 mm |
| October | 23°C | 5°C | 13.9°C | 24 mm |
| November | 16°C | −1°C | 7.5°C | 11 mm |
| December | 10°C | −5°C | 2.8°C | 14 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Bosque Del Apache (18 miles away), gets 2 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298387; 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 Socorro?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00298387.
When is the last frost in Socorro?
In Socorro, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 16 in half of years and after May 1 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 161 year in 10 after May 1; 9 in 10 after March 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 191 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 215 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 31 in half of springs and before November 3 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Socorro in zone 7b in ZIP code 87823, 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 USC00298387; 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 Socorro?
In a normal year in Socorro, 82 days a year reach 90°F (8 of them 100°F or more), 126 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 54 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 82a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 126a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 54a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 109°F, on June 26, 1994; the lowest is −16°F, on December 21, 1909.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1907, with 17.85 in; the snowiest season is 1974–75, with 19.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00298387; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00298387. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Socorro?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Socorro, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 84% | 3.4 |
| February | 84% | 4.3 |
| March | 86% | 5.8 |
| April | 88% | 7.0 |
| May | 89% | 7.8 |
| June | 91% | 8.1 |
| July | 86% | 7.3 |
| August | 87% | 6.7 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 90% | 4.9 |
| November | 87% | 3.7 |
| December | 83% | 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 Socorro need?
A normal year in Socorro brings 3,909 heating degree days, 27% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,205 cooling degree days, 33% 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 4,012 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 845 | 0 |
| February | 601 | 0 |
| March | 448 | 0 |
| April | 227 | 10 |
| May | 60 | 87 |
| June | 2 | 276 |
| July | 0 | 384 |
| August | 0 | 312 |
| September | 24 | 129 |
| October | 252 | 7 |
| November | 585 | 0 |
| December | 865 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,909 | 1,205 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298387. 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 Socorro been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 57.0°F, 0.5°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 57.5°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.5°F | +2.0°F | 8.64 |
| 2023 | 58.6°F | +1.1°F | 7.54 |
| 2024 | 57.0°F | −0.5°F | 11.97 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00298387. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Socorro's climate compare?
Socorro is warmer than 62 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 13. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.5°F is warmer than 68%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Socorro 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 Socorro share this climate record?
6 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.
- Magdalena, NM776 people · 20 mi W
- Polvadera, NM730 people · 10 mi N
- Lemitar, NM432 people · 7 mi N
- Luis Lopez, NM82 people · 5 mi S
- Chamizal, NM17 people · 11 mi N
- Escondida, NM0 people · 3 mi N
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Socorro's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Socorro. This page uses Socorro; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socorro (20 mi N) USW00003048 | 20 mi N | 4,847 ft | 58.2°F | 22°F | 94°F | 8.6 | – | April 12 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Socorro's climate
What is the coldest month in Socorro?
December, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Socorro?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Socorro's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Bosque Del Apache (18 miles away), records 2 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Socorro?
July, with 2.43 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Socorro in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Socorro in zone 7b in ZIP code 87823, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Socorro?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 16; in one year in ten it comes after May 1. Waiting until May 1 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
- Bosque Del Apache, NM17 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Bernardo, NM25 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Bingham (2 mi NE), NM32 miles from this station, 56.8°F a year
- Augustine (2 mi E), NM42 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made