Stanley, New Mexico climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Stanley's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 12.1 inches of precipitation and 22 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 31°C, 307 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationStanley (2 mi NNE)
- Station IDUSC00298518
- Location35.18°N 105.94°W
- Elevation6,375 ft (1,943 m)
- Population (census place)31
On October 23, the normal high in Stanley is 64°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Stanley.
- Jan 43° 18°
- Feb 49° 21°
- Mar 58° 27°
- Apr 66° 32°
- May 75° 41°
- Jun 85° 50°
- Jul 87° 55°
- Aug 84° 54°
- Sep 79° 47°
- Oct 67° 35°
- Nov 54° 25°
- Dec 43° 18°
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 Stanley each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.22 in), the least in February (0.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 18°F | 30.5°F | 0.44 | 4.5 | 3 | <1 | 31 | 10 h |
| February | 49°F | 21°F | 35.3°F | 0.31 | 2.8 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 58°F | 27°F | 42.2°F | 0.61 | 3.2 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 32°F | 48.9°F | 0.52 | 1.6 | 3 | <1 | 15 | 13 h |
| May | 75°F | 41°F | 57.8°F | 0.82 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 h |
| June | 85°F | 50°F | 67.4°F | 1.27 | 0.0 | 4 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 55°F | 71.2°F | 2.22 | 0.0 | 9 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 84°F | 54°F | 69.2°F | 2.09 | 0.0 | 8 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 47°F | 62.7°F | 1.42 | 0.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 35°F | 51.3°F | 1.19 | 0.4 | 4 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 54°F | 25°F | 39.7°F | 0.53 | 3.2 | 3 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 43°F | 18°F | 30.7°F | 0.68 | 6.6 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 35°F | 50.6°F | 12.10 | 22.3 | 52 | 29 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −8°C | −0.8°C | 11 mm | 11 cm |
| February | 10°C | −6°C | 1.8°C | 8 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 14°C | −3°C | 5.7°C | 15 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 19°C | 0°C | 9.4°C | 13 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 24°C | 5°C | 14.3°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 10°C | 19.7°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 13°C | 21.8°C | 56 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 12°C | 20.7°C | 53 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 8°C | 17.1°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 10.7°C | 30 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 4.3°C | 13 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 6°C | −8°C | −0.7°C | 17 mm | 17 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298518; 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 Stanley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September 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 USC00298518.
When is the last frost in Stanley?
In Stanley, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 9 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 25 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
- May 91 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 150 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 168 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stanley in zone 6b in ZIP code 87056, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Stanley's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (16 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00298518; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. 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 Stanley?
In a normal year in Stanley, 29 days a year reach 90°F, 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 52 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 11high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 52a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 103°F, on July 12, 2020; the lowest is −30°F, on January 7, 1971.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1997, with 22.43 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 49.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00298518; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00298518. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Stanley?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Stanley, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. October is the sunniest month (87%) and July the cloudiest (80%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.3 |
| February | 83% | 4.2 |
| March | 84% | 5.5 |
| April | 84% | 6.8 |
| May | 85% | 7.5 |
| June | 87% | 7.8 |
| July | 80% | 6.9 |
| August | 83% | 6.4 |
| September | 85% | 5.7 |
| October | 87% | 4.7 |
| November | 86% | 3.5 |
| December | 82% | 2.9 |
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 Stanley need?
A normal year in Stanley brings 5,732 heating degree days, 7% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 493 cooling degree days, 46% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,625 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,071 | 0 |
| February | 832 | 0 |
| March | 708 | 0 |
| April | 482 | 0 |
| May | 237 | 14 |
| June | 38 | 110 |
| July | 4 | 194 |
| August | 9 | 139 |
| September | 103 | 36 |
| October | 427 | 0 |
| November | 759 | 0 |
| December | 1,063 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,732 | 493 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00298518. 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 Stanley been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 50.6°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 50.6°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.7°F | +1.1°F | – | 21.1 |
| 2022 | 50.6°F | at normal | 14.98 | 11.3 |
Over 37 complete years from 1957 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.3°F per century (+0.29°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00298518; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Stanley's climate compare?
Stanley is warmer than 30 of the other 97 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 35. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Stanley 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 Stanley share this climate record?
Galisteo has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Galisteo, NM141 people · 15 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.
Questions about Stanley's climate
What is the coldest month in Stanley?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Stanley?
Yes: 22 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (6.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Stanley?
July, with 2.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Stanley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Stanley in zone 6b in ZIP code 87056, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Stanley's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Stanley?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 9; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 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
- Moriarty, NM12 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Clines Corners, NM20 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Sandia Park, NM24 miles from this station, 49.5°F a year
- Estancia, NM25 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made