Sterling, AK 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 Sterling's primary NOAA station, STERLING 6SW.
The climate verdict for Sterling
Sterling, Alaska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 36°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 36°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 23.1"
- yearly precipitation total
- 124 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Sterling: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00508731 · Sterling, AK 36°F mean · 23.1" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 36°F
- RANK-COOL #137
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Moran
- PRCP-DRY 23.1"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 10,671 HDD
- STN-1 USC00508731
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Moran, WY ( -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 AK station list.
- Sterling (this station) 36°F
- Cold Dillon, CO 36°F
- Hot Talkeetna, AK 36°F
- Near Moran, WY 36°F
- Near Little SU AT Ha…, AK 36°F
Sterling sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Sterling
Sterling: 17/100 · grade F
Sterling publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Sterling, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 23.1 in · 11.9 from 35 in | 58/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 201 calendar days | 13/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 124 days/year | 9/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 35.7°F · 31.8° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
Sterling · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Sterling is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 14.9°F and warmest-month mean 57.6°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 57.6°F
- Coldest month
- 14.9°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 Sterling sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Sterling's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 98%
- Among 6,861 stations, Sterling sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 32nd percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 47th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Sterling compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Sterling's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°F (-6°C) | 8°F (-13°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 1.3" | 30.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 28°F (-2°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 1.8" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 33°F (1°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.9" | 29.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 46°F (8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.9" | 22.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 56°F (14°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.0" | 8.3 | 0.0 |
| June | 63°F (17°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.7" | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| July | 66°F (19°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 2.4" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 64°F (18°C) | 47°F (9°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.2" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 55°F (13°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.5" | 4.6 | 0.0 |
| October | 42°F (5°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 2.8" | 18.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 28°F (-2°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 1.8" | 27.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 23°F (-5°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 1.8" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 66°F around July 23, short of 90°F on every date, while 201 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 7°F near January 6.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 25, then returns to freezing around October 8, covering 201 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.
The widest day
May 25 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Sterling.
Where Sterling Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 201 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Sterling earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Sterling spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 32% of the annual total and December through February 21%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Sterling has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 42.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: September averages 3.5" and March 0.9". The three wettest months together take 41% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 20
50% probability date
Growing Season
124 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
10,671
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
7
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Sterling 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 (36°F here).
- Orr, MN 36°F · 0.1°F off
- Dillon, CO 36°F · 0.2°F off
- Fraser, CO 36°F · 0.3°F off
- Rolette, ND 36°F · 0.4°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (23.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mccall, ID 23.1" · 0.0" off
- Norton, KS 23.1" · 0.0" off
- Broken Bow, NE 23.0" · 0.0" off
- Meade, KS 23.0" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Sterling's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Sterling's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 10,671 annual heating degree days against 7 for cooling. Its 42.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 124 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.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Sterling's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.7°F. The annual average is 36°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Sterling's 23.1 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Sterling's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Sterling, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Sterling's climate
How much rain does Sterling get? ▼
How cold does Sterling get in winter? ▼
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Sterling's primary station: STERLING 6SW (USC00508731). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as a census-designated place (GEOID 0273070), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Sterling: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Sterling 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.