Sutton, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Sutton's primary NOAA station, SUTTON 1 W.
The climate verdict for Sutton
Dryness leads the climate profile for Sutton, Alaska, with 18.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 37°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 37°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 18.8"
- precipitation, annual total
- 97 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Sutton: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00508915 · Sutton, AK 37°F mean · 18.8" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 37°F
- RANK-COOL #137
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ King Salmon
- PRCP-DRY 18.8"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 10,388 HDD
- STN-1 USC00508915
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: King Salmon, AK (+ 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 AK station list.
- Sutton (this station) 37°F
- Hot Hope, AK 37°F
- Near King Salmon, AK 37°F
- Cold Santa Maria Rsvr, CO 36°F
- Near Lakeview, MT 36°F
Sutton 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 · Sutton
Sutton: 10/100 · grade F
Sutton publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Sutton, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 18.8 in · 16.2 from 35 in | 43/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 224 calendar days | 4/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 36.5°F · 31.0° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 97 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Sutton · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Sutton is a continental Köppen climate: Dsc
Coldest-month mean 15.7°F and warmest-month mean 57.8°F place this station in continental, dry-summer, cool summer climates (Dsc). Class Dsc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-summer, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dsc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 57.8°F
- Coldest month
- 15.7°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 Sutton sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Sutton'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, Sutton sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 74%
- Sutton's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 45th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Sutton compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Sutton's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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 | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°F (-5°C) | 9°F (-13°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 0.9" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 30°F (-1°C) | 12°F (-11°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 1.2" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 36°F (2°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 0.7" | 30.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 50°F (10°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 0.5" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 62°F (16°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 47°F (9°C) | 0.8" | 15.7 | 0.0 |
| June | 67°F (19°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.4" | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| July | 69°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 2.3" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 66°F (19°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.2" | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| September | 57°F (14°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 3.3" | 9.2 | 0.0 |
| October | 44°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.5" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 29°F (-2°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 1.4" | 29.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 24°F (-4°C) | 11°F (-12°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 1.4" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 69°F around July 4, short of 90°F on every date, while 224 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 10.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 12, then returns to freezing around October 2, covering 224 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 August 6, when 59% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is April 1 at 14%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 115 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Sutton.
Where Sutton Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 224 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Sutton earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
7.1 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
4.2 days with precipitation
8.0 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
16.7 days with precipitation
18.2 days with precipitation
15.8 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
Sutton runs a summer-peaked wet season
37% of Sutton'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 September at 3.3", on a 42.1°F seasonal spread. 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: September, August, July, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: April at 0.5".
- Winter share: 19% 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.
Sutton is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 115 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 31% of the calendar, and they carry 18.8" between them. At roughly 0.16 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 August at about 18 wet days; the driest is April at about 4.
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
September 6
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
97 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
10,388
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
3
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Sutton 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 (37°F here).
- Atlantic City, WY 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Brian Head, UT 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Rolla, ND 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Lakeview, MT 36°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (18.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Lakin, KS 18.8" · 0.0" off
- Stratton, CO 18.8" · 0.0" off
- Dayton, WA 18.8" · 0.0" off
- Rapid City, SD 18.8" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Sutton's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Sutton's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 10,388 annual heating degree days against 3 for cooling. Its 42.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 97 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 Sutton's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.1°F. The annual average is 37°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Sutton's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 18.8 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.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Sutton'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 Sutton, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Sutton's climate
How much rain does Sutton get? ▼
How cold does Sutton get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Sutton? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Sutton's primary station: SUTTON 1 W (USC00508915). 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 Sutton; 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 Sutton 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.