Terlingua, TX Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Terlingua's primary NOAA station, TERLINGUA.
The climate verdict for Terlingua
Terlingua, Texas is cooling-led and dry. Its 9.3 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 70°F. Its climate comfort score of 73/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 66% of station-mapped location scores.
- 70°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 73/100
- comfort score, above 66% of station-mapped location scores
- 9.3"
- yearly precipitation total
- 267 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Terlingua: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00418924 · Terlingua, TX 70°F mean · 9.3" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 70°F
- RANK-WARM #6,518
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Twentynine Palms
- PRCP-ARID 9.3"
- SWING-MID 37°F
- COMF-MID 73/100
- LOAD-COOL 3,487 CDD
- STN-1 USC00418924
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Twentynine Palms, CA (+ 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 TX station list.
- Hot Hayfield Pumpin…, CA 71°F
- Terlingua (this station) 70°F
- Cold Wittmann, AZ 70°F
- Near Twentynine Palms, CA 70°F
- Near Langtry, TX 70°F
Terlingua sits in Texas, the #4 hottest U.S. state at 66.2°F statewide annual average - see all 50 hottest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Terlingua
Terlingua: 52/100 · grade D
Terlingua publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Terlingua, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 73/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 267 days/year | 94/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 70.3°F · 2.8° from 67.5°F | 91/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 186 calendar days | 22/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 9.3 in · 25.7 from 35 in | 10/100 · F |
Terlingua · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Terlingua's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWh
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as hot desert (BWh). Class BWh is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically hot desert.
- Köppen code
- BWh
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 86.8°F
- Coldest month
- 49.4°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 · cooling-led station
Where Terlingua sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Terlingua's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 5% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Terlingua sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 95%
- Terlingua's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 75%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Terlingua is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Terlingua compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Terlingua's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
73 Top 34% score exceeds 66% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | 66°F (19°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 0.3" | 14.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 74°F (23°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.2" | 5.8 | 1.8 |
| March | 81°F (27°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.4" | 1.5 | 10.6 |
| April | 90°F (32°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 19.1 |
| May | 98°F (37°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 1.0" | 0.0 | 26.6 |
| June | 102°F (39°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 87°F (30°C) | 1.2" | 0.0 | 29.3 |
| July | 101°F (38°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 87°F (30°C) | 1.1" | 0.0 | 29.5 |
| August | 100°F (38°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 86°F (30°C) | 1.5" | 0.0 | 29.3 |
| September | 94°F (34°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 80°F (27°C) | 1.3" | 0.0 | 22.9 |
| October | 88°F (31°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.2 | 17.6 |
| November | 75°F (24°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 1.1" | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| December | 67°F (19°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 0.5" | 10.7 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Terlingua works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 102°F by June 9 and hold at or above 90°F on 180 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 6 dates, bottoming at 32°F around January 3.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from April 15 through October 11, covering 180 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs February 2 to November 29.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
Freezing normal lows persist into January 8, covering 6 dates.
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 July 8, when 19% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is December 21 at 6%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 39 wet dates a year.
The widest day
March 11 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 36°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Terlingua.
Where Terlingua Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 180 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 9 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Terlingua earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
1.6 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
1.7 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
4.0 days with precipitation
4.2 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
5.1 days with precipitation
5.0 days with precipitation
2.5 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
Terlingua runs a summer-peaked wet season
41% of Terlingua'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 August at 1.5", on a 37.4°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: August, September, June, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: February at 0.2".
- Winter share: 11% 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.
How Terlingua's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 39 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 9.3" between them, or roughly 0.24 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 4
50% probability date
Growing Season
267 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
1,529
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
3,487
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside TX closest to Terlingua 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 (70°F here).
- Baker, CA 70°F · 0.0°F off
- Boothville, LA 70°F · 0.0°F off
- Buras, LA 70°F · 0.0°F off
- Deland, FL 70°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (9.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- St George, UT 9.3" · 0.0" off
- Arlington, OR 9.3" · 0.0" off
- Minden, NV 9.3" · 0.0" off
- Riverside, CA 9.4" · 0.1" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Terlingua's limited precipitation lands
cooling led · dry · mid swing
Air-conditioning demand is the clearest thermal signal here. Terlingua accumulates 3,487 cooling degree days, more than twice its 1,529 heating total; the monthly table shows when that imbalance builds rather than treating it as a year-round condition.
Heat demand sits beside limited local precipitation: Terlingua receives 9.3 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Month-level precipitation is the useful check on when that small annual total arrives.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Terlingua's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 37.4°F. The annual average is 70°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Terlingua has a long frost-free window of roughly 267 days, but the dry annual profile is a separate constraint. Growing-season length says when freezes are unlikely, not whether rainfall is sufficient.
Terlingua wettest normal
August
August concentrates the scarce annual total (9.3 inches).
Terlingua driest normal
February
February is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Terlingua's climate
How dry is Terlingua? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Terlingua get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Terlingua? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Terlingua's primary station: TERLINGUA (USC00418924). 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 4872248), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Terlingua: 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 Terlingua 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.