Tonsina, 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 Tonsina's primary NOAA station, TONSINA.
The climate verdict for Tonsina
Winter sets the terms in Tonsina, Alaska. A pronounced 59.4°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 28°F. At 35/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 4% of scores.
- 28°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 35/100
- comfort score, above 4% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.3"
- annual precipitation · 72" snow
Tonsina: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00509385 · Tonsina, AK 28°F mean · 13.3" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-WIDE · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 28°F
- RANK-COOL #69
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Delta Junction
- PRCP-DRY 13.3"
- SWING-WIDE 59°F
- COMF-LOW 35/100
- LOAD-HEAT 13,607 HDD
- STN-1 USC00509385
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Delta Junction, AK ( -0.3 °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.
- Tonsina (this station) 28°F
- Hot Mt Washington, NH 28°F
- Near Nome, AK 28°F
- Near Mckinley Park, AK 28°F
- Cold Delta Junction, AK 27°F
Tonsina 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 · Tonsina
Tonsina: 6/100 · grade F
Tonsina publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Tonsina, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 35/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 13.3 in · 21.8 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 71.8 inches/year | 9/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 27.6°F · 39.9° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 255 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Tonsina · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Tonsina is a continental Köppen climate: Dsc
Coldest-month mean -2.3°F and warmest-month mean 57.1°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
- 57.1°F
- Coldest month
- -2.3°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 Tonsina sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Tonsina's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 99%
- Among 6,861 stations, Tonsina sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Tonsina's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 97%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Tonsina is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Tonsina compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Tonsina's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
35 4th percentile score exceeds 4% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 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 | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°F (-15°C) | -9°F (-23°C) | -2°F (-19°C) | 1.1" | 9.3" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 17°F (-8°C) | -5°F (-21°C) | 6°F (-14°C) | 1.0" | 12.4" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 29°F (-2°C) | -1°F (-18°C) | 14°F (-10°C) | 0.5" | 6.0" | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 45°F (7°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 0.2" | 2.2" | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 57°F (14°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 0.5" | 0.4" | 21.0 | 0.0 |
| June | 67°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 5.3 | 0.1 |
| July | 70°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| August | 65°F (18°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 54°F (12°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 1.5" | 1.6" | 18.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 36°F (2°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 1.0" | 9.1" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 15°F (-10°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 7°F (-14°C) | 1.3" | 17.0" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 7°F (-14°C) | -8°F (-22°C) | 0°F (-18°C) | 1.3" | 13.8" | 30.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 70°F around July 11, short of 90°F on every date, while 255 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -11°F near January 5.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into May 23, then returns to freezing around September 12, covering 255 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 14, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is April 9 at 7%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 84 wet dates a year.
The widest day
March 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Tonsina.
Where Tonsina Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 255 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Tonsina earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 9.3"
6.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 12.4"
6.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
3.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.2"
2.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
3.7 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
11.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.6"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.1"
8.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 17.0"
7.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.8"
7.1 days with precipitation
Tonsina runs a summer-peaked wet season
38% of Tonsina'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 July at 1.8", on a wide 59.4°F gap between its warmest and coldest month. 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: July, August, September, taking 38% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: April at 0.2".
- Winter share: 25% 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.
Tonsina is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 84 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 13.3" 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 12 wet days; the driest is April at about 2.
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.
Winter brings real snow to Tonsina
Tonsina averages 71.8 inches of snowfall a year, with November the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 35 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 71.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 35 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 54% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
13,607
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
6
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Tonsina 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 (28°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 6.6°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 6.6°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 6.7°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 6.8°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Huntington, OR 13.2" · 0.0" off
- Big Sandy, MT 13.3" · 0.0" off
- Emmett, ID 13.3" · 0.0" off
- Fort Benton, MT 13.2" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Tonsina
heating led · dry · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Tonsina logs 13,607 heating degree days, more than twice its 6 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 59.4°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Tonsina. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
-
1. Tonsina coldest normal
January
Averaging -2°F (-19°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Tonsina typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Tonsina snow peak
November
Tonsina averages 71.8 inches of snow a year, with November the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Tonsina's climate
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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 Tonsina's primary station: TONSINA (USC00509385). 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 0278350), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Tonsina: 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 Tonsina 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.