Tornillo, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tornillo's normal year runs from 29°F December nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 8.3 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.6°C, December lows of −2°C, July highs of 35°C, 210 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTornillo (2 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSC00419088
- Location31.40°N 106.06°W
- Elevation3,525 ft (1,074 m)
- Population (census place)1,381
On October 23, the normal high in Tornillo is 79°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tornillo.
- Jan 61° 29°
- Feb 67° 33°
- Mar 75° 40°
- Apr 83° 47°
- May 91° 54°
- Jun 98° 63°
- Jul 95° 67°
- Aug 94° 66°
- Sep 89° 59°
- Oct 81° 48°
- Nov 70° 35°
- Dec 60° 29°
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 Tornillo each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in July (1.68 in), the least in April (0.23 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61°F | 29°F | 44.9°F | 0.36 | 0.4 | 3 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 67°F | 33°F | 50.1°F | 0.37 | 0.2 | 3 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 75°F | 40°F | 57.2°F | 0.25 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 6 | 12 h |
| April | 83°F | 47°F | 64.5°F | 0.23 | 0.0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 91°F | 54°F | 72.2°F | 0.50 | 0.0 | 2 | 17 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 98°F | 63°F | 80.1°F | 0.65 | 0.0 | 3 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 95°F | 67°F | 81.1°F | 1.68 | 0.0 | 7 | 25 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 94°F | 66°F | 79.9°F | 1.45 | 0.0 | 6 | 23 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 89°F | 59°F | 73.9°F | 1.12 | 0.0 | 5 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 48°F | 64.2°F | 0.77 | 0.1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 70°F | 35°F | 52.4°F | 0.36 | 0.3 | 2 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 60°F | 29°F | 44.3°F | 0.54 | 0.7 | 3 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 80°F | 47°F | 63.7°F | 8.28 | 1.7 | 42 | 110 | 81 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | −2°C | 7.2°C | 9 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 19°C | 1°C | 10.1°C | 9 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 24°C | 4°C | 14.0°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 28°C | 8°C | 18.1°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 33°C | 12°C | 22.3°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 37°C | 17°C | 26.7°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 19°C | 27.3°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 19°C | 26.6°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 32°C | 15°C | 23.3°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 27°C | 9°C | 17.9°C | 20 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 21°C | 2°C | 11.3°C | 9 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 16°C | −2°C | 6.8°C | 14 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00419088; 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 Tornillo?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00419088.
When is the last frost in Tornillo?
In Tornillo, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 21 in half of years and after April 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 6 in half of years and before October 24 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
- March 211 year in 10 after April 9; 9 in 10 after March 5
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 61 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 227 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 252 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 5 in half of springs and before November 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tornillo in zone 8a in ZIP code 79853. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tornillo's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00419088; 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 Tornillo?
In a normal year in Tornillo, 110 days a year reach 90°F (16 of them 100°F or more), 81 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 42 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 110a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 81a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 42a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1981) is 111°F, on June 27, 1994; the lowest is −2°F, on December 15, 1987.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1991, with 17.40 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 5.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00419088; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00419088. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tornillo?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tornillo, 5.9 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (86%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87% | 3.7 |
| February | 88% | 4.7 |
| March | 90% | 6.1 |
| April | 92% | 7.4 |
| May | 94% | 8.1 |
| June | 94% | 8.1 |
| July | 89% | 7.3 |
| August | 89% | 6.8 |
| September | 90% | 6.0 |
| October | 91% | 5.1 |
| November | 89% | 4.0 |
| December | 86% | 3.4 |
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 Tornillo need?
A normal year in Tornillo brings 2,487 heating degree days, 54% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,048 cooling degree days, 2.3 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,549 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 622 | 0 |
| February | 417 | 0 |
| March | 249 | 7 |
| April | 77 | 62 |
| May | 11 | 233 |
| June | 0 | 455 |
| July | 0 | 499 |
| August | 0 | 460 |
| September | 5 | 270 |
| October | 85 | 60 |
| November | 379 | 1 |
| December | 642 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,487 | 2,048 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00419088. 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 Tornillo been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.6°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.1°F | +0.4°F | 10.17 | – |
| 2022 | 63.4°F | −0.3°F | 9.73 | 2.0 |
| 2023 | 64.4°F | +0.7°F | 3.12 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 64.5°F | +0.8°F | 4.47 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 64.6°F | +0.9°F | 6.31 | 0.6 |
Over 32 complete years from 1982 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 8.4°F per century (+0.47°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00419088; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tornillo's climate compare?
Tornillo is warmer than 81 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 0. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.7°F is warmer than 85%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tornillo is BWk: cold desert. 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 Tornillo share this climate record?
5 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- San Elizario, TX10,128 people · 17 mi NW
- Fabens, TX4,704 people · 9 mi NW
- Clint, TX1,069 people · 16 mi NW
- Morning Glory, TX469 people · 14 mi NW
- Acala, TX31 people · 10 mi SE
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 Tornillo's climate
What is the coldest month in Tornillo?
December, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Tornillo?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (0.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tornillo?
July, with 1.68 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.23 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tornillo in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tornillo in zone 8a in ZIP code 79853. By the same method at Tornillo's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Tornillo?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 21; in one year in ten it comes after April 9. Waiting until April 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fort Hancock, TX24 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- El Paso, TX34 miles from this station, 66.2°F a year
- Cornudas Service Station, TX43 miles from this station, 60.7°F a year
- Santa Teresa, NM50 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made