Tucson U of A, AZ 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 Tucson U of A's primary NOAA station, TUCSON U OF A #1.
The climate verdict for Tucson U of A
Tucson U of A, Arizona is cooling-led and dry. Its 10.8 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 70°F. It scores 87/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 87% of them.
- 70°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 87/100
- comfort score, above 87% of station-mapped location scores
- 10.8"
- annual precipitation
- 294 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Tucson U of A: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00028817 · Tucson U of A, AZ 70°F mean · 10.8" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 70°F
- RANK-WARM #6,518
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pleasanton
- PRCP-ARID 10.8"
- SWING-MID 35°F
- COMF-TOP 87/100
- LOAD-COOL 3,328 CDD
- STN-1 USC00028817
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Pleasanton, TX (+ 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 AZ station list.
- Hot Choke Canyon Dam, TX 71°F
- Tucson U of A (this station) 70°F
- Cold Eagle Pass, TX 70°F
- Near Pleasanton, TX 70°F
- Near Poteet, TX 70°F
Climate Living Index · Tucson U of A
Tucson U of A: 65/100 · grade C
Tucson U of A publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Tucson U of A, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 87/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 294 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 70.3°F · 2.8° from 67.5°F | 91/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.0 inches/year | 90/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 152 calendar days | 45/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 10.8 in · 24.2 from 35 in | 15/100 · F |
Tucson U of A · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Tucson U of A'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
- 88.2°F
- Coldest month
- 52.8°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 Tucson U of A sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Tucson U of A'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, Tucson U of A sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 92%
- Tucson U of A's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 81%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Tucson U of A is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Tucson U of A compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Tucson U of A's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
87 Top 13% score exceeds 87% 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%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | 67°F (20°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 6.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 71°F (21°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 3.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 77°F (25°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| April | 84°F (29°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.3 |
| May | 93°F (34°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 23.9 |
| June | 102°F (39°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 85°F (30°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.6 |
| July | 101°F (38°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 88°F (31°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 30.4 |
| August | 100°F (38°C) | 74°F (24°C) | 87°F (31°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.8 |
| September | 96°F (36°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 83°F (28°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 28.3 |
| October | 87°F (31°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.4 |
| November | 76°F (25°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 1.9 | 1.4 |
| December | 67°F (19°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 8.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Tucson U of A runs from a mild 38°F around December 20 to 103°F at the peak near June 23, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 9 through October 7, covering 152 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs February 11 to December 1.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 38°F around December 20.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is August 13, when 28% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is April 30 at 4%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 48 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 1 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 34°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Tucson U of A.
Where Tucson U of A Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 152 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 11 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Tucson U of A 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
4.3 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
1.9 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
1.5 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
4.1 days with precipitation
3.2 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
Tucson U of A runs a summer-peaked wet season
39% of Tucson U of A'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 2.0", on a 35.4°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, July, December, taking 47% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: May at 0.2".
- Winter share: 28% 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 Tucson U of A's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 48 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 10.8" between them, or roughly 0.22 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.
Tucson U of A's record shows no measurable snowfall
This station measured snowfall across the 1991-2020 period and recorded none: the annual normal is 0.0 inches. That is a measured zero rather than missing data, which is a meaningful distinction here , most stations in the database simply do not report snow at all, and those pages say nothing about it.
A thirty-year normal of zero describes the typical year at this station. It is not a claim that snow has never fallen in the area.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 2
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 11
50% probability date
Growing Season
294 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
1,363
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
3,328
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AZ closest to Tucson U of A 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 (10.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Joplin, MT 10.8" · 0.0" off
- Paul, ID 10.8" · 0.0" off
- Castleford, ID 10.7" · 0.0" off
- Hazelton, ID 10.7" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Tucson U of A's limited precipitation lands
cooling led · dry · mid swing
Air-conditioning demand is the clearest thermal signal here. Tucson U of A accumulates 3,328 cooling degree days, more than twice its 1,363 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: Tucson U of A receives 10.8 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. Month-level precipitation is the useful check on when that small annual total arrives.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Tucson U of A's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 35.4°F. The annual average is 70°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Tucson U of A has a long frost-free window of roughly 294 days, but the dry annual profile is a separate constraint. Growing-season length says when freezes are unlikely, not whether rainfall is sufficient.
Tucson U of A wettest normal
August
August concentrates the scarce annual total (10.8 inches).
Tucson U of A driest normal
May
May is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Tucson U of A's climate
How dry is Tucson U of A? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Tucson U of A get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Tucson U of A? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Tucson U of A's primary station: TUCSON U OF A #1 (USC00028817). 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 Tucson U of A; 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 Tucson U of A 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.