Valdez, Alaska climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Valdez's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 64°F July afternoons, with 67.9 inches of precipitation and 325 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 4.3°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 18°C, 1,725 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationValdez Weather Office
- Station IDUSW00026442
- Location61.13°N 146.35°W
- Elevation95 ft (29 m)
- Population3,715
On October 23, the normal high in Valdez is 42°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 59%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Valdez.
- Jan 29° 19°
- Feb 32° 21°
- Mar 37° 23°
- Apr 46° 32°
- May 56° 40°
- Jun 63° 46°
- Jul 64° 49°
- Aug 62° 47°
- Sep 55° 42°
- Oct 45° 34°
- Nov 34° 25°
- Dec 31° 22°
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 Valdez each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 64°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in September (9.76 in), the least in June (2.44 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29°F | 19°F | 23.9°F | 6.56 | 66.6 | 16 | <1 | 30 | 6 h 20 min |
| February | 32°F | 21°F | 26.7°F | 5.92 | 63.4 | 15 | <1 | 26 | 9 h |
| March | 37°F | 23°F | 29.9°F | 4.10 | 45.8 | 14 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 40 min |
| April | 46°F | 32°F | 39.2°F | 3.37 | 22.3 | 14 | <1 | 16 | 14 h 40 min |
| May | 56°F | 40°F | 47.7°F | 3.02 | 3.4 | 15 | <1 | 1 | 17 h 20 min |
| June | 63°F | 46°F | 54.4°F | 2.44 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 19 h 20 min |
| July | 64°F | 49°F | 56.6°F | 3.87 | 0.0 | 18 | <1 | <1 | 18 h 30 min |
| August | 62°F | 47°F | 54.5°F | 7.00 | 0.0 | 18 | <1 | <1 | 16 h |
| September | 55°F | 42°F | 48.3°F | 9.76 | 0.7 | 21 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| October | 45°F | 34°F | 39.5°F | 7.98 | 9.1 | 19 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 10 min |
| November | 34°F | 25°F | 29.4°F | 6.14 | 43.5 | 16 | <1 | 27 | 7 h 20 min |
| December | 31°F | 22°F | 26.2°F | 7.74 | 70.5 | 17 | <1 | 30 | 5 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 46°F | 33°F | 39.7°F | 67.90 | 325.3 | 198 | <1 | 174 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2°C | −7°C | −4.5°C | 167 mm | 169 cm |
| February | 0°C | −6°C | −2.9°C | 150 mm | 161 cm |
| March | 3°C | −5°C | −1.2°C | 104 mm | 116 cm |
| April | 8°C | 0°C | 4.0°C | 86 mm | 57 cm |
| May | 13°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 77 mm | 9 cm |
| June | 17°C | 8°C | 12.4°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 18°C | 10°C | 13.7°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 17°C | 8°C | 12.5°C | 178 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 13°C | 5°C | 9.1°C | 248 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 7°C | 1°C | 4.2°C | 203 mm | 23 cm |
| November | 1°C | −4°C | −1.4°C | 156 mm | 110 cm |
| December | −1°C | −6°C | −3.2°C | 197 mm | 179 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026442; 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 Valdez?
No month's normal high reaches 65°F in Valdez: the warmest is July at 64°F.
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 USW00026442.
When is the last frost in Valdez?
In Valdez, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 2 in half of years and before September 20 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
- April 301 year in 10 after May 10; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 21 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 19
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 157 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 188 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 14 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Valdez in zone 5a in ZIP code 99686. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Valdez's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (23 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Alaska · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00026442; 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 Valdez?
In a normal year in Valdez, a 90°F day is rare, 174 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 198 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 174a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 70high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 198a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 56a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1917) is 90°F, on June 17, 2013; the lowest is −28°F, on February 5, 1947.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2013, with 97.32 in; the snowiest season is 1989–90, with 550.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00026442; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00026442. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Valdez?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Valdez, 2.8 kWh per square metre a day. April is the sunniest month (75%) and October the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 58% | 0.3 |
| February | 61% | 1.0 |
| March | 72% | 2.6 |
| April | 75% | 4.4 |
| May | 70% | 5.3 |
| June | 69% | 5.9 |
| July | 70% | 5.4 |
| August | 67% | 4.1 |
| September | 63% | 2.6 |
| October | 56% | 1.1 |
| November | 56% | 0.4 |
| December | 59% | 0.1 |
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 Valdez need?
A normal year in Valdez brings 9,219 heating degree days, 72% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3 cooling degree days, 100% fewer than the median (908). Eleven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 537 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,274 | 0 |
| February | 1,074 | 0 |
| March | 1,090 | 0 |
| April | 776 | 0 |
| May | 536 | 0 |
| June | 319 | 1 |
| July | 262 | 2 |
| August | 327 | 0 |
| September | 501 | 0 |
| October | 791 | 0 |
| November | 1,068 | 0 |
| December | 1,201 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 9,219 | 3 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00026442. 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.
How does Valdez's climate compare?
Valdez is warmer than 58 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Alaska, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 39.7°F is warmer than 5%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Valdez is Dfc: continental, no dry season, cool summer. 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 Valdez share this climate record?
Tatitlek has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Tatitlek, AK23 people · 19 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Valdez's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Valdez. This page uses Valdez Weather Office; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdez station USC00509687 | 1 mi W | 62 ft | 36.8°F | 15°F | 62°F | 82.1 | – | May 14 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Valdez's climate
What is the coldest month in Valdez?
January, with a normal high of 29°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (64°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Valdez?
Yes: 325 inches in a normal year, falling on 84 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (70.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Valdez?
September, with 9.76 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 2.44 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Valdez in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Valdez in zone 5a in ZIP code 99686. By the same method at Valdez's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Valdez?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 10. Waiting until May 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Alaska climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Cannery Creek, AK40 miles from this station, 38.8°F a year
- Tonsina, AK53 miles from this station, 27.6°F a year
- Cordova, AK53 miles from this station, 39.9°F a year
- Wally Noerenberg Hatchery, AK63 miles from this station, 40.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made