Wainwright, AK Climate: Temperature by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Wainwright's primary NOAA station, WAINWRIGHT AP.
The climate verdict for Wainwright
Winter sets the terms in Wainwright, Alaska. A pronounced 56.9°F seasonal swing and heating demand above twice the cooling total frame an annual average of 15°F. July is the warmest month at 46°F and February the coldest at -11°F.
- 15°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
Wainwright: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00027503 · Wainwright, AK 15°F mean
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · ABOVE-PEER · PRCP-UNK · SWING-WIDE · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-PART
- TEMP-COLD 15°F
- RANK-COOL #1
- ABOVE-PEER over Deadhorse
- PRCP-UNK Rain n/a
- SWING-WIDE 57°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 18,265 HDD
- STN-1 USW00027503
- BOOK-PART 4/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Deadhorse, AK ( -1.5 °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.
- Hot Toolik Lake, AK 19°F
- Wainwright (this station) 15°F
- Cold Utqiagvik (form…, AK 13°F
- Near Deadhorse, AK 13°F
- Near Colville Village, AK 13°F
Wainwright 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
National standing · heating-led station
Where Wainwright sits across the climate record
Available NOAA 1991–2020 fields for Wainwright are ranked only against stations that publish the same field, missing metrics stay blank rather than estimated.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 100%
- Among 6,861 stations, Wainwright sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 94%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Wainwright is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -4°F (-20°C) | -18°F (-28°C) | -11°F (-24°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| February | -5°F (-20°C) | -18°F (-28°C) | -11°F (-24°C) | N/A | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| March | -3°F (-20°C) | -18°F (-28°C) | -11°F (-24°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 11°F (-12°C) | -3°F (-20°C) | 4°F (-16°C) | N/A | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 29°F (-2°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | N/A | 29.4 | 0.0 |
| June | 46°F (8°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 39°F (4°C) | N/A | 15.2 | 0.0 |
| July | 52°F (11°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 46°F (8°C) | N/A | 3.4 | 0.0 |
| August | 49°F (9°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 43°F (6°C) | N/A | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| September | 39°F (4°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 35°F (2°C) | N/A | 17.8 | 0.0 |
| October | 26°F (-4°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | N/A | 30.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 12°F (-11°C) | -1°F (-18°C) | 5°F (-15°C) | N/A | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 0°F (-18°C) | -13°F (-25°C) | -7°F (-21°C) | N/A | 31.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 53°F around July 7, short of 90°F on every date, while 273 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest -19°F near March 8.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into June 12, then returns to freezing around September 14, covering 273 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.
The widest day
March 30 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 15°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Wainwright.
Where Wainwright Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 273 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 15°F.
Wainwright earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
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
18,265
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
0
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
February
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Wainwright 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 (15°F here).
- Cooke City, MT 34°F · 19.4°F off
- Crested Butte, CO 34°F · 19.4°F off
- Silver Gate, MT 34°F · 19.5°F off
- Stanley, ID 34°F · 19.6°F off
Data-derived climate profile
How Wainwright's climate pattern fits together
heating led · high swing
Winter and seasonal range jointly define this record. Wainwright logs 18,265 heating degree days, more than twice its 0 cooling total, while the typical coldest-to-warmest-month gap reaches 56.9°F. The annual mean therefore compresses two materially different seasons.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Wainwright. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
Wainwright's calendar has a pronounced split: July and February mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, with 56.9°F between them. The annual average is 15°F. That average is context, while the monthly highs, lows, and precipitation totals describe the lived parts of the year.
A moisture-range label is withheld because Wainwright's annual precipitation total is unavailable. Monthly source values remain visible where NOAA provides them, and no annual amount is reconstructed from incomplete data.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Wainwright's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Wainwright, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Wainwright's climate
How cold does Wainwright get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Wainwright? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Wainwright's primary station: WAINWRIGHT AP (USW00027503). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 0282750). Match rule for Wainwright: 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 Wainwright 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.