Waterdale, CO Climate: Temperature & Rain 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 Waterdale's primary NOAA station, WATERDALE.
The climate verdict for Waterdale
Dryness leads the climate profile for Waterdale, Colorado, with 16.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 48°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 48°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 16.8"
- annual precipitation · 40" snow
- 142 days
- frost-free growing season
Waterdale: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00058839 · Waterdale, CO 48°F mean · 16.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,196
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Elizabeth
- PRCP-DRY 16.8"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,522 HDD
- STN-1 USC00058839
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Elizabeth, CO (+ 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 CO station list.
- Waterdale (this station) 48°F
- Cold Castleford, ID 48°F
- Hot Matheson, CO 48°F
- Near Elizabeth, CO 48°F
- Near Ibapah, UT 48°F
Climate Living Index · Waterdale
Waterdale: 28/100 · grade F
Waterdale publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Waterdale, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 16.8 in · 18.2 from 35 in | 35/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.2°F · 19.3° from 67.5°F | 32/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 40.0 inches/year | 28/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 183 calendar days | 23/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 142 days/year | 20/100 · F |
Waterdale · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Waterdale's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 70.6°F
- Coldest month
- 29.2°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 Waterdale sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Waterdale's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 32nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 78%
- Waterdale's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 42nd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Waterdale compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Waterdale's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Waterdale's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 77 complete annual observations from 1903 to 2025, WATERDALE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.14°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Waterdale primary station fitted change +0.14 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F (6°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 0.5" | 5.1" | 30.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 45°F (7°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 0.6" | 7.2" | 26.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 54°F (12°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 1.2" | 6.3" | 24.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 60°F (15°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.9" | 4.7" | 15.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.0" | 0.7" | 3.2 | 0.5 |
| June | 80°F (27°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 1.7" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 5.8 |
| July | 87°F (30°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 1.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.1 |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 1.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.4 |
| September | 76°F (25°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.7" | 0.8" | 0.9 | 2.5 |
| October | 63°F (17°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.2" | 2.8" | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (11°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 0.8" | 6.0" | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 43°F (6°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 0.5" | 6.4" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 15, short of 90°F on every date, while 183 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 14°F near December 23.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 20, then returns to freezing around October 21, covering 183 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 May 17, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is January 1 at 11%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 76 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 33°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Waterdale.
Where Waterdale Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 183 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Daily temperature swings run wider than most of the country, peaking near 33°F between the normal high and low.
Waterdale 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: 5.1"
3.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.3"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.7"
7.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.7"
11.1 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.8"
5.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.0"
3.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.4"
3.5 days with precipitation
Waterdale spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 32% of the annual total and December through February 10%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Waterdale has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 41.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 3.0" and December 0.5". The three wettest months together take 41% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Waterdale's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 76 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 16.8" 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.
Winter brings real snow to Waterdale
Waterdale averages 40.0 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 17 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: 40.0 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 17 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 24% 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
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 12
50% probability date
Growing Season
142 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,522
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
439
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CO closest to Waterdale 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 (48°F here).
- Belle Plaine, IA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Broadus, MT 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Compton, IL 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Copake, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Lewistown, MT 16.8" · 0.0" off
- Chugwater, WY 16.8" · 0.0" off
- Minot, ND 16.7" · 0.1" off
- Cantwell, AK 16.8" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Waterdale
heating led · dry · mid swing
Waterdale's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,522 annual heating degree days against 439 for cooling. Its 41.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 142 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Waterdale coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 29°F (-2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Waterdale typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Waterdale snow peak
February
Waterdale averages 40.0 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Waterdale's climate
How much snow does Waterdale get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Waterdale get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Waterdale? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Waterdale's primary station: WATERDALE (USC00058839). 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 Waterdale; 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 Waterdale 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.