Wheat Ridge, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wheat Ridge's normal year runs from 17°F December nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 17.1 inches of precipitation and 76 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.2°C, December lows of −8°C, July highs of 31°C, 435 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWheat Ridge 2
- Station IDUSC00058995
- Location39.77°N 105.12°W
- Elevation5,398 ft (1,645 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population31,999
On October 23, the normal high in Wheat Ridge is 63°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wheat Ridge.
- Jan 47° 17°
- Feb 48° 18°
- Mar 57° 26°
- Apr 62° 33°
- May 71° 43°
- Jun 83° 51°
- Jul 88° 57°
- Aug 86° 55°
- Sep 79° 45°
- Oct 66° 34°
- Nov 55° 24°
- Dec 47° 17°
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 Wheat Ridge each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 17°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.65 in), the least in December (0.62 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 17°F | 32.2°F | 0.64 | 9.6 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 48°F | 18°F | 33.3°F | 0.78 | 11.9 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 57°F | 26°F | 41.2°F | 1.48 | 12.9 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 33°F | 47.5°F | 2.31 | 12.1 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 71°F | 43°F | 56.7°F | 2.65 | 2.2 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 51°F | 66.8°F | 1.67 | 0.0 | 8 | 8 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 88°F | 57°F | 72.5°F | 1.88 | 0.0 | 9 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 86°F | 55°F | 70.4°F | 1.60 | 0.0 | 8 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 79°F | 45°F | 62.1°F | 1.34 | 1.0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 34°F | 49.8°F | 1.22 | 5.9 | 6 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 55°F | 24°F | 39.4°F | 0.92 | 10.0 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 47°F | 17°F | 31.6°F | 0.62 | 9.9 | 5 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 35°F | 50.3°F | 17.11 | 75.5 | 87 | 39 | 168 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −8°C | 0.1°C | 16 mm | 24 cm |
| February | 9°C | −8°C | 0.7°C | 20 mm | 30 cm |
| March | 14°C | −3°C | 5.1°C | 38 mm | 33 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 8.6°C | 59 mm | 31 cm |
| May | 22°C | 6°C | 13.7°C | 67 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 28°C | 11°C | 19.3°C | 42 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 14°C | 22.5°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 13°C | 21.3°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 7°C | 16.7°C | 34 mm | 3 cm |
| October | 19°C | 1°C | 9.9°C | 31 mm | 15 cm |
| November | 13°C | −5°C | 4.1°C | 23 mm | 25 cm |
| December | 8°C | −8°C | −0.2°C | 16 mm | 25 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00058995; 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 Wheat Ridge?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00058995.
When is the last frost in Wheat Ridge?
In Wheat Ridge, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 5 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
- May 51 year in 10 after May 18; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 51 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 151 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 170 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wheat Ridge in zone 6a across its 2 ZIP code areas (6a in 80033, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wheat Ridge's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Colorado · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00058995; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Wheat Ridge ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Wheat Ridge's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 6a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Wheat Ridge?
In a normal year in Wheat Ridge, 39 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 168 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 168a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 17high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 21a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1981) is 105°F, on August 3, 2026; the lowest is −24°F, on December 22, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1987, with 25.00 in; the snowiest season is 1986–87, with 119.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00058995; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00058995. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wheat Ridge?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wheat Ridge, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. February is the sunniest month (82%) and May the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81% | 2.7 |
| February | 82% | 3.8 |
| March | 79% | 4.9 |
| April | 73% | 5.6 |
| May | 71% | 6.2 |
| June | 78% | 7.0 |
| July | 75% | 6.4 |
| August | 75% | 5.8 |
| September | 81% | 5.2 |
| October | 80% | 3.9 |
| November | 79% | 2.8 |
| December | 79% | 2.4 |
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 Wheat Ridge need?
A normal year in Wheat Ridge brings 5,926 heating degree days, 10% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 593 cooling degree days, 35% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,681 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,018 | 0 |
| February | 888 | 0 |
| March | 736 | 0 |
| April | 527 | 1 |
| May | 272 | 15 |
| June | 56 | 110 |
| July | 6 | 238 |
| August | 14 | 181 |
| September | 135 | 48 |
| October | 472 | 1 |
| November | 770 | 0 |
| December | 1,034 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,926 | 593 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00058995. 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 Wheat Ridge been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.9°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.3°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.6°F | +0.3°F | 15.78 | 70.2 |
| 2022 | 49.5°F | −0.8°F | 14.14 | 94.6 |
| 2023 | 49.6°F | −0.7°F | 19.88 | 49.3 |
| 2024 | 52.2°F | +1.9°F | 16.94 | 77.0 |
| 2025 | 51.9°F | +1.6°F | 16.27 | 50.2 |
Over 36 complete years from 1982 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.4°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00058995; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wheat Ridge's climate compare?
Wheat Ridge is warmer than 80 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 82. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.3°F is warmer than 42%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wheat Ridge is Dfa: continental, no dry season, hot 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 Wheat Ridge 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.
- Arvada, COalso near: Ralston Reservoir (5 mi, 51.5°F a year); Lakewood (6 mi, 50.4°F a year)121,873 people · 4 mi NW
- Berkley, CO10,838 people · 5 mi NE
- Fairmount, CO10,521 people · 3 mi NW
- Mountain View, CO521 people · 3 mi E
- Lakeside, CO15 people · 3 mi E
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 Wheat Ridge's climate
What is the coldest month in Wheat Ridge?
December, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 17°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Wheat Ridge?
Yes: 76 inches in a normal year, falling on 38 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (12.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wheat Ridge?
May, with 2.65 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.62 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wheat Ridge in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wheat Ridge in zone 6a across its 2 ZIP code areas (6a in 80033, the largest). By the same method at Wheat Ridge's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Wheat Ridge?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 18. Waiting until May 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lakewood, CO2 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Denver Water Dept, CO7 miles from this station, 53.3°F a year
- Ralston Reservoir, CO7 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Northglenn, CO10 miles from this station, 52.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made