White Sands National Mon, New Mexico climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
White Sands National Mon's normal year runs from 22°F December nights to 97°F July afternoons, with 9.8 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.8°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 36°C, 249 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWhite Sands National Mon
- Station IDUSC00299686
- Location32.78°N 106.18°W
- Elevation4,006 ft (1,221 m)
On October 23, the normal high in White Sands National Mon is 77°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for White Sands National Mon.
- Jan 57° 22°
- Feb 63° 27°
- Mar 71° 33°
- Apr 79° 41°
- May 88° 50°
- Jun 97° 60°
- Jul 97° 65°
- Aug 95° 64°
- Sep 89° 56°
- Oct 79° 42°
- Nov 67° 29°
- Dec 57° 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 at White Sands National Mon each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 97°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in August (1.88 in), the least in March (0.24 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 22°F | 39.7°F | 0.50 | 0.8 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 63°F | 27°F | 44.9°F | 0.38 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 21 | 11 h |
| March | 71°F | 33°F | 52.2°F | 0.24 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 15 | 12 h |
| April | 79°F | 41°F | 59.9°F | 0.30 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 13 h |
| May | 88°F | 50°F | 69.2°F | 0.45 | 0.0 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 97°F | 60°F | 78.8°F | 0.72 | 0.0 | 3 | 28 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 97°F | 65°F | 81.2°F | 1.64 | 0.0 | 7 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 95°F | 64°F | 79.2°F | 1.88 | 0.0 | 7 | 27 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 89°F | 56°F | 72.5°F | 1.46 | 0.0 | 5 | 17 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 79°F | 42°F | 60.8°F | 1.05 | 0.1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 67°F | 29°F | 48.0°F | 0.45 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 57°F | 22°F | 39.4°F | 0.74 | 0.7 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 43°F | 60.5°F | 9.81 | 1.6 | 44 | 119 | 123 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | −5°C | 4.3°C | 13 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 17°C | −3°C | 7.2°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| March | 22°C | 1°C | 11.2°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 26°C | 5°C | 15.5°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 31°C | 10°C | 20.7°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 36°C | 16°C | 26.0°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 36°C | 19°C | 27.3°C | 42 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 35°C | 18°C | 26.2°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 32°C | 13°C | 22.5°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 26°C | 6°C | 16.0°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 19°C | −1°C | 8.9°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 14°C | −5°C | 4.1°C | 19 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00299686; 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.
Which months are mildest at White Sands National Mon?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00299686.
When is the last frost at White Sands National Mon?
In White Sands National Mon, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 22 in half of years and after May 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 10 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 221 year in 10 after May 5; 9 in 10 after April 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 10; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 183 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 204 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before October 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts White Sands National Mon in zone 8a in ZIP code 88330, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (16 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 New Mexico · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00299686; 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 at White Sands National Mon?
In a normal year in White Sands National Mon, 119 days a year reach 90°F (34 of them 100°F or more), 123 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 44 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 119a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 123a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 44a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1939) is 111°F, on June 22, 1981; the lowest is −25°F, on January 11, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2006, with 18.13 in; the snowiest season is 1987–88, with 20.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00299686; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00299686. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at White Sands National Mon?
Over a year 88% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at White Sands National Mon, 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (84%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 86% | 4.6 |
| March | 88% | 5.9 |
| April | 91% | 7.2 |
| May | 92% | 8.0 |
| June | 92% | 8.0 |
| July | 86% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 5.0 |
| November | 87% | 3.8 |
| December | 84% | 3.2 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does White Sands National Mon record?
A normal year at White Sands National Mon brings 3,443 heating degree days, 36% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,827 cooling degree days, 2.0 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,904 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 784 | 0 |
| February | 564 | 0 |
| March | 398 | 2 |
| April | 181 | 29 |
| May | 36 | 166 |
| June | 1 | 416 |
| July | 0 | 502 |
| August | 0 | 439 |
| September | 11 | 236 |
| October | 165 | 36 |
| November | 511 | 1 |
| December | 794 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,443 | 1,827 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00299686. 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.
Have recent years at White Sands National Mon been warmer than normal?
Over 53 complete years from 1949 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.9°F per century (+0.33°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does White Sands National Mon's climate compare?
White Sands National Mon is warmer than 80 of the 98 places with their own NOAA record in New Mexico, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.5°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, White Sands National Mon is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 White Sands National Mon share this climate record?
Holloman AFB 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.
- Holloman AFB, NM4,052 people · 6 mi NE
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 White Sands National Mon's climate
What is the coldest month at White Sands National Mon?
December, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (97°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow at White Sands National Mon?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month at White Sands National Mon?
August, with 1.88 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is March with 0.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is White Sands National Mon in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts White Sands National Mon in zone 8a in ZIP code 88330, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come at White Sands National Mon?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 22; in one year in ten it comes after May 5. Waiting until May 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- New Mexico climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Alamogordo, NM16 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Tularosa, NM22 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Mountain Park, NM24 miles from this station, 52.9°F a year
- Cloudcroft, NM28 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made