Willcox, Arizona climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Willcox's normal year runs from 28°F December nights to 96°F July afternoons, with 12.4 inches of precipitation and 2 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.8°C, December lows of −2°C, July highs of 36°C, 315 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWillcox
- Station IDUSC00029334
- Location32.26°N 109.84°W
- Elevation4,170 ft (1,271 m)
- Population3,217
On October 23, the normal high in Willcox is 80°F and the normal low 42°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Willcox.
- Jan 61° 28°
- Feb 65° 32°
- Mar 72° 36°
- Apr 79° 42°
- May 87° 50°
- Jun 97° 59°
- Jul 96° 66°
- Aug 94° 65°
- Sep 90° 57°
- Oct 82° 45°
- Nov 71° 34°
- Dec 60° 28°
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 Willcox each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 96°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in July (2.62 in), the least in April (0.22 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61°F | 28°F | 44.9°F | 1.02 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 65°F | 32°F | 48.4°F | 0.93 | 0.6 | 5 | <1 | 17 | 11 h |
| March | 72°F | 36°F | 54.1°F | 0.66 | 0.1 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 12 h |
| April | 79°F | 42°F | 60.2°F | 0.22 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 87°F | 50°F | 68.4°F | 0.34 | 0.0 | 2 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 97°F | 59°F | 77.7°F | 0.45 | 0.0 | 3 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 96°F | 66°F | 80.8°F | 2.62 | 0.0 | 10 | 28 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 94°F | 65°F | 79.1°F | 2.48 | 0.0 | 11 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 90°F | 57°F | 73.8°F | 1.21 | 0.0 | 6 | 19 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 82°F | 45°F | 63.3°F | 0.68 | 0.0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 71°F | 34°F | 52.4°F | 0.70 | 0.2 | 3 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 60°F | 28°F | 44.2°F | 1.09 | 0.2 | 5 | <1 | 24 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 45°F | 62.3°F | 12.40 | 1.7 | 59 | 119 | 93 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | −2°C | 7.2°C | 26 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 18°C | 0°C | 9.1°C | 24 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 22°C | 2°C | 12.3°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 26°C | 5°C | 15.7°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 31°C | 10°C | 20.2°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 36°C | 15°C | 25.4°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 36°C | 19°C | 27.1°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 18°C | 26.2°C | 63 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 32°C | 14°C | 23.2°C | 31 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 28°C | 7°C | 17.4°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 21°C | 1°C | 11.3°C | 18 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 16°C | −2°C | 6.8°C | 28 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00029334; 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 Willcox?
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 USC00029334.
When is the last frost in Willcox?
In Willcox, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 9 in half of years and after April 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 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 91 year in 10 after April 29; 9 in 10 after March 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 204 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 237 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 16 in half of springs and before November 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Willcox in zone 8b in ZIP code 85643, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Willcox's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (28 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 Arizona · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00029334; 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 Willcox?
In a normal year in Willcox, 119 days a year reach 90°F (26 of them 100°F or more), 93 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 59 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 119a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 26a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 93a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 59a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 112°F, on June 20, 2016; the lowest is −7°F, on December 8, 1978.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1905, with 23.52 in; the snowiest season is 1967–68, with 22.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00029334; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00029334. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Willcox?
Over a year 89% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Willcox, 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (94%) and February the cloudiest (85%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.6 |
| February | 85% | 4.5 |
| March | 89% | 6.0 |
| April | 92% | 7.4 |
| May | 94% | 8.2 |
| June | 94% | 8.2 |
| July | 86% | 7.1 |
| August | 87% | 6.6 |
| September | 88% | 5.9 |
| October | 92% | 5.1 |
| November | 89% | 3.9 |
| December | 86% | 3.3 |
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 Willcox need?
A normal year in Willcox brings 2,758 heating degree days, 49% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,787 cooling degree days, 97% more than 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 5,044 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 625 | 0 |
| February | 466 | 0 |
| March | 340 | 1 |
| April | 164 | 19 |
| May | 35 | 142 |
| June | 1 | 382 |
| July | 0 | 490 |
| August | 0 | 437 |
| September | 3 | 269 |
| October | 100 | 48 |
| November | 379 | 1 |
| December | 645 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,758 | 1,787 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00029334. 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 Willcox been warmer than normal lately?
Over 61 complete years from 1904 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.4°F per century (+0.24°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 Willcox's climate compare?
Willcox is warmer than 36 of the other 96 places with their own NOAA record in Arizona, and wetter than 52. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.3°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Willcox 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.
Questions about Willcox's climate
What is the coldest month in Willcox?
December, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (96°F by day, 66°F at night).
Does it snow in Willcox?
Yes: 2 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Willcox?
July, with 2.62 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is April with 0.22 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Willcox in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Willcox in zone 8b in ZIP code 85643, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Willcox's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Willcox?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 9; in one year in ten it comes after April 29. Waiting until April 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arizona climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bowie, AZ21 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Pearce - Sunsites, AZ22 miles from this station, 61.5°F a year
- Cascabel, AZ30 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Chiricahua National Monument, AZ33 miles from this station, 59.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made