Wray, Colorado climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wray's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 18.4 inches of precipitation and 28 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.7°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 33°C, 467 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWray
- Station IDUSC00059243
- Location40.08°N 102.21°W
- Elevation3,553 ft (1,083 m)
- Population2,363
On October 24, the normal high in Wray is 64°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 15%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wray.
- Jan 43° 16°
- Feb 46° 18°
- Mar 56° 26°
- Apr 64° 33°
- May 73° 45°
- Jun 85° 56°
- Jul 91° 61°
- Aug 88° 59°
- Sep 81° 49°
- Oct 67° 35°
- Nov 54° 24°
- Dec 44° 16°
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 Wray each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (3.43 in), the least in December (0.40 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 16°F | 29.3°F | 0.43 | 5.0 | 3 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 46°F | 18°F | 31.8°F | 0.59 | 6.2 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 56°F | 26°F | 41.0°F | 0.80 | 4.4 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 33°F | 48.7°F | 1.88 | 2.4 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 73°F | 45°F | 59.0°F | 2.88 | 0.3 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 85°F | 56°F | 70.2°F | 2.33 | 0.0 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 61°F | 75.9°F | 3.43 | 0.0 | 10 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 88°F | 59°F | 73.4°F | 2.47 | 0.0 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 81°F | 49°F | 64.8°F | 1.22 | 0.2 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 35°F | 51.2°F | 1.37 | 1.9 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 24°F | 39.1°F | 0.59 | 3.3 | 4 | <1 | 25 | 10 h |
| December | 44°F | 16°F | 30.0°F | 0.40 | 4.4 | 4 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 36°F | 51.2°F | 18.39 | 28.1 | 72 | 54 | 165 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −9°C | −1.5°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 8°C | −8°C | −0.1°C | 15 mm | 16 cm |
| March | 13°C | −4°C | 5.0°C | 20 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 18°C | 1°C | 9.3°C | 48 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 23°C | 7°C | 15.0°C | 73 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 29°C | 13°C | 21.2°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 16°C | 24.4°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 15°C | 23.0°C | 63 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 27°C | 9°C | 18.2°C | 31 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 20°C | 2°C | 10.7°C | 35 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 3.9°C | 15 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 7°C | −9°C | −1.1°C | 10 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00059243; 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 Wray?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00059243.
When is the last frost in Wray?
In Wray, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 7 in half of years and after May 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 6 in half of years and before September 25 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 71 year in 10 after May 19; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 16
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 151 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 167 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 29 in half of springs and before October 15 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wray in zone 5b in ZIP code 80758, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wray's NOAA station is in zone 5b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (25 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 USC00059243; 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 Wray?
In a normal year in Wray, 54 days a year reach 90°F (7 of them 100°F or more), 165 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 72 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 54a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 165a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 24high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 72a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 10a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 112°F, on July 11, 1954; the lowest is −33°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1962, with 28.46 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 70.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00059243; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00059243. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wray?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wray, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (88%) and February the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 2.4 |
| February | 75% | 3.2 |
| March | 77% | 4.5 |
| April | 75% | 5.6 |
| May | 77% | 6.4 |
| June | 85% | 7.4 |
| July | 88% | 7.2 |
| August | 87% | 6.3 |
| September | 86% | 5.2 |
| October | 80% | 3.7 |
| November | 80% | 2.7 |
| December | 77% | 2.1 |
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 Wray need?
A normal year in Wray brings 5,948 heating degree days, 11% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 949 cooling degree days, 5% more 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 3,192 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,105 | 0 |
| February | 931 | 0 |
| March | 744 | 0 |
| April | 491 | 2 |
| May | 226 | 40 |
| June | 34 | 190 |
| July | 4 | 342 |
| August | 9 | 271 |
| September | 107 | 99 |
| October | 435 | 6 |
| November | 777 | 0 |
| December | 1,086 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,948 | 949 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00059243. 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 Wray been warmer than normal lately?
Over 71 complete years from 1897 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°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 Wray's climate compare?
Wray is warmer than 93 of the other 124 places with their own NOAA record in Colorado, and wetter than 96. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.2°F is warmer than 46%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wray 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 Wray's climate
What is the coldest month in Wray?
January, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Wray?
Yes: 28 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (6.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Wray?
July, with 3.43 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is December with 0.40 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wray in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wray in zone 5b in ZIP code 80758, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wray's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −10°F (25 years, 1991-2020): zone 5b.
How late can frost come in Wray?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 7; in one year in ten it comes after May 19. Waiting until May 19 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Colorado climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Haigler, NE15 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Idalia, CO27 miles from this station, 50.5°F a year
- Yuma, CO27 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Bonny Dam (2 mi NE), CO30 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made