Wupatki National Monument, Arizona climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Wupatki National Monument's normal year runs from 25°F December nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 8.5 inches of precipitation and 3 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.6°C, December lows of −4°C, July highs of 35°C, 216 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWupatki National Monument
- Station IDUSC00029542
- Location35.52°N 111.37°W
- Elevation4,908 ft (1,496 m)
On October 14, the normal high in Wupatki National Monument is 73°F and the normal low 46°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 Wupatki National Monument.
- Jan 48° 26°
- Feb 55° 30°
- Mar 63° 36°
- Apr 71° 43°
- May 80° 52°
- Jun 92° 62°
- Jul 94° 67°
- Aug 91° 65°
- Sep 85° 58°
- Oct 73° 46°
- Nov 58° 34°
- Dec 46° 25°
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 Wupatki National Monument each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in July (1.59 in), the least in June (0.12 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 26°F | 36.8°F | 0.68 | 0.5 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 30°F | 42.3°F | 0.51 | 0.9 | 4 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 36°F | 49.8°F | 0.60 | 0.4 | 4 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 43°F | 56.7°F | 0.41 | 0.3 | 3 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 52°F | 65.7°F | 0.40 | 0.0 | 3 | 4 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 92°F | 62°F | 76.7°F | 0.12 | 0.0 | 1 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 94°F | 67°F | 80.8°F | 1.59 | 0.0 | 7 | 26 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 65°F | 78.2°F | 1.47 | 0.0 | 9 | 21 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 58°F | 71.2°F | 0.99 | 0.0 | 5 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 0.68 | 0.0 | 4 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 58°F | 34°F | 45.8°F | 0.48 | 0.4 | 3 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 46°F | 25°F | 35.5°F | 0.58 | 0.9 | 4 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 45°F | 58.2°F | 8.51 | 3.4 | 49 | 80 | 94 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 17 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 13°C | −1°C | 5.7°C | 13 mm | 2 cm |
| March | 17°C | 2°C | 9.9°C | 15 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 21°C | 6°C | 13.7°C | 10 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 27°C | 11°C | 18.7°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 33°C | 17°C | 24.8°C | 3 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 19°C | 27.1°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 18°C | 25.7°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 14°C | 21.8°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | 1°C | 7.7°C | 12 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 8°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 15 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00029542; 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 Wupatki National Monument?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00029542.
When is the last frost at Wupatki National Monument?
In Wupatki National Monument, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 3 in half of years and before October 19 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 71 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after March 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 31 year in 10 before October 19; 9 in 10 before November 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 206 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 238 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 17 in half of springs and before November 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wupatki National Monument in zone 6b in ZIP code 86004, 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 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (23 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 USC00029542; 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 Wupatki National Monument?
In a normal year in Wupatki National Monument, 80 days a year reach 90°F (13 of them 100°F or more), 94 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 49 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 80a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 13a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 94a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 49a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1940) is 109°F, on July 9, 2002; the lowest is −5°F, on December 24, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2015, with 13.84 in; the snowiest season is 1967–68, with 42.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00029542; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00029542. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Wupatki National Monument?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Wupatki National Monument, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (93%) and July the cloudiest (81%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.2 |
| February | 84% | 4.2 |
| March | 87% | 5.7 |
| April | 88% | 7.0 |
| May | 89% | 7.8 |
| June | 93% | 8.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.9 |
| August | 82% | 6.4 |
| September | 89% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 4.8 |
| November | 89% | 3.6 |
| December | 81% | 2.8 |
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 Wupatki National Monument record?
A normal year at Wupatki National Monument brings 4,053 heating degree days, 25% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,602 cooling degree days, 76% 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 4,416 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 874 | 0 |
| February | 636 | 0 |
| March | 473 | 0 |
| April | 261 | 12 |
| May | 89 | 109 |
| June | 6 | 357 |
| July | 0 | 488 |
| August | 1 | 410 |
| September | 18 | 203 |
| October | 207 | 22 |
| November | 576 | 0 |
| December | 913 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,053 | 1,602 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00029542. 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 Wupatki National Monument been warmer than normal?
2024 averaged 59.9°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.2°F. 1 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 58.0°F | −0.2°F | 10.30 | 3.0 |
| 2023 | 57.6°F | −0.6°F | 9.20 | – |
| 2024 | 59.9°F | +1.6°F | 10.33 | 1.2 |
Over 58 complete years from 1940 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00029542; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wupatki National Monument's climate compare?
Wupatki National Monument is warmer than 27 of the 97 places with their own NOAA record in Arizona, and wetter than 31. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.2°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wupatki National Monument 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 Wupatki National Monument's climate
What is the coldest month at Wupatki National Monument?
December, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow at Wupatki National Monument?
Yes: 3 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (0.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Wupatki National Monument?
July, with 1.59 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.12 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wupatki National Monument in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wupatki National Monument in zone 6b in ZIP code 86004, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 11°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Wupatki National Monument?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Arizona climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Sunset Crater National Monument, AZ14 miles from this station, 46.1°F a year
- Twin Arrows, AZ25 miles from this station, 55.3°F a year
- Walnut Canyon National Monument, AZ25 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Fort Valley, AZ27 miles from this station, 47.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made