Temperature by Elevation Across 6,861 U.S. Locations

Findings

Higher cities are colder, by a wide margin

Across the 6,861 station-mapped US location records in NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals, higher station elevation is strongly associated with lower average temperature.NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020 The contrast is stark at the extremes. The record labelled Climax, Colorado, has the highest primary-station elevation in the dataset at about 3,458 meters and averages 32.2°F a year, while Death Valley, California, sits 59 meters below sea level and averages 78.8°F. The physical context is the atmospheric lapse rate, the roughly 11 to 12°F drop in air temperature for every 1,000 meters of elevation gain.

Elevation is powerful, but not the whole story

Latitude and regional climate can offset altitude.NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020 Mauna Loa, Hawaii, stands at 3,407 meters, nearly as high as Climax, yet averages 46°F because it sits in the tropics, while Colorado's high stations at similar elevations run far colder. At the low end, the hottest places are deserts near or below sea level, California's Death Valley (78.8°F), Mecca (74.7°F), and Brawley (73.8°F), where dry, sinking air adds heat on top of the low elevation. Elevation sets a baseline that local geography then nudges up or down.

What this means for mountain cities

Mile-high cities feel the effect directly.NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020 Denver, Colorado, near 1,600 meters, averages about 51°F, several degrees cooler than lower cities at the same latitude, with a correspondingly shorter growing season and more winter heating demand. The practical takeaway is that two cities at the same latitude can have very different climates if one sits a kilometer higher, a difference that shows up in energy use, frost dates, and what will grow.

How to read these numbers

These figures come from NOAA's 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, 30-year averages computed for weather stations across the country and matched to the nearest city.NOAA, U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020 Elevations are station elevations in meters and average temperature is the annual mean of the daily normals. Because each city is represented by its nearest reporting station, very localized differences (a valley floor versus a nearby ridge) are not captured, and the link between elevation and temperature is a strong tendency rather than an exact formula, since latitude, proximity to water, and aridity all play a role. The data describes long-term climate normals, not current weather.