Albuquerque Climate Records and Averages

The Albuquerque metropolitan area is largely situated in the Rio Grande Valley and on the mesas and piedmont slopes which rise either side of the valley floor. The Rio Grande flows from north to south through the area. The Sandia and Manzano Mountains rise abruptly at the eastern edge of the city with Tijeras Canyon separating the two ranges. West of the city the land gradually rises to the Continental Divide, some 90 miles away.

The climate of Albuquerque is considered arid continental with abundant sunshine, low humidity, scant precipitation, and a wide yet tolerable seasonal range of temperatures. Sunny days and low humidity are renowned features of the climate. More than 75% of the daylight hours have sunshine, even in the winter months.

Small amounts of precipitation fall in the winter, much of it as snow. Snowfalls of an inch or more occur about four times a year in the Rio Grande Valley, while the mountains receive substantial snowfall more often. Snow seldom remains on the ground more than 24 hours in the city, however snow cover on the east slopes of the Sandias is sufficient for skiing during most winters.

Nearly half of the annual precipitation in Albuquerque results from afternoon and evening thunderstorms during the summer. Thunderstorm frequency increases rapidly around July 1st, peaks during August, then tapers off by the end of September. Thunderstorms are usually brief, sometimes produce heavy rainfall, and often noticeably lower afternoon temperatures.

Temperatures in Albuquerque are those characteristic of a dry, high altitude, continental climate. The average daily range of temperature is relatively high, but extreme temperatures are rare. High temperatures during the winter are near 50 degrees with only a few days on which the temperature fails to rise above the freezing mark. During the summer, daytime highs are about 90 degrees, but with the large daily range, the nights usually are comfortably cool.

	Monthly Averages			Daily Extremes				Monthly Extremes				Max. Temp.		Min. Temp.
Temperatures in F	Max.	Min.	Avg	High	Date of daily extreme high	Low	Date of daily extreme low	Highest Avg	Year	Lowest Avg	Year	# Days >= 90 F	# Days <= 32 F	# Days <= 32 F	# Days <= 0 F
January	47.2	23.5	35.3	69	31/1971	-17	07/1971	43.5	2003	26.4	1937	0.0	1.7	27.8	0.2
February	53.2	27.8	40.5	76	25/1986	-12	09/1933	49.2	1995	29.1	1964	0.0	0.5	20.9	0.1
March	60.7	33.1	46.9	85	26/1971	6	02/1922	53.6	1972	40.9	1948	0.0	0.1	14.5	0.0
April	70.0	40.9	55.4	89	23/1921	18	02/1936	62.8	1954	48.7	1933	0.0	0.0	3.6	0.0
May	79.4	50.2	64.8	98	27/1951	28	01/1967	71.5	1996	58.0	1935	2.2	0.0	0.2	0.0
June	89.4	59.4	74.4	107	26/1994	37	01/1919	80.3	1994	69.3	1965	16.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
July	91.7	64.7	78.2	105	14/1979	50	05/1921	83.8	2003	74.1	1921	21.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
August	88.8	63.0	76.0	101	01/1934	50	28/1992	79.8	1995	71.7	1928	15.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
September	82.3	56.2	69.2	100	05/1979	35	30/1928	74.4	1998	64.7	2006	3.6	0.0	0.0	0.0
October	71.0	44.1	57.5	91	05/1979	3	04/1947	65.8	1950	51.5	1984	0.0	0.0	1.6	0.0
November	57.0	31.6	44.3	77	06/1975	-7	29/1976	50.8	1995	37.8	1929	0.0	0.2	16.1	0.0
December	47.6	24.5	36.0	72	04/1958	-8	25/1924	42.3	1950	29.9	1924	0.0	1.5	27.4	0.1

Annual	69.9	43.3	56.6	107	1994/06/26	-17	1971/01/07	59.5	1954	53.8	1930	59.4	3.9	112.0	0.3

Winter	49.3	25.3	37.3	76	1986/02/25	-17	1971/01/07	43.1	1995	31.3	1964	0.0	3.7	76.0	0.3
Spring	70.0	41.4	55.7	98	1951/05/27	6	1922/03/02	61.0	1989	51.7	1933	2.2	0.1	18.2	0.0
Summer	90.0	62.4	76.2	107	1994/06/26	37	1919/06/01	80.3	1994	72.2	1921	53.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fall	70.1	43.9	57.0	100	1979/09/05	-7	1976/11/29	60.9	1954	53.1	1930	3.7	0.2	17.7	0.0

												Total Snowfall
	Avg.	High	Year	Low	Year	1 Day Max.		>= 0.01 in.	>= 0.10 in.	>= 0.50 in.	>= 1.00 in.	Mean	High	Year
	in.	in.	-	in.	-	in.	dd/yyyy or yyyymmdd	# Days	# Days	# Days	# Days	in.	in.	-
January	0.37	2.16	1916	0.00	1919	0.87	25/1962	4	1	0	0	2.2	9.5	1973
February	0.40	1.82	1993	0.00	1925	0.90	23/2004	4	2	0	0	1.9	10.3	1986
March	0.51	2.34	1998	0.00	1916	1.45	15/1998	4	2	0	0	1.5	13.9	1973
April	0.54	3.00	2004	0.00	1921	1.92	03/2004	3	2	0	0	0.5	8.1	1973
May	0.62	3.56	1929	0.00	1916	1.15	12/1929	4	2	0	0	0.0	2.0	1935
June	0.62	3.81	1933	0.00	1923	1.91	17/1933	4	2	0	0	0.0	0.0	1932
July	1.43	4.45	1930	0.08	1980	1.82	13/1930	9	4	1	0	0.0	0.0	1932
August	1.47	3.74	1935	0.00	1962	1.75	14/1980	9	4	1	0	0.0	0.0	1931
September	0.96	3.31	1929	0.00	1957	1.92	24/1955	6	3	0	0	0.0	0.0	1931
October	0.89	3.08	1972	0.00	1917	1.74	22/1969	5	2	0	0	0.1	3.2	1986
November	0.45	1.93	1991	0.00	1916	1.41	15/1991	3	1	0	0	1.0	9.2	1940
December	0.47	2.43	1914	0.00	1916	0.81	29/1958	4	2	0	0	2.4	20.8	2006

Annual	8.72	15.88	1941	3.29	1917	1.92	1955/09/24	58	25	4	1	9.6	34.3	1973

Winter	1.24	3.92	1993	0.12	1947	0.90	2004/02/23	11	4	0	0	6.5	27.7	2007
Spring	1.67	5.27	1941	0.04	1996	1.92	2004/04/03	12	5	1	0	2.1	22.0	1973
Summer	3.52	8.43	2006	0.99	1917	1.91	1933/06/17	21	9	2	0	0.0	0.0	1932
Fall	2.30	5.61	1929	0.39	1956	1.92	1955/09/24	14	6	1	0	1.1	9.2	1940

Winter = Dec, Jan, and Feb		Spring = Mar, Apr, and May
Summer = Jun, Jul, and Aug.		Fall = Sep, Oct, and Nov