El Paso Climate Records and Averages

The city of El Paso is located in the extreme west point of Texas at an elevation of about 3,700 feet. The climate of the region is characterized by an abundance of sunshine throughout the year, high daytime summer temperatures, very low humidity, little rainfall and a relatively mild winter season. The Franklin Mountains begin within the city limits and extend northward for about 16 miles. Peaks of these mountains range from 4,687 to 7,152 feet above sea level.

Rainfall throughout the year is light, insufficient for any growth except desert vegetation. Dry periods lasting several months are not unusual. Almost half of the precipitation occurs in the three–month period of July through September, with brief but often heavy thunderstorms. Small amounts of snow fall nearly every winter, but snow cover rarely amounts to more than an inch and seldom remains on the ground for more than a few hours.

Daytime summer temperatures are high, frequently above 90 degrees and occasionally above 100 degrees. Summer nights are usually comfortable with temperatures in the 60s. It should be noted that when temperatures are high the relative humidity is generally quite low. A 20–year tabulation of observations with temperatures above 90 degrees shows that in April, May, and June the humidity averaged from 10 to 14 percent, while in July, August, and September it averaged 22 to 24 percent.

Winter daytime temperatures are mild. At night they drop below freezing about half the time in December and January. The flat, irrigated land of the Rio Grande Valley in the vicinity of El Paso is noticeably cooler, particularly at night, than the airport or the city proper, both in summer and winter. This results in more comfortable temperatures in summer but increases the severity of freezes in winter. The cooler air in the Valley also causes marked short–period fluctuations of temperature and dew point at the airport with changes in wind direction, especially during the early morning hours.

	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	57.8	31.5	44.7	80	24/1970	-8	11/1962	50.3	1953	36.1	1949	0.0	0.3	17.0	0.0
February	63.2	35.7	49.4	83	20/1972	8	04/1956	57.5	1957	40.8	1964	0.0	0.1	10.0	0.0
March	70.1	41.7	55.9	89	11/1989	14	03/1971	61.2	1972	49.4	1969	0.0	0.0	4.0	0.0
April	78.8	49.7	64.3	98	22/1965	23	08/1983	69.9	2002	56.3	1983	1.9	0.0	0.5	0.0
May	87.6	58.6	73.1	105	22/2005	31	02/1967	80.1	1996	68.5	1987	13.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
June	96.0	67.1	81.5	114	30/1994	46	01/1988	88.9	1994	76.6	1973	26.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
July	95.2	70.2	82.7	112	10/1979	57	05/1979	88.0	1994	78.2	1976	26.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
August	93.0	68.6	80.8	108	02/1980	56	25/1973	86.2	1994	76.5	1968	24.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
September	87.9	62.4	75.1	104	01/1982	42	28/1973	79.1	1998	69.4	1974	13.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
October	78.7	50.7	64.7	96	02/1973	25	29/1970	70.7	1950	58.5	1976	1.6	0.0	0.3	0.0
November	66.2	38.5	52.3	87	02/1983	1	29/1976	56.8	1965	44.7	1976	0.0	0.0	7.0	0.0
December	57.9	31.8	44.9	80	02/1973	5	24/1953	50.0	1950	38.8	1960	0.0	0.1	17.3	0.0

Annual	77.7	50.5	64.1	114	1994/06/30	-8	1962/01/11	67.4	1994	61.3	1976	107.3	0.6	55.9	0.0

Winter	59.7	33.0	46.3	83	1972/02/20	-8	1962/01/11	50.9	1995	40.9	1964	0.0	0.6	44.2	0.0
Spring	78.9	50.0	64.4	105	2005/05/22	14	1971/03/03	69.0	2006	59.6	1973	15.2	0.0	4.5	0.0
Summer	94.7	68.6	81.7	114	1994/06/30	46	1988/06/01	87.7	1994	78.5	1973	77.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fall	77.6	50.5	64.0	104	1982/09/01	1	1976/11/29	67.1	2003	57.9	1976	15.0	0.0	7.3	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	0.41	1.84	1949	0.00	1953	0.76	19/2007	4	2	0	0	1.2	8.3	1949
February	0.45	1.92	2005	0.00	1954	0.99	20/2003	3	1	0	0	0.9	8.9	1956
March	0.28	2.26	1958	0.00	1950	0.82	01/1952	2	1	0	0	0.3	7.3	1958
April	0.20	1.42	1983	0.00	1950	0.98	24/1966	2	1	0	0	0.3	16.5	1983
May	0.34	4.22	1992	0.00	1948	1.26	17/1992	2	1	0	0	-	-	-
June	0.74	3.18	1984	0.00	1951	1.85	28/2009	3	2	0	0	-	-	-
July	1.58	5.53	1968	0.04	1978	1.77	26/2008	8	4	1	0	-	-	-
August	1.57	6.85	2006	0.00	1962	2.84	01/2006	8	3	1	0	-	-	-
September	1.42	6.68	1974	0.00	1953	2.26	22/1974	6	3	1	0	-	-	-
October	0.68	3.12	1984	0.00	1952	1.29	22/1949	4	2	0	0	0.0	1.0	1980
November	0.40	2.01	2004	0.00	1948	0.85	03/1986	3	1	0	0	1.1	12.7	1976
December	0.59	3.29	1991	0.00	1950	1.46	13/1987	4	2	0	0	1.9	25.9	1987

Annual	8.66	17.51	2006	4.21	2003	2.84	2006/08/01	49	22	4	1	5.8	32.7	1987

Winter	1.45	4.59	1992	0.00	1964	1.46	1987/12/13	11	5	0	0	3.9	32.5	1988
Spring	0.82	5.02	1992	0.00	2002	1.26	1992/05/17	6	2	0	0	0.7	16.5	1983
Summer	3.89	10.29	2006	0.87	1994	2.84	2006/08/01	19	9	2	1	-	-	-
Fall	2.50	9.08	1974	0.16	1973	2.26	1974/09/22	13	6	1	0	1.2	12.7	1976

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