Climate by Place

Anchorage, AK climate: monthly averages and frost dates

Anchorage, AK has very cold winters and cool summers by this site's scale, with semi-arid annual precipitation. The figures are the 1991–2020 climate normals for NOAA station USW00026451 (ANCHORAGE INTL AP), 25 mi (40 km) in a straight line from the city's center point (US Census).

Warmest month high
66.2°F
July
Coldest month mean
16.9°F
January
Precipitation
16.4 in
per year
Snowfall
77.9 in
per year
Median last frost
May 5
32°F, spring
Median first frost
October 1
32°F, autumn

Monthly averages in Anchorage

Anchorage, AK: normal high, low and precipitation by month Normal daily high and low by month and monthly precipitation for Anchorage, AK. Highs peak in July at 66.2°F; the wettest month is September at 3.10 in. 0°F 20°F 40°F 60°F 80°F 32°F 23 27 33 45 56 63 66 64 56 42 29 25 11 15 19 30 40 48 53 51 43 31 18 14 4 in 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.7 1.0 1.8 2.9 3.1 1.8 1.2 1.2 J F M A M J J A S O N D Normal daily high Normal daily low Precipitation (in)
NOAA 1991–2020 monthly normals, station USW00026451. “–” means NOAA publishes no value.
MonthHigh °FLow °FMean °FPrecip. inSnow inDays ≥0.01 inDays ≥90°FNights ≤32°F
January 22.711.016.90.7512.4 8.10.030.3
February 27.315.221.30.8613.4 7.90.027.2
March 33.018.625.80.6911.0 6.00.029.4
April 45.129.937.50.434.0 4.90.018.8
May 56.340.048.10.650.3 6.50.02.7
June 63.448.455.91.020.0 8.60.00.0
July 66.252.959.61.820.0 11.70.00.0
August 64.050.957.52.930.0 14.40.00.0
September 55.742.949.33.100.4 14.90.02.5
October 42.030.736.31.825.6 11.50.017.6
November 28.918.323.61.1912.6 9.80.027.2
December 25.013.819.41.1618.2 10.80.030.6
Year 44.131.137.616.4277.9 115.10.0186.2

How cold is winter in Anchorage?

Winters in Anchorage are very cold by this site's scale (coldest-month mean below 20°F). The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 16.9°F (−8.4°C), a normal daily high of 22.7°F (−5.2°C) and a normal daily low of 11.0°F (−11.7°C).

The station averages 186.2 nights a year at or below 32°F and 104.3 days when the high stays at or below 32°F.

The normal daily low is at or below freezing in October to April.

How hot is summer in Anchorage?

Summers in Anchorage are cool by this site's scale (hottest-month high below 70°F). July has the highest normal daily high, 66.2°F (19.0°C), with nights averaging 52.9°F (11.6°C).

A 90°F day is rare: the normal count rounds to 0.0 a year.

What is the wettest month in Anchorage?

Anchorage gets 16.42 in (417 mm) of precipitation in a normal year, which this site classes as semi-arid (10 to under 20 in a year). The wettest month is September with 3.10 in (79 mm); the driest is April with 0.43 in (11 mm).

Measurable precipitation (0.01 in or more) falls on 115.1 days a year.

Does it snow in Anchorage?

Normal annual snowfall in Anchorage is 77.9 in (198 cm), which this site classes as very heavy (72 in or more a year).

December is the snowiest month, with 18.2 in (46 cm).

A day with 1.0 in or more of snowfall comes 21.8 times a year on average.

Which months are mild in Anchorage?

1 month in Anchorage meets this site's comfort thresholds (normal high 65–85°F, low 45°F or higher, fewer than 10 days with 0.10 in or more of precipitation): July.

August misses by one threshold only (normal high 64.0°F, below the 65°F limit).

Thresholds and their limits: methodology.

Frost dates and growing season in Anchorage

In Anchorage the median last spring night at or below 32°F is May 5, and the median first autumn one is October 1 (NOAA P50 dates). NOAA's median length of the freeze-free season is 147 days. NOAA takes that median over each year's own season, so it need not equal the 149 days between the two median dates.

There is still a 10% chance of a 32°F night on or after May 15, and a 10% chance that the first one has come by September 18.

The chance that the last spring 32°F night comes on or after April 24 is 90%.

For a hard freeze (28°F or lower) the median dates are April 22 in spring and October 10 in autumn.

32°F frost dates by probability (NOAA PRBLST, PRBFST, PRBGSL). The 50% row is the median. Season lengths are NOAA’s own percentiles of each year’s season, so they need not equal the gap between the two dates in the same row.
ChanceLast spring 32°F night on or afterFirst autumn 32°F night byFreeze-free season, days
10%May 15September 18165
20%May 12September 23159
30%May 9September 26155
40%May 7September 28151
50%May 5October 1147
60%May 3October 3144
70%May 1October 6141
80%April 29October 9137
90%April 24October 14131
Median (P50) dates at each temperature threshold NOAA publishes.
ThresholdMedian last date (spring)Median first date (autumn or winter)Median season, days
36°F May 17September 21126
32°F May 5October 1147
28°F April 22October 10171
24°F April 10October 19191
20°F April 4October 27205
16°F March 31November 2216
Chance of at least one night at or below 32°F in the month (NOAA MLY-TMIN-PRBOCC-LSTH032).
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
100%100%100%100%70%0%0%0%50%100%100%100%

Nearby and similar places

Of the places on this site, the closest to Anchorage by station distance are Seattle, WA at 1,446 mi (2,327 km), Portland, OR at 1,539 mi (2,478 km) and Spokane, WA at 1,581 mi (2,545 km).

No other place on this site has winter, summer and precipitation words each within one band of Anchorage's (winter: very cold, summer: cool, precipitation: semi-arid), so none is listed as similar.

Compared with Seattle, WA, Anchorage's peak-month normal high is 11.4°F (6.3°C) lower, its coldest-month mean is 25.1°F (13.9°C) lower, and its annual precipitation is 22.92 in less.

PlaceListed asStation distanceColdest mean °FWarmest high °FPrecip. in/yrSnow in/yrLast frost
Anchorage, AKthis page–16.966.216.477.9May 5
Seattle, WAnearby1,446 mi (2,327 km)42.077.639.36.3March 2
Portland, ORnearby1,539 mi (2,478 km)41.682.336.94.2March 13
Spokane, WAnearby1,581 mi (2,545 km)29.184.416.445.4April 26

How nearby and similar places are chosen: methodology.

Source and station

The data for Anchorage come from NOAA station ANCHORAGE INTL AP, AK US (USW00026451) at 61.1689, -150.0278, elevation 120 ft (37 m). It lies 25 mi (40 km) in a straight line from the center point of Anchorage municipality, the “internal point” in the US Census 2024 Gazetteer.

Each monthly normal used here rests on at least 27 years of data from 1991–2020 (NOAA's per-field year counts).

Location note: Anchorage municipality covers a very large area; the Census internal point is not downtown, so station_distance_km overstates the distance from the city centre.

NOAA completeness flags on the monthly fields used here:

  • S: Standard: meets WMO standards for data availability for 24 or more years.

Cite the data as:

Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00026451 (ANCHORAGE INTL AP, AK US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/wck8-er13. Accessed 2026-10-09.

Palecki, Michael; Durre, Imke; Applequist, Scott; Arguez, Anthony; Lawrimore, Jay (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020). Station USW00026451 (ANCHORAGE INTL AP, AK US). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/4ek7-fk11. Accessed 2026-10-09.

Files used: monthly normals CSV, annual/seasonal normals CSV (retrieved 2026-10-09). The values on this page as JSON: /us/ak/anchorage/data.json.