Denver, CO climate: monthly averages and frost dates
Denver, CO has cold winters and warm summers by this site's scale, with semi-arid annual precipitation. The figures are the 1991–2020 climate normals for NOAA station USW00003017 (DENVER INTL AP), 13 mi (21 km) in a straight line from the city's center point (US Census).
- Warmest month high
- 89.9°F
- July
- Coldest month mean
- 31.2°F
- December
- Precipitation
- 14.5 in
- per year
- Snowfall
- no data
- per year
- Median last frost
- May 5
- 32°F, spring
- Median first frost
- October 9
- 32°F, autumn
Monthly averages in Denver
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Mean °F | Precip. in | Snow in | Days ≥0.01 in | Days ≥90°F | Nights ≤32°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44.6 | 18.7 | 31.7 | 0.38 | – | 4.4 | 0.0 | 29.0 |
| February | 45.7 | 19.7 | 32.7 | 0.41 | – | 5.5 | 0.0 | 26.1 |
| March | 55.7 | 27.5 | 41.6 | 0.86 | – | 6.2 | 0.0 | 23.2 |
| April | 61.7 | 33.9 | 47.8 | 1.68 | – | 9.0 | 0.0 | 13.2 |
| May | 71.2 | 43.6 | 57.4 | 2.16 | – | 10.4 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| June | 83.4 | 53.0 | 68.2 | 1.94 | – | 8.1 | 8.6 | 0.0 |
| July | 89.9 | 60.2 | 75.1 | 2.14 | – | 8.3 | 18.8 | 0.0 |
| August | 87.5 | 58.3 | 72.9 | 1.58 | – | 7.5 | 13.8 | 0.0 |
| September | 79.6 | 50.0 | 64.8 | 1.35 | – | 6.0 | 4.2 | 0.7 |
| October | 65.3 | 37.0 | 51.1 | 0.99 | – | 5.3 | 0.0 | 9.2 |
| November | 52.9 | 26.0 | 39.4 | 0.64 | – | 4.6 | 0.0 | 22.7 |
| December | 44.0 | 18.4 | 31.2 | 0.35 | – | 4.4 | 0.0 | 29.2 |
| Year | 65.1 | 37.2 | 51.2 | 14.48 | – | 79.7 | 46.2 | 156.3 |
How cold is winter in Denver?
Winters in Denver are cold by this site's scale (coldest-month mean 20 to under 32°F). The coldest month is December, with a mean temperature of 31.2°F (−0.4°C), a normal daily high of 44.0°F (6.7°C) and a normal daily low of 18.4°F (−7.6°C).
The station averages 156.3 nights a year at or below 32°F and 22.3 days when the high stays at or below 32°F.
The normal daily low is at or below freezing in November to March.
How hot is summer in Denver?
Summers in Denver are warm by this site's scale (hottest-month high 80 to under 90°F). July has the highest normal daily high, 89.9°F (32.2°C), with nights averaging 60.2°F (15.7°C).
The high reaches 90°F or more on 46.2 days in a normal year.
What is the wettest month in Denver?
Denver gets 14.48 in (368 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 May with 2.16 in (55 mm); the driest is December with 0.35 in (9 mm).
Measurable precipitation (0.01 in or more) falls on 79.7 days a year.
Does it snow in Denver?
NOAA publishes no snowfall normal for station USW00003017, so this page gives no snow figures for Denver.
Which months are mild in Denver?
2 months in Denver meet 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): June and September.
Thresholds and their limits: methodology.
Frost dates and growing season in Denver
In Denver the median last spring night at or below 32°F is May 5, and the median first autumn one is October 9 (NOAA P50 dates). NOAA's median length of the freeze-free season is 156 days. NOAA takes that median over each year's own season, so it need not equal the 157 days between the two median dates.
There is still a 10% chance of a 32°F night on or after May 19, and a 10% chance that the first one has come by September 27.
The chance that the last spring 32°F night comes on or after April 23 is 90%.
For a hard freeze (28°F or lower) the median dates are April 25 in spring and October 18 in autumn.
| Chance | Last spring 32°F night on or after | First autumn 32°F night by | Freeze-free season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | May 19 | September 27 | 173 |
| 20% | May 15 | October 1 | 168 |
| 30% | May 11 | October 4 | 163 |
| 40% | May 8 | October 7 | 159 |
| 50% | May 5 | October 9 | 156 |
| 60% | May 3 | October 12 | 152 |
| 70% | April 30 | October 14 | 148 |
| 80% | April 28 | October 17 | 143 |
| 90% | April 23 | October 20 | 137 |
| Threshold | Median last date (spring) | Median first date (autumn or winter) | Median season, days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36°F | May 16 | October 1 | 136 |
| 32°F | May 5 | October 9 | 156 |
| 28°F | April 25 | October 18 | 174 |
| 24°F | April 15 | October 26 | 193 |
| 20°F | April 3 | November 4 | 212 |
| 16°F | March 21 | November 12 | 235 |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 68% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 19% | 99% | 100% | 100% |
Nearby and similar places
Of the places on this site, the closest to Denver by station distance are Albuquerque, NM at 348 mi (560 km), Salt Lake City, UT at 391 mi (629 km) and Billings, MT at 457 mi (736 km).
Among places whose winter, summer and precipitation words are each within one band of Denver's (winter: cold, summer: warm, precipitation: semi-arid), the closest monthly temperature and precipitation patterns are Billings, MT, Salt Lake City, UT and Albuquerque, NM.
Compared with Albuquerque, NM, Denver's peak-month normal high is 1.3°F (0.7°C) lower, its coldest-month mean is 5.7°F (3.2°C) lower, and its annual precipitation is 5.64 in more.
| Place | Listed as | Station distance | Coldest mean °F | Warmest high °F | Precip. in/yr | Snow in/yr | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver, CO | this page | – | 31.2 | 89.9 | 14.5 | – | May 5 |
| Albuquerque, NM | nearby, similar | 348 mi (560 km) | 36.9 | 91.2 | 8.8 | 7.9 | April 6 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | nearby, similar | 391 mi (629 km) | 31.4 | 94.0 | 15.5 | 51.9 | April 8 |
| Billings, MT | nearby, similar | 457 mi (736 km) | 27.0 | 87.3 | 14.3 | 57.4 | May 4 |
How nearby and similar places are chosen: methodology.
Source and station
The data for Denver come from NOAA station DENVER INTL AP, CO US (USW00003017) at 39.8328, -104.6575, elevation 5,414 ft (1650 m). It lies 13 mi (21 km) in a straight line from the center point of Denver city, the “internal point” in the US Census 2024 Gazetteer.
Each monthly normal used here rests on at least 22 years of data from 1991–2020 (NOAA's per-field year counts).
NOAA publishes no value for 2 of the monthly fields at this station; they are shown as “no data”.
NOAA completeness flags on the monthly fields used here:
- R: Representative: meets WMO standards for data availability for 10 or more years (missing months filled from surrounding stations).
- 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 USW00003017 (DENVER INTL AP, CO 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 USW00003017 (DENVER INTL AP, CO 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/co/denver/data.json.