February Weather in Ranchos de Taos United StatesDaily high temperatures increase by 7°F, from 42°F to 49°F, rarely falling below 31°F or exceeding 59°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 7°F, from 16°F to 23°F, rarely falling below 4°F or exceeding 32°F. For reference, on July 3, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Ranchos de Taos typically range from 51°F to 83°F, while on January 7, the coldest day of the year, they range from 13°F to 39°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on February. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Hacıbektaş, Turkey (6,656 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Ranchos de Taos (view comparison). CloudsThe month of February in Ranchos de Taos experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 36% throughout the month. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 36% on February 10. The clearest day of the month is February 21, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 65% of the time. For reference, on August 3, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 38%, while on September 29, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 80%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Ranchos de Taos, the chance of a wet day over the course of February is increasing, starting the month at 9% and ending it at 13%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 40% on July 31, and its lowest chance is 8% on January 10. Over the course of February in Ranchos de Taos, the chance of a day with only rain increases from 3% to 6%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain increases from 2% to 5%, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 3% throughout. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during February in Ranchos de Taos is essentially constant, remaining about 0.3 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 0.8 inches. SnowfallAs with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day snowfall during February in Ranchos de Taos is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 2.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 6.5 inches or falls below 0.2 inches, and ending the month at 2.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.3 inches. SunOver the course of February in Ranchos de Taos, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 59 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 2 minutes, 7 seconds, and weekly increase of 14 minutes, 47 seconds. The shortest day of the month is February 1, with 10 hours, 24 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 29, with 11 hours, 23 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Ranchos de Taos is 7:03 AM on February 1 and the earliest sunrise is 31 minutes earlier at 6:33 AM on February 29. The earliest sunset is 5:28 PM on February 1 and the latest sunset is 28 minutes later at 5:56 PM on February 29. Daylight saving time is observed in Ranchos de Taos during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during February, so the entire month is in daylight saving time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:44 AM and sets 14 hours, 39 minutes later, at 8:23 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:10 AM and sets 9 hours, 41 minutes later, at 4:51 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for February 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Ranchos de Taos is essentially constant during February, remaining around 0% throughout. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Ranchos de Taos is gradually increasing during February, increasing from 7.2 miles per hour to 8.0 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on April 10, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.0 miles per hour, while on August 2, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.1 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Ranchos de Taos throughout February is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 64% on February 23. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Ranchos de Taos typically lasts for 4.4 months (136 days), from around May 18 to around September 30, rarely starting before April 30 or after June 6, and rarely ending before September 13 or after October 17. The month of February in Ranchos de Taos is reliably fully outside of the growing season. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Ranchos de Taos are essentially constant during February, remaining within 4°F of 5°F throughout. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Ranchos de Taos is increasing during February, rising by 1.1 kWh, from 3.8 kWh to 5.0 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Ranchos de Taos are 36.359 deg latitude, -105.609 deg longitude, and 6,913 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Ranchos de Taos contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 705 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 6,969 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (4,728 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (7,710 feet). The area within 2 miles of Ranchos de Taos is covered by shrubs (57%), cropland (25%), and grassland (13%), within 10 miles by trees (54%) and shrubs (40%), and within 50 miles by trees (51%) and shrubs (36%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Ranchos de Taos, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 4 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Ranchos de Taos. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Ranchos de Taos according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Ranchos de Taos is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Ranchos de Taos and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Ranchos de Taos and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |