Average Weather at Holloman Air Force Base New Mexico, United States

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2. United States
3. New Mexico
4. Holloman Air Force Base

At Holloman Air Force Base, the summers are hot; the winters are short, chilly, and dry; and it is mostly clear year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 29°F to 96°F and is rarely below 19°F or above 102°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.8 months, from May 19 to September 12, with an average daily high temperature above 87°F. The hottest day of the year is June 26, with an average high of 96°F and low of 67°F.

The cold season lasts for 2.9 months, from November 21 to February 17, with an average daily high temperature below 62°F. The coldest day of the year is January 6, with an average low of 29°F and high of 54°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Holloman Air Force Base, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Holloman Air Force Base begins around March 17 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around July 7. On June 8, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 19% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 7 and lasts for 8.3 months, ending around March 17. On July 30, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 39% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 61% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Holloman Air Force Base varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 2.8 months, from June 28 to September 21, with a greater than 19% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 34% on August 2.

The drier season lasts 9.2 months, from September 21 to June 28. The smallest chance of a wet day is 5% on April 12.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 34% on August 2.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Holloman Air Force Base experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.8 months, from June 3 to December 28, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 4, with an average total accumulation of 1.7 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.2 months, from December 28 to June 3. The least rain falls around March 31, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

The length of the day at Holloman Air Force Base varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 59 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 19 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:55 AM on June 11, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 30 minutes later at 7:25 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 4:57 PM on December 3, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 19 minutes later at 8:16 PM on June 29.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Holloman Air Force Base during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

We 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 perceived humidity level at Holloman Air Force Base, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 2% of 2% throughout.

This 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 at Holloman Air Force Base experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 4.4 months, from February 7 to June 20, with average wind speeds of more than 4.2 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is April 11, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 7.5 months, from June 20 to February 7. The calmest day of the year is August 15, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.1 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Holloman Air Force Base varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 5.1 months, from June 9 to November 11, with a peak percentage of 47% on July 28. The wind is most often from the west for 6.9 months, from November 11 to June 9, with a peak percentage of 30% on January 1.

This 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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.1 months, from April 11 to July 13, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.3 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 6, with an average of 8.4 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.0 months, from November 6 to February 5, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.4 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 20, with an average of 3.4 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Holloman Air Force Base are 32.853 deg latitude, -106.107 deg longitude, and 4,065 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Holloman Air Force Base is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 95 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4,068 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (581 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (8,015 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Holloman Air Force Base is covered by shrubs (96%), within 10 miles by shrubs (65%) and bare soil (35%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (72%) and trees (16%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Holloman Air Force Base, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Holloman Air Force Base has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back include but are not limited to Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport, Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, Las Cruces International Airport, El Paso International Airport, Truth or Consequences Municipal Airport, Artesia Municipal Airport, Deming Municipal Airport, and Cavern City Air Terminal.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.