Average Weather at Santa Fe Municipal Airport New Mexico, United States

At Santa Fe Municipal Airport, the summers are warm, the winters are chilly and dry, and it is mostly clear year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 21°F to 88°F and is rarely below 10°F or above 94°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.7 months, from May 25 to September 16, with an average daily high temperature above 78°F. The hottest day of the year is July 4, with an average high of 88°F and low of 58°F.

The cold season lasts for 3.0 months, from November 21 to February 20, with an average daily high temperature below 51°F. The coldest day of the year is January 4, with an average low of 21°F and high of 42°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.

Average Hourly Temperature

The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands: frigid < 15°F < freezing < 32°F < chilly < 45°F < cold < 55°F < cool < 65°F < comfortable < 75°F < warm < 85°F < hot < 95°F < sweltering. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

Clouds

At Santa Fe Municipal Airport, 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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport begins around May 16 and lasts for 1.7 months, ending around July 8. On June 12, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 20% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 8 and lasts for 10 months, ending around May 16. On February 15, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 38% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 62% of the time.

Cloud Cover

The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds: clear < 20% < mostly clear < 40% < partly cloudy < 60% < mostly cloudy < 80% < overcast.

Precipitation

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Santa Fe Municipal Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 2.1 months, from July 4 to September 8, with a greater than 22% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 37% on August 2.

The drier season lasts 9.9 months, from September 8 to July 4. The smallest chance of a wet day is 7% on February 6.

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 at Santa Fe Municipal Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 10 months, from January 28 to December 13. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 37% on August 2.

Snow alone is the most common for 1.0 months, from December 28 to January 28. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 4% on January 6.

Mixed snow and rain is the most common for 2.1 weeks, from December 13 to December 28. The highest chance of a day with mixed snow and rain is 4% on December 23.

Daily Chance of Precipitation

The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

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. Santa Fe Municipal Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 7.3 months, from April 7 to November 17, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 1, with an average total accumulation of 1.8 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 4.7 months, from November 17 to April 7. The least rain falls around January 16, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

Average Monthly Rainfall

The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average liquid-equivalent snowfall.

Snowfall

The sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent quantity of snowfall at Santa Fe Municipal Airport does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 0.1 inches of 0.1 inches throughout.

Average Liquid-Equivalent Monthly Snowfall

The average liquid-equivalent snowfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average rainfall.

Sun

The length of the day at Santa Fe Municipal Airport varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 45 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 34 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight

The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:48 AM on June 13, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 41 minutes later at 7:29 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 4:50 PM on December 5, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 33 minutes later at 8:24 PM on June 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Santa Fe Municipal Airport during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time

The solar day over the course of the year 2017. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The transitions to and from daylight saving time are indicated by the 'DST' labels.

Humidity

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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport, 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, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout.

Humidity Comfort Levels

The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point: dry < 55°F < comfortable < 60°F < humid < 65°F < muggy < 70°F < oppressive < 75°F < miserable.

Wind

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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 6.0 months, from December 21 to June 22, with average wind speeds of more than 4.1 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is April 11, with an average hourly wind speed of 5.3 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.0 months, from June 22 to December 21. The calmest day of the year is August 14, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.1 miles per hour.

Average Wind Speed

The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Santa Fe Municipal Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 3.9 weeks, from July 12 to August 8, with a peak percentage of 35% on July 21. The wind is most often from the west for 11 months, from August 8 to July 12, with a peak percentage of 47% on January 1.

Wind Direction

The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions (north, east, south, and west), excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Solar Energy

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 2.8 months, from April 22 to July 15, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.3 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 10, with an average of 8.4 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.2 months, from November 4 to February 9, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.2 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 23, with an average of 3.1 kWh.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy

The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

Topography

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Santa Fe Municipal Airport are 35.617 deg latitude, -106.089 deg longitude, and 6,299 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Santa Fe Municipal Airport contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 279 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 6,268 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (2,041 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (8,104 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Santa Fe Municipal Airport is covered by shrubs (73%) and grassland (26%), within 10 miles by shrubs (76%) and grassland (21%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (50%) and trees (37%).

Data Sources

This report illustrates the typical weather at Santa Fe Municipal Airport, 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

Santa Fe Municipal Airport 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 Los Alamos County Airport, Clines Corners, Albuquerque International Airport, Double Eagle II Airport, Taos Regional Airport, Las Vegas Municipal Airport, Angel Fire Airport, and Socorro Municipal Airport.

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.