Average Weather at Hobbs Airport New Mexico, United States

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2. United States
3. New Mexico
4. Lea County
5. Hobbs Airport

At Hobbs Airport, the summers are long and hot; the winters are short, chilly, dry, and windy; and it is mostly clear year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 28°F to 94°F and is rarely below 17°F or above 102°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.9 months, from May 17 to September 13, with an average daily high temperature above 86°F. The hottest day of the year is June 30, with an average high of 94°F and low of 66°F.

The cold season lasts for 2.9 months, from November 22 to February 19, with an average daily high temperature below 63°F. The coldest day of the year is December 31, with an average low of 28°F and high of 55°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 Hobbs 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 Hobbs Airport begins around April 5 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around July 17. On June 10, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 21% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 17 and lasts for 8.6 months, ending around April 5. On February 23, 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 Hobbs Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 4.9 months, from May 10 to October 6, with a greater than 15% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 24% on September 3.

The drier season lasts 7.1 months, from October 6 to May 10. The smallest chance of a wet day is 5% on January 19.

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 24% on September 3.

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. Hobbs Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 7.5 months, from March 30 to November 16, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around September 13, with an average total accumulation of 1.8 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 4.5 months, from November 16 to March 30. The least rain falls around January 15, with an average total accumulation of 0.2 inches.

Snowfall

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

The length of the day at Hobbs Airport varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 60 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 18 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:44 AM on June 11, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 29 minutes later at 7:13 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 4:46 PM on December 4, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 18 minutes later at 8:04 PM on June 29.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Hobbs Airport 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.

Hobbs Airport experiences some seasonal variation in the perceived humidity.

The muggier period of the year lasts for 4.1 months, from May 31 to October 2, during which time the comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable at least 3% of the time. The muggiest day of the year is July 5, with muggy conditions 11% of the time.

The least muggy day of the year is February 13, when muggy conditions are essentially unheard of.

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 Hobbs Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.0 months, from February 1 to July 1, with average wind speeds of more than 5.7 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is April 10, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.6 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 7.0 months, from July 1 to February 1. The calmest day of the year is August 26, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.8 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at Hobbs Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the south for 6.6 months, from April 24 to November 12, with a peak percentage of 75% on July 22. The wind is most often from the west for 5.4 months, from November 12 to April 24, with a peak percentage of 41% 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 significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.9 months, from April 9 to August 7, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 7.0 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 11, with an average of 7.9 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 4.3 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 23, with an average of 3.3 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Hobbs Airport are 32.687 deg latitude, -103.217 deg longitude, and 3,648 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Hobbs Airport is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 85 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 3,645 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (344 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,604 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Hobbs Airport is covered by grassland (75%) and shrubs (25%), within 10 miles by grassland (58%) and shrubs (32%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (42%) and grassland (41%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Hobbs 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

Hobbs 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 Gaines County Airport; Winkler County Airport; Cavern City Air Terminal; Odessa, Odessa-Schlemeyer Field; Midland International Airport; Artesia Municipal Airport; Midland Airpark; and Pecos 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.