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

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2. United States
3. New Mexico
4. Curry County
5. Cannon Air Force Base

At Cannon Air Force Base, the summers are hot; the winters are chilly, dry, and windy; and it is mostly clear year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 27°F to 91°F and is rarely below 16°F or above 99°F.

The hot season lasts for 3.8 months, from May 20 to September 15, with an average daily high temperature above 83°F. The hottest day of the year is July 3, with an average high of 91°F and low of 65°F.

The cold season lasts for 2.9 months, from November 22 to February 20, with an average daily high temperature below 59°F. The coldest day of the year is January 3, with an average low of 27°F and high of 51°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 Cannon 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 Cannon Air Force Base begins around August 30 and lasts for 2.1 months, ending around November 4. On October 4, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 78% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 22% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 4 and lasts for 9.8 months, ending around August 30. On February 10, 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.

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

The wetter season lasts 4.5 months, from May 13 to September 27, with a greater than 18% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 32% on August 12.

The drier season lasts 7.5 months, from September 27 to May 13. The smallest chance of a wet day is 5% on January 11.

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 Cannon Air Force Base changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 12 months, from January 11 to January 3. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 32% on August 12.

Snow alone is the most common for 1.1 weeks, from January 3 to January 11. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 2% on January 6.

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. Cannon Air Force Base experiences some seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.0 months, from March 15 to November 14, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 12, with an average total accumulation of 2.1 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 4.0 months, from November 14 to March 15. The least rain falls around January 20, with an average total accumulation of 0.1 inches.

Snowfall

The sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent quantity of snowfall at Cannon Air Force Base 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 Cannon Air Force Base varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 9 hours, 51 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 14 hours, 27 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:40 AM on June 12, and the latest sunrise is 1 hour, 36 minutes later at 7:16 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 4:42 PM on December 4, and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 27 minutes later at 8:09 PM on June 28.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Cannon 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 Cannon 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 4% of 4% 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 Cannon Air Force Base experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.6 months, from January 11 to June 28, with average wind speeds of more than 5.8 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is April 1, with an average hourly wind speed of 6.8 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.5 months, from June 28 to January 11. The calmest day of the year is August 12, with an average hourly wind speed of 4.8 miles per hour.

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

The wind is most often from the south for 5.9 months, from April 25 to October 23, with a peak percentage of 73% on July 21. The wind is most often from the west for 6.1 months, from October 23 to April 25, with a peak percentage of 47% 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 3.8 months, from April 11 to August 4, 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 8.0 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.0 months, from November 5 to February 6, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 4.1 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 23, with an average of 3.1 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Cannon Air Force Base are 34.392 deg latitude, -103.321 deg longitude, and 4,301 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Cannon Air Force Base is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 95 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4,299 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (495 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,506 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Cannon Air Force Base is covered by grassland (63%), cropland (22%), and shrubs (15%), within 10 miles by grassland (51%) and cropland (40%), and within 50 miles by grassland (67%) and cropland (27%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Cannon 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

Cannon 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 are Clovis Municipal Airport, Tucumcari Municipal Airport, Hereford Municipal Airport, Reese Air Force Base / Lubbock, Roswell Industrial Air Center Airport, and Hale County 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.