Climate and average weather in Aurora

In Aurora, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly clear.

Best: late August to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Aurora typically varies from 20°F to 88°F, and is rarely below 4°F or above 96°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Aurora for warm-weather activities are from early May to mid June and late August to late October.

Hottest
Jul
88°
Coldest
Jan
20°
Wettest
May
2.5 in
Driest
Feb
0.5 in
Rain / yr
15.1 in
70 wet days
Daylight
9.2–14.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
5,407 ft
39.7°N
Clearest
Oct
38% cloud

Aurora is city in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States.

Density
900/km²
people per km²
Founded
1891

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Aurora weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late August to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Aurora, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from June 1 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 77°F. The hottest month of the year in Aurora is July, with an average high of 88°F and low of 61°F.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 21 to March 2, with daily high temperatures below 51°F. The coldest month of the year in Aurora is January, with an average low of 20°F and high of 43°F.

Days typically run about 25°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4320
Feb4622
Mar5529
Apr6136
May7146
Jun8255
Jul8861
Aug8659
Sep7851
Oct6539
Nov5228
Dec4320

How hot and cold Aurora really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 10°F (around January 1), with roughly 184 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F) 75 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan43431120
Feb46461422
Mar55552229
Apr61613036
May71714246
Jun82825555
Jul88886161
Aug86865959
Sep78785051
Oct65653439
Nov52522128
Dec43431220

Average hourly temperature in Aurora

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 88°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 20°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Aurora weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan43° / 20°0.53.83.99.50.6
Feb46° / 22°0.53.8410.41.5
Mar55° / 29°1.45.83.911.74.0
Apr61° / 36°2.18.13.4135.4
May71° / 46°2.59.30.714.26.7
Jun82° / 55°1.67.6014.86.4
Jul88° / 61°1.57.5014.54.8
Aug86° / 59°1.46.4013.65.7
Sep78° / 51°1.14.80.412.37.8
Oct65° / 39°1.25.11.810.96.8
Nov52° / 28°0.84.449.83.4
Dec43° / 20°0.53.33.69.20.5

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Aurora gets about 15.1 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.0 months, from around Mar 20 to Aug 17, peaking in May at about 33% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 15.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 2.5 in over about 9 wet days; February is the driest, with 0.5 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetMay 25 · 33%Jan 15 · 11%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan124
Feb144
Mar196
Apr268
May309
Jun268
Jul258
Aug206
Sep165
Oct155
Nov154
Dec123

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Aurora collects about 15.1 in of rain across 70 wet days — roughly 1.3 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 2.5 in, while February is the driest at just 0.5 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 41% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.53JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0.50.51.42.12.51.61.51.41.11.20.80.5
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan0.544
Feb0.544
Mar1.464
Apr2.183
May2.591
Jun1.680
Jul1.580
Aug1.460
Sep1.150
Oct1.252
Nov0.844
Dec0.534

Snow in Aurora

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Aurora averages about 26 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 21 to May 21 — about 8 months.

March is snowiest, with roughly 4 days of snow and an estimated 11 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 51 in of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonMar 31
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan45
Feb45
Mar411
Apr310
May12
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep01
Oct23
Nov48
Dec46

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Aurora, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around June 14 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around January 17. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 74% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around January 18 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around June 13. The cloudiest month is April, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 46% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 16 · 75%Apr 18 · 53%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6634
Feb6139
Mar6040
Apr5446
May5545
Jun6634
Jul7030
Aug7030
Sep7426
Oct7228
Nov7030
Dec7030

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 11, brings about 14 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.57:244:53
Feb10.47:015:27
Mar11.76:195:59
Apr13.05:286:31
May14.24:507:01
Jun14.84:367:23
Jul14.54:487:22
Aug13.65:166:51
Sep12.35:466:01
Oct10.96:165:12
Nov9.86:514:38
Dec9.27:194:32

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Aurora averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.7 months, from around Aug 13 to Feb 1. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is May, down near 9 sunny days — about 50% fewer than the October peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantOct 1318 daysMay 199 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb13Mixed
Mar13Mixed
Apr10Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun12Mixed
Jul13Mixed
Aug14Mixed
Sep17Bright
Oct18Bright
Nov17Bright
Dec17Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Aurora, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun9730
Jul84141
Aug9091
Sep9910
Oct10000
Nov10000
Dec10000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Aurora is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 14 · 7 mphAug 4 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Aurora

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Aurora throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid October, Aurora is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Aurora for general outdoor tourist activities run from early May to mid June and again from late August to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 24 · 8.1

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.5poor
Feb1.5poor
Mar3.9fair
Apr5.4fair
May6.7good
Jun6.4good
Jul4.9fair
Aug5.7good
Sep7.7ideal
Oct6.8good
Nov3.4poor
Dec0.6poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Aurora for hot-weather activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 8.0

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Aurora, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 88°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 43°F), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Aurora sees daytime highs around 88°F and nights near 61°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Aurora by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Aurora peaks around July 13 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 23 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 13UV 11Dec 23UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar7High
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep7Very high
Oct5High
Nov4Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Aurora

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb3.50
Mar62.5
Apr6.52
May7.54
Jun96.5
Jul96.5
Aug85.5
Sep6.53.5
Oct50
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in Aurora by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Aurora is worst in August — around 21 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.6× the cleanest month (May, 13 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateAug 1620 µg/m³May 1113 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan17Moderate
Feb15Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr13Moderate
May13Moderate
Jun14Moderate
Jul14Moderate
Aug21Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct15Moderate
Nov15Moderate
Dec16Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Aurora typically lasts about 217 days, from around March 30 to November 1 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 4 to October 9.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonJan 2710%Mar 3050%May 490%Oct 990%Nov 150%Dec 1010%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan931
Feb1428
Mar3731
Apr7030
May973
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct7923
Nov3130
Dec1031

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Aurora banks about 2,797 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr9
May250
Jun554
Jul758
Aug699
Sep441
Oct86
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Aurora receives about 5.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.4 and 7.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.4 months, from around Mar 14 to Sep 23. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.4 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.5 kWh/m² — roughly 66% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 297.5 kWhDec 172.4 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.8Moderate
Feb3.9Moderate
Mar5.2Bright
Apr6.2Intense
May6.8Intense
Jun7.4Intense
Jul7.3Intense
Aug6.6Intense
Sep5.5Bright
Oct4.1Bright
Nov3.0Moderate
Dec2.5Moderate

Where is Aurora?

Aurora sits at 39.7°N, 104.8°W, 5,407 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Commerce City, 7.5 mi away.

Topography around Aurora

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Aurora.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Aurora has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 302 ft around an average of 5,430 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 951 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 9,688 ft.

The land around Aurora is covered by artificial surfaces (69%) within 2 miles, artificial surfaces (44%) and grassland (34%) within 10 miles, and grassland (50%) and trees (26%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
302 ft
10 miles
951 ft
50 miles
9,688 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Commerce City 7.5 mi · Denver 8.1 mi · Greenwood Village 9.9 mi · Englewood 9.9 mi · Centennial 11 mi · Castlewood 11 mi · Sherrelwood 12 mi · Southglenn 12 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Aurora (39.7294°, -104.8319°, elevation 5,407 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).