Climate and average weather in Big Spring

In Big Spring, the summers are sweltering, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cool and mostly clear.

Best: late February to early May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Big Spring typically varies from 34°F to 94°F, and is rarely below 23°F or above 101°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 Big Spring for warm-weather activities are from late February to early May and late September to late November.

Hottest
Jul
94°
Coldest
Jan
34°
Wettest
May
2.9 in
Driest
Jan
0.8 in
Rain / yr
18.6 in
64 wet days
Daylight
9.9–14.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2,441 ft
32.3°N
Clearest
Oct
32% cloud

Big Spring is city in Howard County, Texas, United States.

Density
581/km²
people per km²
Founded
1882

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

Big Spring 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 February to early May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.3 months, from May 11 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 85°F. The hottest month of the year in Big Spring is July, with an average high of 94°F and low of 72°F.

The cool season lasts 2.9 months, from November 24 to February 19, with daily high temperatures below 64°F. The coldest month of the year in Big Spring is January, with an average low of 34°F and high of 57°F.

Days typically run about 23°F warmer than nights year-round.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5734
Feb6237
Mar7045
Apr7853
May8662
Jun9269
Jul9472
Aug9271
Sep8664
Oct7754
Nov6643
Dec5835

How hot and cold Big Spring 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 hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Big Spring feels like about 94°F (around July 15). About 93 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 25°F (around January 9), with roughly 85 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan57572634
Feb62623037
Mar70703945
Apr78785253
May86866262
Jun92926969
Jul94947272
Aug93927171
Sep86866464
Oct77775354
Nov66663743
Dec58582735

Average hourly temperature in Big Spring

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 94°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 34°F.

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

Big Spring 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
Jan57° / 34°0.83.30.810.15.1
Feb62° / 37°1.140.510.86.3
Mar70° / 45°1.54.60.211.87.6
Apr78° / 53°1.54.80.112.87.9
May86° / 62°2.98.8013.65.4
Jun92° / 69°1.77.8014.13.6
Jul94° / 72°1.55.4013.93.2
Aug92° / 71°1.96.2013.23.7
Sep86° / 64°1.96.8012.25.7
Oct77° / 54°1.75.10.111.28.0
Nov66° / 43°1.13.50.410.37.3
Dec58° / 35°1.13.80.89.95.2

Chance of rain

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

Big Spring gets about 18.6 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 2.5 months, from around Apr 25 to Jul 10, peaking in May at about 32% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 10.

May is the wettest month by volume, with 2.9 in over about 9 wet days; January is the driest, with 0.8 in.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetMay 27 · 32%Jan 10 · 10%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan113
Feb144
Mar155
Apr165
May289
Jun268
Jul185
Aug206
Sep237
Oct165
Nov124
Dec124

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Big Spring collects about 18.6 in of rain across 64 wet days — roughly 1.6 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. May is the wettest month with 2.9 in, while January is the driest at just 0.8 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 36% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0.81.11.51.52.91.71.51.91.91.71.11.1
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan0.831
Feb1.141
Mar1.550
Apr1.550
May2.990
Jun1.780
Jul1.550
Aug1.960
Sep1.970
Oct1.750
Nov1.140
Dec1.141

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Big Spring, 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 May 27 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around October 31. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 1 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around April 11. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 36% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 20 · 81%Mar 9 · 62%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6733
Feb6436
Mar6535
Apr7327
May7228
Jun8020
Jul7921
Aug7822
Sep7525
Oct7624
Nov7030
Dec6733

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 9, brings about 14 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.17:525:58
Feb10.87:366:25
Mar11.87:036:48
Apr12.86:227:10
May13.65:537:32
Jun14.15:437:49
Jul13.95:547:49
Aug13.26:147:26
Sep12.26:346:46
Oct11.26:556:07
Nov10.37:225:41
Dec9.97:455:39

Sunny days

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

Big Spring averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 15 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.4 months, from around Sep 20 to Nov 30. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is February, down near 15 sunny days — about 22% fewer than the October peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantOct 320 daysFeb 2015 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb14Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr18Bright
May18Bright
Jun18Bright
Jul19Bright
Aug19Bright
Sep18Bright
Oct20Bright
Nov18Bright
Dec18Bright

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 Big Spring, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around May 19 to October 1. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 58% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 2 to May 18, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 7 · 100%Jun 28 · 35%muggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar963000
Apr8810200
May54261830
Jun152643150
Jul103143151
Aug93141190
Sep312532120
Oct7415920
Nov954100
Dec1000000

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Big Spring is typically light breeze, near 10 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.7 months, from around Feb 12 to Jul 4. The windiest month is April, averaging about 12 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 5 to Feb 11, with August the calmest month at about 8 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyApr 17 · 12 mphAug 31 · 8 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan10light breeze
Feb10light breeze
Mar11light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May11light breeze
Jun11light breeze
Jul9light breeze
Aug8light breeze
Sep9light breeze
Oct10light breeze
Nov10light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Best time to visit Big Spring

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late February, Big Spring is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

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 Big Spring for general outdoor tourist activities run from late February to early May and again from late September to late November, with a peak score in the third week of October.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationOct 21 · 8.2

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
Jan5.1fair
Feb6.3good
Mar7.6ideal
Apr7.9ideal
May5.4fair
Jun3.6fair
Jul3.2poor
Aug3.7fair
Sep5.7good
Oct7.9ideal
Nov7.3good
Dec5.2fair

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 Big Spring for hot-weather activities is from late March to late October, with a peak score in the last week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 28 · 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 Big Spring, 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 94°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 57°F), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Big Spring sees daytime highs around 94°F and nights near 72°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. About 5 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Big Spring 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 Big Spring peaks around July 12 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 12UV 11Dec 19UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5High
Mar6High
Apr10Very high
May10Extreme
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep9Very high
Oct6High
Nov5Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Big Spring

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 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 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)
Jan3.50
Feb50
Mar62
Apr85.5
May8.56
Jun96.5
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep74.5
Oct61.5
Nov4.50
Dec20
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Big Spring is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 12 to November 12 (246 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1290%Nov 1290%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan5831
Feb7228
Mar9111
Apr990
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov8718
Dec6231

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. Big Spring banks about 5,763 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb21
Mar234
Apr464
May743
Jun924
Jul1,029
Aug986
Sep753
Oct479
Nov131
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.

Big Spring receives about 5.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.1 and 7.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 15 to Sep 18. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.2 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.1 kWh/m² — roughly 56% less than the June peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 177.2 kWhDec 193.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.4Moderate
Feb4.3Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.7Intense
May6.9Intense
Jun7.2Intense
Jul7.1Intense
Aug6.5Intense
Sep5.5Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.5Moderate
Dec3.1Moderate

Where is Big Spring?

Big Spring sits at 32.3°N, 101.5°W, 2,441 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Midland, 39 mi away.

Topography around Big Spring

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Big Spring has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 417 ft around an average of 2,497 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 571 ft; within 50 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,247 ft.

The land around Big Spring is covered by artificial surfaces (38%), grassland (29%) and trees (20%) within 2 miles, grassland (51%) and cropland (28%) within 10 miles, and grassland (66%) and cropland (24%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
417 ft
10 miles
571 ft
50 miles
1,247 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Midland 39 mi · Odessa 59 mi · West Odessa 66 mi · San Angelo 82 mi · Lubbock 94 mi · Hobbs 101 mi · Abilene 103 mi · Plainview 134 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 Big Spring (32.2504°, -101.4787°, elevation 2,441 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).