Climate and average weather in Nogales

In Nogales, the summers are sweltering, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: early March to mid May

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nogales typically varies from 37°F to 92°F, and is rarely below 28°F or above 100°F. June is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Jun
92°
Coldest
Dec
37°
Wettest
Jul
3.7 in
Driest
May
0.2 in
Rain / yr
17.0 in
67 wet days
Daylight
10.0–14.0 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
3,832 ft
31.3°N
Clearest
Jun
22% cloud

Nogales is city in and county seat of Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States, on the Mexican border.

Density
375/km²
people per km²
Founded
1893

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

Nogales 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 early March to mid May.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.2 months, from May 20 to September 24, with daily high temperatures above 85°F. The hottest month of the year in Nogales is June, with an average high of 92°F and low of 65°F.

The cool season lasts 3.4 months, from November 25 to March 6, with daily high temperatures below 66°F. The coldest month of the year in Nogales is December, with an average low of 37°F and high of 61°F.

Days typically run about 25°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 28°F) in May.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan6137
Feb6339
Mar6943
Apr7648
May8456
Jun9265
Jul9069
Aug8767
Sep8563
Oct7954
Nov6944
Dec6137

How hot and cold Nogales 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, Nogales feels like about 94°F (around June 22). About 43 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in June.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 32°F (around December 22), with roughly 12 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in December.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan61613337
Feb63633539
Mar69693943
Apr76764648
May84845656
Jun92926565
Jul90906969
Aug87876767
Sep85856363
Oct79795454
Nov69694144
Dec61613337

Average hourly temperature in Nogales

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 June afternoons, near 92°F, and coldest before dawn in December, near 37°F.

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

Nogales 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
Jan61° / 37°1.440.410.26.2
Feb63° / 39°1.54.50.510.96.6
Mar69° / 43°0.93.40.311.87.8
Apr76° / 48°0.31.60.212.78.8
May84° / 56°0.21.1013.67.3
Jun92° / 65°0.42.40144.2
Jul90° / 69°3.715.1013.83.6
Aug87° / 67°3.616.4013.14.1
Sep85° / 63°1.97.7012.25.7
Oct79° / 54°0.93011.28.3
Nov69° / 44°0.92.8010.48.0
Dec61° / 37°1.44.60.5106.0

Chance of rain

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

Nogales gets about 17.0 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 2.9 months, from around Jun 27 to Sep 21, peaking in July at about 55% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 30.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 3.7 in over about 15 wet days; May is the driest, with 0.2 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 30 · 55%Apr 30 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan134
Feb165
Mar113
Apr52
May41
Jun102
Jul4615
Aug5216
Sep278
Oct103
Nov103
Dec155

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nogales collects about 17.0 in of rain across 67 wet days — roughly 1.4 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 3.7 in, while May is the driest at just 0.2 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 54% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.544.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.41.50.90.30.20.43.73.61.90.90.91.4
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan1.440
Feb1.551
Mar0.930
Apr0.320
May0.210
Jun0.420
Jul3.7150
Aug3.6160
Sep1.980
Oct0.930
Nov0.930
Dec1.451

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around March 19 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around June 30. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 88% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around July 1 and lasts for 2.1 months, ending around September 3. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 39% 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 10 · 91%Jul 22 · 55%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7129
Feb6832
Mar7525
Apr8317
May8713
Jun8812
Jul6139
Aug6733
Sep8416
Oct8713
Nov7723
Dec7129

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 7, brings about 14 hours of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 hours — a swing of roughly 4 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.27:285:38
Feb10.97:126:04
Mar11.86:416:26
Apr12.76:016:47
May13.65:327:08
Jun14.05:237:25
Jul13.85:347:25
Aug13.15:537:02
Sep12.26:126:24
Oct11.26:325:45
Nov10.46:585:20
Dec10.07:215:19

Sunny days

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

Nogales averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.4 months, from around Mar 16 to Jun 27. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 22 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is July, down near 10 sunny days — about 53% fewer than the June peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJun 1224 daysJul 238 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan18Bright
Feb15Bright
Mar19Bright
Apr22Bright
May23Bright
Jun22Bright
Jul11Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep20Bright
Oct23Bright
Nov20Bright
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 Nogales, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.0 months, from around June 27 to September 25. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 69% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 26 to June 26, and May 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 19 · 100%Aug 10 · 29%muggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May100000
Jun89641
Jul28213218
Aug11204424
Sep4722246
Oct93610
Nov100000
Dec100000

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 Nogales is typically calm, near 6 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Jan 30 to Jun 28. The windiest month is May, averaging about 7 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 29 to Dec 13, with August the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezeMay 1 · 7 mphAug 8 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun6calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Nogales

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid March, Nogales 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 Nogales for general outdoor tourist activities run from early March to mid May and again from early October to late November, with a peak score in the third week of April.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 16 · 9.0

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
Jan6.2good
Feb6.6good
Mar7.8ideal
Apr8.8ideal
May7.2good
Jun4.3fair
Jul3.6fair
Aug4.1fair
Sep5.8good
Oct8.3ideal
Nov8.0ideal
Dec6.1good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Nogales for hot-weather activities run from mid April to late June and again from mid September to late October, with a peak score in the third week of May.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMay 15 · 9.0

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 Nogales, 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 June (highs near 92°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 61°F), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In June, Nogales sees daytime highs around 92°F and nights near 65°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Nogales 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 Nogales peaks around June 21 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 4 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 21UV 12Dec 19UV 4
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5High
Mar7High
Apr10Very high
May10Very high
Jun12Extreme
Jul12Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep10Very high
Oct7Very high
Nov5High
Dec4Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Nogales

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 June 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)
Jan40
Feb50
Mar6.53
Apr7.55
May85.5
Jun96.5
Jul96.5
Aug8.56
Sep7.55
Oct63
Nov4.50
Dec30
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Nogales is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about February 22 to November 29 (281 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeFeb 2290%Nov 2990%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan8131
Feb8825
Mar970
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov964
Dec8131

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. Nogales banks about 5,251 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
Feb34
Mar183
Apr359
May624
Jun854
Jul904
Aug836
Sep730
Oct514
Nov203
Dec9

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.

Nogales receives about 5.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.5 and 8.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 10 to Sep 14. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.5 kWh/m² — roughly 57% less than the June peak.

012345678910JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 28.4 kWhDec 163.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.8Moderate
Feb4.7Bright
Mar6.3Intense
Apr7.6Intense
May8.3Intense
Jun8.2Intense
Jul6.7Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep5.9Bright
Oct5.3Bright
Nov4.1Bright
Dec3.5Moderate

Where is Nogales?

Nogales sits at 31.3°N, 110.9°W, 3,832 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Nogales, 2.5 mi away.

Topography around Nogales

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Nogales has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 869 ft around an average of 3,980 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,297 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 7,484 ft.

The land around Nogales is covered by shrubs (50%) and artificial surfaces (37%) within 2 miles, shrubs (69%) and grassland (21%) within 10 miles, and shrubs (79%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
869 ft
10 miles
2,297 ft
50 miles
7,484 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Nogales 2.5 mi · Rio Rico 9.3 mi · Green Valley 35 mi · Sierra Vista 40 mi · Sahuarita 43 mi · Cananea 45 mi · Magdalena de Kino 49 mi · Vail 50 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 Nogales (31.3404°, -110.9343°, elevation 3,832 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).