Anchorage climate

Name: Anchorage
Address: US

Anchorage is warmest in July, with average highs of 18 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -11 °C. September is the wettest month (138 mm) and April the driest (40 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Anchorage averages 948 mm of rain, 2 days above 25 °C and 182 days below freezing.

United States · 31 m elevation · population 289,600 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month July 18 °C
Coldest month January -11 °C
Driest month April 40 mm
Wettest month September 138 mm
Least cloud March 61 % cloud
Hottest on record July 33 °C
Coldest on record February -33 °C
Warmest sea August 14 °C

What to expectAnchorage through the year

Anchorage has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -6.6 °C in January to 18 °C in July, a swing of 24 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 2 days a year reach 25 °C, 0 of them reach 30 °C, 182 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 33 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. September averages 138 mm against 40 mm in April — 3.4 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Anchorage is warmest in August at 14 °C and coldest in February at -0.8 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	-6.6 °C	66 mm	70 %
February	-3.6 °C	66 mm	70 %
March	-0.7 °C	50 mm	61 %
April	5.1 °C	40 mm	65 %
May	10.7 °C	41 mm	64 %
June	16.1 °C	56 mm	70 %
July	18.0 °C	93 mm	75 %
August	17.0 °C	118 mm	72 %
September	12.4 °C	138 mm	73 %
October	5.0 °C	105 mm	69 %
November	-2.4 °C	80 mm	69 %
December	-5.2 °C	93 mm	75 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	-6.6 °C	-11.0 °C	-9.0 °C	6.5 °C	-30.4 °C	0	30
February	-3.6 °C	-8.7 °C	-6.6 °C	6.4 °C	-32.9 °C	0	27
March	-0.7 °C	-7.3 °C	-4.5 °C	10.0 °C	-24.1 °C	0	29
April	5.1 °C	-1.9 °C	1.4 °C	14.3 °C	-16.9 °C	0	21
May	10.7 °C	2.9 °C	6.8 °C	23.3 °C	-5.4 °C	0	4
June	16.1 °C	8.9 °C	12.4 °C	30.8 °C	2.0 °C	0	0
July	18.0 °C	11.8 °C	14.8 °C	32.5 °C	6.4 °C	1	0
August	17.0 °C	10.9 °C	13.7 °C	28.0 °C	3.3 °C	1	0
September	12.4 °C	6.5 °C	9.2 °C	20.6 °C	-3.0 °C	0	1
October	5.0 °C	-0.2 °C	2.0 °C	15.4 °C	-17.7 °C	0	14
November	-2.4 °C	-6.9 °C	-4.9 °C	6.4 °C	-25.2 °C	0	27
December	-5.2 °C	-9.7 °C	-7.5 °C	7.9 °C	-27.4 °C	0	30

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	66 mm	12	6.4 h/day	70 %	82 %	9.3 km/h	-0.7 °C
February	66 mm	11	9.0 h/day	70 %	81 %	9.4 km/h	-0.8 °C
March	50 mm	10	12 h/day	61 %	76 %	9.7 km/h	-0.7 °C
April	40 mm	9	15 h/day	65 %	76 %	9.2 km/h	0.2 °C
May	41 mm	9	17 h/day	64 %	75 %	9.5 km/h	2.4 °C
June	56 mm	12	19 h/day	70 %	74 %	9.3 km/h	8.8 °C
July	93 mm	15	18 h/day	75 %	78 %	8.5 km/h	12.6 °C
August	118 mm	17	16 h/day	72 %	80 %	9.2 km/h	13.8 °C
September	138 mm	17	13 h/day	73 %	81 %	10 km/h	12.1 °C
October	105 mm	14	10 h/day	69 %	82 %	9.4 km/h	8.2 °C
November	80 mm	12	7.3 h/day	69 %	80 %	9.6 km/h	4.2 °C
December	93 mm	14	5.5 h/day	75 %	83 %	9.7 km/h	0.0 °C

Where Anchorage ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in North America in March	2ndof 50	-0.7 °C
The coolest places in North America in November	2ndof 50	-2.4 °C
The coolest places in North America in October	2ndof 50	5.0 °C
The coolest places in North America in September	2ndof 50	12 °C
The coolest places in North America year-round	2ndof 50	5.5 °C
The coolest places in North America in April	3rdof 50	5.1 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Anchorage.

QuestionsCommon questions about Anchorage’s climate

When is the best time to visit Anchorage?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and April the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Anchorage get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 18 °C. About 0 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 33 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -11 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 182 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Anchorage?

September, averaging 138 mm over 17 days with rain. The driest month is April with 40 mm. The year as a whole averages 948 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Anchorage rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.