Weather in Albuquerque in February

A good month. February works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Overnight lows average -1.2 °C, so mornings start frozen even when the afternoon comes right.

February ranks 7 of 12 in Albuquerque: past the worst of the year but short of April, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain falls on only 3 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. Mornings need gloves even when the forecast high looks civilised.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 19 nights fall below freezing. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 25.3 °C and the coldest night fell to -16.7 °C.

February is moderately variable: 0 mm in the driest year against 34 mm in the wettest, around an average of 12 mm. Roughly two Februarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 49%.

How February sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 2.9 °C warmer than January, and March adds another 5.2 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in February

10.9 hours of daylight, gaining 1 hours across the month. That is between Albuquerque's extremes of 14.5 and 9.8 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 37.3 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. At 1511 m, altitude is doing as much work here as latitude: thinner air means fierce sun by day and heat that leaves the moment it sets. Within February itself the daily swing is 14.6 °C, so mornings and afternoons need different clothes.

How busy it gets

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

February in Albuquerque versus nearby

If Albuquerque is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. El Paso is a better bet in February — 4 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Amarillo is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days.

So: February is a compromise. April is 23 points better and is what Albuquerque is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Albuquerque

See all twelve months in Albuquerque, or where else to go in February.