How extreme does Fort Collins's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Fort Collins has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Ft Collins station. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Fort Collins has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

103°F Jul 21, 2005

That is about 16°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Fort Collins (typical high near 87°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 103°F Jul 21, 2005

2 102°F Jun 25, 2012

3 102°F Jul 12, 2024

❄️ Coldest night

-28°F Jan 18, 1984

About 46°F colder than a normal January night in Fort Collins (typical low near 18°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -28°F Jan 18, 1984

2 -24°F Dec 22, 1990

3 -22°F Dec 22, 1989

🌧️ Most rain in one day

4.63 in Jul 29, 1997

More rain in a single day than Fort Collins usually gets in the whole month of July (typical July total about 1.6 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 4.63 in Jul 29, 1997

2 4.43 in Jul 25, 1977

3 3.48 in Mar 6, 1990

⛄ Most snow in one day

21.1 in Nov 20, 1979

Close to a whole typical November's snow in one day (Fort Collins averages about 8 in across the month).

The three most extreme on record

1 21.1 in Nov 20, 1979

2 18.0 in Mar 18, 2003

3 17.5 in Oct 28, 2009

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Fort Collins's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 103°F is about 16°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Fort Collins's warmest days reach the high 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the high 10s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 103°F and as low as −28°F. A single day has delivered over 5 inches of rain or close to 21 inches of snow. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at FT Collins (NOAA GHCN station USC00053005), inside the city.

How we build these numbers →

← Fort Collins city detail