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Highlands Ranch has a humid subtropical climate.
Hot, humid summers. Cool-to-cold winters. Rain in every month of the year — here's what that means in plain terms.
What this climate feels like
The four things a regular visitor actually wants to know:
Highs near 31°C in July. About 31 days a year above 32 °C.
Lows near −7°C in December. About 151 freezing nights a year.
About 382 mm of rain a year. Wettest in August.
A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.
What "humid subtropical" means
Climate scientists sort every place on Earth into about 30 climate types, based on how hot, cold, wet and dry it is across the year. Highlands Ranch's type — humid subtropical — sits in the broad family of mild, temperate climates. Despite the name, it does not mean tropical or frost-free: Highlands Ranch still has cool-to-cold winters.
Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:
Cities with the same climate as Highlands Ranch
A humid subtropical climate (Cfa) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.
Highlands Ranch sits near a climate boundary
This city sits right on the line between humid subtropical and the next type along. Different climate maps file it on different sides of that line; the lived weather doesn't change at the line — it's a naming boundary, not a wall.
Has Highlands Ranch's climate type changed?
A climate type is a coarse bucket. It can hold steady for years while the weather inside it shifts — or tip into the next bucket.
What this climate means for you
Warm-season grasses and broad-leaved evergreens thrive; gardens are productive but humidity brings fungal pressure. Frost is occasional, so tender perennials often overwinter.
Spring and autumn are pleasant; summer is hot and humid; winter is mild and a fine alternative to escaping cold further north.
Hot, sticky summers and mild winters — air conditioning runs hard from late spring to early autumn. Storm season needs preparation in coastal areas.
Where these numbers come from
The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Highlands Ranch's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Highlands Ranch's main climate page, so the two always agree.
Long-range climate maps measure things slightly differently and can place a city in a neighbouring category. Where they differ, this page uses the measured station record as the climate today.
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Denver Centennial AP (NOAA GHCN station USW00093067), about 10 km from the city centre.