Best time to visit White Sands National Park
January, February and November are the best balance at White Sands: mild and dry for the park (average highs 57° to 67°F), with moderate crowds. March is busiest, with about 99,000 visitors. January is the quietest.
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Busy
- Very busy
- Few or no visits (may be closed)
- Best months
Month by month
- Station
- White Sands Natl Mon, NM USC00299686
- Lat / lon
- 32.78, -106.18
- Elevation
- 4,006 ft
- From park center
- 8.8 mi
- Second station
- Mtn Park, NM 6,804 ft
- Normals
- 1991–2020
- Visits
- 2023–2025
| Field | Janbest | Febbest | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Novbest | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High, °F | 57° | 63° | 71° | 79° | 88° | 97° | 97° | 95° | 89° | 79° | 67° | 57° | 78° |
| Low, °F | 22° | 27° | 33° | 41° | 50° | 60° | 65° | 64° | 56° | 42° | 29° | 22° | 43° |
| High at 6,804 ft, °F | 48° | 52° | 59° | 66° | 73° | 82° | 81° | 79° | 74° | 66° | 56° | 48° | 65° |
| Precipitation, in | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 9.8 |
| Snow, in | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Daylight, h:mm | 10:12 | 10:58 | 11:53 | 12:57 | 13:49 | 14:18 | 14:07 | 13:21 | 12:20 | 11:19 | 10:26 | 10:00 | |
| Visitors, thousands | 40 | 43 | 99 | 78 | 68 | 61 | 61 | 45 | 45 | 48 | 50 | 58 | 697 |
| Crowds | Moderate | Moderate | Very busy | Busy | Busy | Busy | Busy | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Busy | |
| Weather | Mild | Mild | Mild | Mild | Hot | Very hot | Very hot | Very hot | Hot | Mild, wet | Mild | Mild, wet |
| Month | High °F | Low °F | High at 6,804 ft | Precip., in | Snow, in | Daylight | Visitors | Crowds | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Januarybest | 57° | 22° | 48° | 0.5 | 0.8 | 10:12 | 40,000 | Moderate | Mild |
| Februarybest | 63° | 27° | 52° | 0.4 | 0 | 10:58 | 43,000 | Moderate | Mild |
| March | 71° | 33° | 59° | 0.2 | 0 | 11:53 | 99,000 | Very busy | Mild |
| April | 79° | 41° | 66° | 0.3 | 0 | 12:57 | 78,000 | Busy | Mild |
| May | 88° | 50° | 73° | 0.5 | 0 | 13:49 | 68,000 | Busy | Hot |
| June | 97° | 60° | 82° | 0.7 | 0 | 14:18 | 61,000 | Busy | Very hot |
| July | 97° | 65° | 81° | 1.6 | 0 | 14:07 | 61,000 | Busy | Very hot |
| August | 95° | 64° | 79° | 1.9 | 0 | 13:21 | 45,000 | Moderate | Very hot |
| September | 89° | 56° | 74° | 1.5 | 0 | 12:20 | 45,000 | Moderate | Hot |
| October | 79° | 42° | 66° | 1.1 | 0.1 | 11:19 | 48,000 | Moderate | Mild, wet |
| Novemberbest | 67° | 29° | 56° | 0.5 | 0 | 10:26 | 50,000 | Moderate | Mild |
| December | 57° | 22° | 48° | 0.7 | 0.7 | 10:00 | 58,000 | Busy | Mild, wet |
| Year | 78° | 43° | 65° | 9.8 | 1.6 | 697,000 | |||
Year: average high and low, total precipitation and snowfall, total visitors. T = trace (under 0.05 in). – = not measured at this station. Updated .
- Hottest June, average high 97°F
- Coldest nights December, average low 22°F
- Source NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information; National Park Service
- Visitors a year about 697,000 (2023–2025 average)
- State New Mexico
Elevation matters here: the record's second station, Mtn Park, NM, sits at 6,804 ft, against 4,006 ft for White Sands Natl Mon, NM. Expect conditions between the two depending on where you go.
Closures, reservations and alerts: White Sands National Park on nps.gov
Nearby
- Guadalupe Mountains National ParkBest: Feb, Apr and Nov · Texas
- Carlsbad Caverns National ParkBest: Jan, Feb and Nov · New Mexico
- Petroglyph National MonumentBest: Feb and Apr · New Mexico
- El Malpais National MonumentBest: Mar, Apr and May · New Mexico