El Paso sits on the Rio Grande at the far western tip of Texas, in the Chihuahuan Desert directly across the border from Ciudad Juárez, at around 1,140 metres above sea level and approximately 31.76°N, 106.49°W. It has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — hot summers, mild winters — with a pronounced summer monsoon and abundant sunshine.

Summer, from May to September, is hot and dry, with June the hottest month — average highs around 35–36°C, frequently exceeding 38°C — though the desert dryness makes the heat bearable and the nights cool. From July to September the North American monsoon brings afternoon thunderstorms, the only reliably wet part of the year, along with occasional flash flooding.

Winter, from December to February, is mild and sunny, with January the coolest month — average highs around 15–16°C and nights near 0°C, with frost frequent and occasional light snow that rarely lies. Days are bright and dry, with over 300 days of sunshine a year, and the large day-to-night swing is typical of the high desert.

El Paso is very dry, receiving only around 230–250 mm of rain a year, with a pronounced July-to-September maximum from the monsoon and very little the rest of the year; spring brings fierce dust storms across the arid basin. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

El Paso sits at the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, where the July-to-September monsoon delivers most of the sparse annual rainfall in dramatic bursts. Spring is its most disagreeable season, when strong winds whip dust and sand across the basin, sometimes reducing visibility to near zero.

To follow any single measurement in El Paso more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.