Pool season · New Mexico
Santa Fe Pool Season: the Year on One Bar
Last updated: July 25, 2026 · dates · water temp
This is the one-page view of Santa Fe's pool year: both model windows, the estimated water-temperature curve, and today's live position on the season bar. The detailed checklists live on the opening and closing guides; this page is the calendar you check between them.
Santa Fe, NM — 99 swim days a yearReading it takes ten seconds: 52 dots, one per week. Solid teal is Santa Fe's swim season; the hollow teal run before it (May 6 to May 27) is when to open; the hollow amber run after is when to close, with September 29 as the deadline; gray is the covered season. Today's marker shows where you stand in that cycle right now.
The Santa Fe pool calendar
Opening — target May 13
Open by May 13 — a two-week head start on the May 27 crossing keeps startup chemistry small and beats the local service rush.
Closing — deadline September 29
The window opens September 19 once water leaves the algae zone; the model deadline is September 29, a week ahead of the October 6 freeze normal.
Estimated water temperature by month
Monthly averages of the site's water model run on Santa Fe's own normals — the shape of a typical year, not a forecast. The widget above shows where the current year actually sits.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30° | 32° | 38° | 45° | 53° | 63° | 70° | 70° | 66° | 57° | 44° | 33° |
The curve peaks near 70°F — comfortable-water months here usually involve a heater or a solar cover.
Every station tells its own story: compare this curve with Rio Rancho's pool season and Albuquerque's — neighboring normals stations can shift the windows by a week or more. The full ranking lives on the New Mexico season index.
Santa Fe pool season FAQ
When should I open my pool in Santa Fe, NM?
Target May 13. That date backs off two weeks from the day Santa Fe's 7-day mean temperature reaches 61°F, so you start up in cold, algae-resistant water. Work the full checklist in the Santa Fe opening guide.
When should I close my pool in Santa Fe?
The closing deadline is September 29 — late enough that the water has cooled out of the algae zone, early enough to beat Santa Fe's first-freeze normal by about a week. See the Santa Fe closing guide for the winterizing steps.
How long is the swim season in Santa Fe?
Santa Fe averages 99 days a year with normal highs of 80°F or better — about 21 days later than the New Mexico median. The New Mexico season index ranks all 4 covered cities by the same metric.
How warm does pool water get in Santa Fe?
An unheated pool near Santa Fe typically peaks around 70°F in high summer and bottoms out near 29°F in winter, never quite reaching the 78°F comfort line without a heater or solar cover. The month-by-month curve above shows the whole cycle; the methodology page explains the ±5°F error bars.
Email me when Santa Fe hits the closing window
Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Santa Fe 2 (3.0 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.