Pine Springs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in northern

Culberson County, Texas Culberson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,188. The county seat is Van Horn. Culberson County was founded in 1911 and organized the next year. It is named for David B. Culbers ...

, United States. It is the closest settlement to the headquarters of

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Guadalupe Mountains National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains, east of El Paso, Texas. The mountain range includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at , and El Capitan used as a landmark by travelers on the ...

, which contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Pine Springs is located on U.S. Routes 62 and

180 __NOTOC__ Year 180 ( CLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Condianus (or, less frequently, year 933 '' Ab ...

. The last population read 51 residents.Pine Springs at Lonestar.net
/ref>

Climate

Overview

Pine Springs experiences a semi-arid climate with hot summers and cool winters. Pine Springs is located at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains, at a higher elevation than most of the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

. As a result, Pine Springs is substantially cooler and receives more precipitation than the vast majority of the desert. Due to Pine Springs' elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Most precipitation falls in the summer and early fall, as thunderstorms sweep across the desert. Bitterly cold temperatures close to zero are rare, but can occur in winter months.

Spring

Temperatures and the likelihood of precipitation both tend to increase as Spring progresses. Rapid and substantial swings in temperature, associated with wind shifts and the passage of weather fronts, are common through the Spring, with hot daytime temperatures possible as early as the month of March, and freezing cold nighttime temperatures possible as late as the month of May.

Summer

In late May or early June, the weather stabilizes for the summer, and remains so until the passage of the first cold front, usually in September. Most precipitation occurs in the summer months, in the form of fast moving and short lived thunderstorms. Days are dry and hot, although temperatures are not as extreme as in the lower areas of the Chihuahuan Desert. Summer nights are comfortably cool, and cool breezes often gently blow across the desert after dark.

Fall

Fall begins with the passage of the first cold front from the north, often in late September or early October. After the last of the summer thunderstorms, usually in August or September, fall is dry. As the season progresses, the weather alternates between warm periods where the wind is predominantly from the south, and cold periods of increasing severity as cold fronts move down from the north. The first frost may be as early as late September, or as late as early December.

Winter

Winter consists of alternating periods of warm and cold weather. Winter days are usually mild, sometimes even warm, but nighttime temperatures often fall below freezing. Due to Pine Springs' low latitude, prolonged, severe cold is rare. While the day and night after the passage of a strong cold front from the north might see bitterly cold weather, temperatures rapidly warm afterwards. Light snowfall after the passage of a strong cold front is occasional during winter months, but snow usually melts quickly. Heavy snowfall is extremely rare in Pine Springs.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Culberson County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas