Alturas Muni, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Alturas Muni's primary NOAA station, ALTURAS MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for Alturas Muni
Dryness leads the climate profile for Alturas Muni, California, with 11.7 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 48°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 48°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 11.7"
- precipitation, annual total
- 101 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Alturas Muni: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00094299 · Alturas Muni, CA 48°F mean · 11.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,058
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Canby
- PRCP-ARID 11.7"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,558 HDD
- STN-1 USW00094299
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Canby, CA (+ 0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every CA station list.
- Alturas (this station) 48°F
- Hot Terra Alta, WV 48°F
- Near Canby, CA 48°F
- Near Big Meadows, VA 48°F
- Cold Tulelake, CA 47°F
Climate Living Index · Alturas Muni
Alturas Muni: 15/100 · grade F
Alturas Muni publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Alturas Muni, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 47.6°F · 19.9° from 67.5°F | 30/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 11.7 in · 23.3 from 35 in | 17/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 220 calendar days | 5/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 101 days/year | 0/100 · F |
Alturas Muni · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Alturas Muni's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 68.2°F
- Coldest month
- 30.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Alturas Muni sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Alturas Muni's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 70%
- Among 6,861 stations, Alturas Muni sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 91%
- Alturas Muni's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 74%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Alturas Muni is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Alturas Muni compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Alturas Muni's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F (6°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.3" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 47°F (8°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.1" | 25.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 53°F (12°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.4" | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (15°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.5" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 1.3" | 8.7 | 0.5 |
| June | 78°F (26°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.7" | 2.1 | 3.7 |
| July | 89°F (32°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 17.8 |
| August | 87°F (31°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.3" | 0.4 | 13.5 |
| September | 80°F (27°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.3" | 7.8 | 4.2 |
| October | 66°F (19°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 0.9" | 22.6 | 0.1 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 1.2" | 24.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 41°F (5°C) | 20°F (-7°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 1.5" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Alturas Muni works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 91°F by July 21 and hold at or above 90°F on 16 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 204 dates, bottoming at 19°F around December 22.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 16 through July 31, covering 16 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 23 to October 7.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 25, then returns to freezing around October 5, covering 204 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is December 16, when 38% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 16 at 7%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 91 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 29 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 44°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Alturas Muni.
Where Alturas Muni Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 204 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 12 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Alturas Muni earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
11.0 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
10.7 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
2.9 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
Alturas Muni spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 11% of the annual total and December through February 33%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Alturas Muni has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 37.7°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: April averages 1.5" and August 0.3". The three wettest months together take 37% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Alturas Muni is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 91 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 25% of the calendar, and they carry 11.7" between them. At roughly 0.13 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is December at about 12 wet days; the driest is July at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 12
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
June 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
101 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,558
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
235
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Alturas Muni on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (48°F here).
- Bend, OR 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Benton, PA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Bonesteel, SD 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Bonners Ferry, ID 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (11.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ephraim, UT 11.7" · 0.0" off
- Fairbanks, AK 11.7" · 0.0" off
- Virginia City, NV 11.7" · 0.0" off
- La Verkin, UT 11.6" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Alturas Muni's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Alturas Muni's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,558 annual heating degree days against 235 for cooling. Its 37.7°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 101 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Alturas Muni's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 37.7°F. The annual average is 48°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alturas Muni's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 11.7 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Alturas Muni wettest normal
April
April concentrates the scarce annual total (11.7 inches).
Alturas Muni driest normal
August
August is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Alturas Muni's climate
How dry is Alturas Muni? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Alturas Muni get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Alturas Muni? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Alturas Muni's primary station: ALTURAS MUNI AP (USW00094299). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Alturas Muni; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Alturas Muni comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.