Bakersfield, Texas climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Bakersfield's normal year runs from 32°F January nights to 94°F July afternoons, with 14.4 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.5°C, January lows of 0°C, July highs of 35°C, 367 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBakersfield
- Station IDUSC00410482
- Location30.89°N 102.30°W
- Elevation2,547 ft (776 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Bakersfield is 77°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 13%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bakersfield.
- Jan 60° 32°
- Feb 65° 36°
- Mar 72° 44°
- Apr 81° 51°
- May 88° 61°
- Jun 94° 69°
- Jul 94° 71°
- Aug 94° 71°
- Sep 88° 64°
- Oct 79° 54°
- Nov 68° 41°
- Dec 60° 33°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Bakersfield each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 94°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in September (2.07 in), the least in February (0.56 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F | 32°F | 45.7°F | 0.96 | 0.3 | 4 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 65°F | 36°F | 50.3°F | 0.56 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 8 | 11 h |
| March | 72°F | 44°F | 57.7°F | 0.81 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 h |
| April | 81°F | 51°F | 65.9°F | 0.97 | 0.0 | 3 | 7 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 88°F | 61°F | 74.4°F | 1.55 | 0.0 | 5 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 94°F | 69°F | 81.2°F | 1.68 | 0.0 | 4 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 94°F | 71°F | 82.7°F | 1.26 | 0.0 | 4 | 27 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 94°F | 71°F | 82.4°F | 1.64 | 0.0 | 5 | 27 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 88°F | 64°F | 75.7°F | 2.07 | 0.0 | 5 | 17 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 79°F | 54°F | 66.4°F | 1.48 | 0.0 | 4 | 5 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 68°F | 41°F | 54.4°F | 0.87 | 0.5 | 3 | <1 | 6 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 60°F | 33°F | 46.6°F | 0.60 | 0.6 | 3 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 52°F | 65.3°F | 14.45 | 1.4 | 45 | 126 | 48 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 0°C | 7.6°C | 24 mm | 1 cm |
| February | 18°C | 2°C | 10.2°C | 14 mm | 0 cm |
| March | 22°C | 6°C | 14.3°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 27°C | 11°C | 18.8°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 31°C | 16°C | 23.6°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 34°C | 20°C | 27.3°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 22°C | 28.2°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 35°C | 21°C | 28.0°C | 42 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 31°C | 18°C | 24.3°C | 53 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 26°C | 12°C | 19.1°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 22 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 16°C | 1°C | 8.1°C | 15 mm | 2 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00410482; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
Which months are mildest at Bakersfield?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (3).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00410482.
When is the last frost at Bakersfield?
In Bakersfield, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 22 in half of years and after April 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 29 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- March 221 year in 10 after April 12; 9 in 10 after March 1
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 29; 9 in 10 before November 28
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 235 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 261 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 6 in half of springs and before November 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bakersfield in zone 8b in ZIP code 79752, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00410482; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get at Bakersfield?
In a normal year in Bakersfield, 126 days a year reach 90°F (29 of them 100°F or more), 48 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 45 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 126a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 48a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 45a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1965) is 114°F, on June 28, 1994; the lowest is 3°F, on February 2, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1986, with 28.28 in; the snowiest season is 1984–85, with 11.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00410482; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00410482. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Bakersfield?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Bakersfield, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (90%) and February the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.6 |
| February | 83% | 4.5 |
| March | 85% | 5.7 |
| April | 87% | 6.8 |
| May | 87% | 7.2 |
| June | 90% | 7.5 |
| July | 89% | 7.2 |
| August | 89% | 6.7 |
| September | 85% | 5.6 |
| October | 86% | 4.8 |
| November | 85% | 3.8 |
| December | 83% | 3.3 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How many heating and cooling degree days does Bakersfield record?
A normal year at Bakersfield brings 2,352 heating degree days, 56% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,486 cooling degree days, 2.7 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,170 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 598 | 0 |
| February | 414 | 3 |
| March | 252 | 26 |
| April | 85 | 112 |
| May | 16 | 305 |
| June | 0 | 485 |
| July | 0 | 549 |
| August | 0 | 539 |
| September | 8 | 329 |
| October | 82 | 127 |
| November | 327 | 11 |
| December | 569 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,352 | 2,486 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00410482. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Have recent years at Bakersfield been warmer than normal?
Over 35 complete years from 1966 to 2017, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 5.9°F per century (+0.33°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bakersfield's climate compare?
Bakersfield is warmer than 143 of the 321 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 65.3°F is warmer than 88%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bakersfield is BSh: hot semi-arid steppe. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Questions about Bakersfield's climate
What is the coldest month at Bakersfield?
January, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (94°F by day, 71°F at night).
Does it snow at Bakersfield?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Bakersfield?
September, with 2.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 0.56 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bakersfield in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bakersfield in zone 8b in ZIP code 79752, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 17°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come at Bakersfield?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 22; in one year in ten it comes after April 12. Waiting until April 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- McCamey, TX17 miles from this station, 66.9°F a year
- Sheffield, TX31 miles from this station, 66.0°F a year
- Crane, TX36 miles from this station, 66.3°F a year
- Fort Stockton, TX37 miles from this station, 66.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made