Big Bear Lake, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Big Bear Lake's normal year runs from 24°F February nights to 80°F July afternoons, with 20.0 inches of precipitation and 59 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.9°C, February lows of −5°C, July highs of 27°C, 507 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBig Bear Lake
- Station IDUSC00040741
- Location34.24°N 116.92°W
- Elevation6,753 ft (2,058 m)
- Population5,044
On October 23, the normal high in Big Bear Lake is 61°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 8%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Big Bear Lake.
- Jan 46° 24°
- Feb 46° 24°
- Mar 51° 27°
- Apr 57° 31°
- May 66° 37°
- Jun 75° 44°
- Jul 80° 51°
- Aug 79° 50°
- Sep 73° 44°
- Oct 63° 35°
- Nov 54° 28°
- Dec 46° 24°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Big Bear Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 80°F; February the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in January (4.51 in), the least in June (0.15 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F | 24°F | 34.8°F | 4.51 | 13.4 | 7 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 46°F | 24°F | 34.7°F | 4.39 | 14.3 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 11 h |
| March | 51°F | 27°F | 39.1°F | 2.37 | 11.7 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 31°F | 44.2°F | 0.78 | 3.0 | 4 | <1 | 20 | 13 h |
| May | 66°F | 37°F | 51.5°F | 0.42 | 0.6 | 2 | <1 | 8 | 14 h |
| June | 75°F | 44°F | 59.3°F | 0.15 | 0.0 | 1 | <1 | 1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 80°F | 51°F | 65.1°F | 0.69 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 79°F | 50°F | 64.1°F | 0.82 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 73°F | 44°F | 58.5°F | 0.40 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 35°F | 49.2°F | 0.79 | 1.2 | 2 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 54°F | 28°F | 40.6°F | 1.35 | 3.4 | 3 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 46°F | 24°F | 34.8°F | 3.31 | 11.0 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 35°F | 48.0°F | 19.98 | 58.6 | 43 | 1 | 176 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 115 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 8°C | −5°C | 1.5°C | 112 mm | 36 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.9°C | 60 mm | 30 cm |
| April | 14°C | −1°C | 6.8°C | 20 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19°C | 3°C | 10.8°C | 11 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 24°C | 6°C | 15.2°C | 4 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27°C | 10°C | 18.4°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 10°C | 17.8°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 7°C | 14.7°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 2°C | 9.6°C | 20 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 12°C | −2°C | 4.8°C | 34 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 84 mm | 28 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00040741; 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.
When is the best weather to visit Big Bear Lake?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00040741.
When is the last frost in Big Bear Lake?
In Big Bear Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 27 in half of years and after June 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 21 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
- May 271 year in 10 after June 9; 9 in 10 after May 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 131 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 167 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Big Bear Lake in zone 7b in ZIP code 92315. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Big Bear Lake's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00040741; 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 in Big Bear Lake?
In a normal year in Big Bear Lake, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 176 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 43 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 176a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 7high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 43a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 14a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 98°F, on June 30, 1994; the lowest is −15°F, on November 19, 1964.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1969, with 55.76 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 129.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00040741; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00040741. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Big Bear Lake?
Over a year 93% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Big Bear Lake, 5.9 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (97%) and December the cloudiest (86%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87% | 3.4 |
| February | 87% | 4.4 |
| March | 90% | 5.8 |
| April | 93% | 7.2 |
| May | 95% | 8.1 |
| June | 97% | 8.6 |
| July | 93% | 7.8 |
| August | 94% | 7.3 |
| September | 95% | 6.3 |
| October | 94% | 5.0 |
| November | 91% | 3.7 |
| December | 86% | 3.0 |
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 much heating and cooling does Big Bear Lake need?
A normal year in Big Bear Lake brings 6,271 heating degree days, 17% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 96 cooling degree days, 89% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,644 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 935 | 0 |
| February | 848 | 0 |
| March | 803 | 0 |
| April | 626 | 0 |
| May | 419 | 0 |
| June | 179 | 8 |
| July | 50 | 53 |
| August | 60 | 32 |
| September | 198 | 3 |
| October | 490 | 0 |
| November | 731 | 0 |
| December | 935 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,271 | 96 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00040741. 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.
Has Big Bear Lake been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.9°F, 1.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.0°F | +2.0°F | 22.22 | – |
| 2022 | 49.7°F | +1.7°F | 18.77 | 18.1 |
| 2023 | 47.6°F | −0.4°F | 35.41 | – |
| 2024 | 50.2°F | +2.2°F | 21.60 | 36.7 |
| 2025 | 49.9°F | +1.9°F | – | – |
Over 41 complete years from 1962 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 7.4°F per century (+0.41°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00040741; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Big Bear Lake's climate compare?
Big Bear Lake is warmer than 11 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 134. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.0°F is warmer than 32%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Big Bear Lake is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm summer. 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.
Which places near Big Bear Lake share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Big Bear City, CA12,493 people · 7 mi E
- Lucerne Valley, CA5,946 people · 14 mi N
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Big Bear Lake's climate
What is the coldest month in Big Bear Lake?
February, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (80°F by day, 51°F at night).
Does it snow in Big Bear Lake?
Yes: 59 inches in a normal year, falling on 16 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (14.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Big Bear Lake?
January, with 4.51 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.15 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Big Bear Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Big Bear Lake in zone 7b in ZIP code 92315. By the same method at Big Bear Lake's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Big Bear Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 27; in one year in ten it comes after June 9. Waiting until June 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Big Bear Lake in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lake Arrowhead, CA16 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Redlands, CA21 miles from this station, 65.2°F a year
- Morongo Valley, CA23 miles from this station, 64.5°F a year
- Johnson Valley, CA23 miles from this station, 63.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made