Centralia, WA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Centralia's primary NOAA station, CENTRALIA.
The climate verdict for Centralia
A compact 26.1°F seasonal swing gives Centralia, Washington a steadier-than-extreme annual shape. NOAA reports an annual average of 52°F. Its climate comfort score of 68/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 56% of station-mapped location scores.
- 52°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 68/100
- comfort score, above 56% of station-mapped location scores
- 41.6"
- yearly precipitation total
- 188 days
- frost-free growing season
Centralia: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00451276 · Centralia, WA 52°F mean · 41.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-NARROW · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,225
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Shelton Sanders…
- PRCP-MID 41.6"
- SWING-NARROW 26°F
- COMF-MID 68/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,063 HDD
- STN-1 USC00451276
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Shelton Sanderson Fld, WA ( -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 WA station list.
- Centralia (this station) 52°F
- Hot Startup, WA 52°F
- Cold Cushman Powerho…, WA 51°F
- Near Shelton Sanders…, WA 51°F
- Near Lacomb, OR 51°F
Climate Living Index · Centralia
Centralia: 72/100 · grade B
Centralia publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Centralia, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 68/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 41.6 in · 6.6 from 35 in | 77/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 188 days/year | 56/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 51.5°F · 16.0° from 67.5°F | 47/100 · D |
Centralia · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Centralia is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 39.4°F and warmest-month mean 65.5°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Csb). Class Csb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Csb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 65.5°F
- Coldest month
- 39.4°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 Centralia sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Centralia's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 47th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 61st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 94%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Centralia is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Centralia compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Centralia's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
68 Top 44% score exceeds 56% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Centralia's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 79 complete annual observations from 1902 to 2020, CENTRALIA warmed at a fitted rate of 0.07°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Centralia primary station fitted change +0.07 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F (8°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 5.8" | 9.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 50°F (10°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 4.2" | 10.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 54°F (12°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 4.4" | 7.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 60°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 3.2" | 2.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.4" | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 1.5" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| July | 78°F (25°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.5" | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| August | 78°F (26°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.8" | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.6" | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 4.0" | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 6.5" | 6.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 45°F (7°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 6.4" | 10.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Centralia: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 34°F near December 17 and 79°F near July 29.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 34°F around December 17.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is December 13, when 72% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 27 at 12%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 173 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Centralia.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
21.7 days with precipitation
17.6 days with precipitation
19.5 days with precipitation
17.1 days with precipitation
12.1 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
8.1 days with precipitation
15.6 days with precipitation
21.1 days with precipitation
22.1 days with precipitation
Centralia's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 40% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 7%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows an unusually narrow 26.1°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- November, 6.5"
- Driest month
- July, 0.5"
- Wettest three months
- November, December, January (45% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
How Centralia's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 172 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 41.6" between them, or roughly 0.24 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 27
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
188 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,063
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
164
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WA closest to Centralia 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 (52°F here).
- Baileyville, KS 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Bluefield, WV 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Caldwell, OH 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Emmett, ID 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (41.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Sullivan, IL 41.6" · 0.0" off
- Stow, OH 41.6" · 0.0" off
- Fort Kent, ME 41.6" · 0.0" off
- Columbus, OH 41.6" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Centralia's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Centralia, at 5,063 degree days versus 164 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 26.1°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Centralia's frost-free season lasts about 188 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Temperature varies within a narrow 26.1°F band across the normal year. August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar. The annual average is 52°F. Monthly rows still matter, but they refine a steady profile rather than reveal two climatic extremes.
Centralia's 41.6 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Centralia's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Centralia, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Centralia's climate
How much rain does Centralia get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Centralia? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Centralia's primary station: CENTRALIA (USC00451276). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5311160). Match rule for Centralia: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Centralia 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.