Chelan, Washington climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Chelan's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 12.0 inches of precipitation and 21 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 30°C, 304 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationChelan
- Station IDUSC00451350
- Location47.83°N 120.00°W
- Elevation1,194 ft (364 m)
- Population4,462
On October 22, the normal high in Chelan is 59°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Chelan.
- Jan 34° 22°
- Feb 42° 24°
- Mar 52° 30°
- Apr 62° 38°
- May 72° 46°
- Jun 78° 53°
- Jul 87° 59°
- Aug 87° 58°
- Sep 77° 49°
- Oct 62° 39°
- Nov 46° 30°
- Dec 35° 23°
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 Chelan each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in December (1.83 in), the least in August (0.32 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 22°F | 28.0°F | 1.52 | 7.7 | 9 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 42°F | 24°F | 33.0°F | 1.22 | 2.0 | 7 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 52°F | 30°F | 41.1°F | 1.09 | 0.7 | 7 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 38°F | 49.8°F | 0.75 | 0.0 | 5 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 72°F | 46°F | 59.0°F | 1.05 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 78°F | 53°F | 65.4°F | 0.87 | 0.0 | 5 | 3 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 87°F | 59°F | 72.8°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 3 | 10 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 87°F | 58°F | 72.5°F | 0.32 | 0.0 | 2 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 77°F | 49°F | 63.2°F | 0.34 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 62°F | 39°F | 50.5°F | 1.04 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 2 | 11 h |
| November | 46°F | 30°F | 37.6°F | 1.51 | 1.4 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 35°F | 23°F | 28.7°F | 1.83 | 8.7 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 39°F | 50.1°F | 11.96 | 20.5 | 71 | 25 | 109 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −6°C | −2.2°C | 39 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 5°C | −4°C | 0.6°C | 31 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 28 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 17°C | 3°C | 9.9°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 22°C | 8°C | 15.0°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 12°C | 18.6°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 15°C | 22.7°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 15°C | 22.5°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 10°C | 17.3°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 4°C | 10.3°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 8°C | −1°C | 3.1°C | 38 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 2°C | −5°C | −1.8°C | 46 mm | 22 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00451350; 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 Chelan?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00451350.
When is the last frost in Chelan?
In Chelan, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 17 in half of years and after April 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 9 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
- April 171 year in 10 after April 30; 9 in 10 after April 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 5
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 187 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 219 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 29 in half of springs and before November 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Chelan in zone 7b in ZIP code 98817, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Chelan's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Washington · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00451350; 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 Chelan?
In a normal year in Chelan, 25 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 109 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 71 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 109a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 31high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 71a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 8a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1891) is 111°F, on June 30, 2021; the lowest is −18°F, on January 31, 1893.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1998, with 19.79 in; the snowiest season is 1955–56, with 117.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00451350; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00451350. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Chelan?
Over a year 73% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Chelan, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (54%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 56% | 1.2 |
| February | 64% | 2.1 |
| March | 63% | 3.1 |
| April | 67% | 4.6 |
| May | 70% | 5.7 |
| June | 74% | 6.3 |
| July | 86% | 7.0 |
| August | 85% | 5.9 |
| September | 79% | 4.3 |
| October | 69% | 2.5 |
| November | 58% | 1.3 |
| December | 54% | 0.9 |
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 Chelan need?
A normal year in Chelan brings 6,037 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 652 cooling degree days, 28% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,710 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,149 | 0 |
| February | 896 | 0 |
| March | 741 | 0 |
| April | 456 | 0 |
| May | 207 | 22 |
| June | 67 | 81 |
| July | 9 | 253 |
| August | 9 | 243 |
| September | 107 | 53 |
| October | 450 | 1 |
| November | 822 | 0 |
| December | 1,124 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,037 | 652 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00451350. 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 Chelan been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.0°F, 2.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 50.1°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 48.6°F | −1.5°F | 11.58 | 62.1 |
| 2023 | 51.7°F | +1.6°F | 12.45 | 21.8 |
| 2025 | 53.0°F | +2.9°F | 11.02 | 12.6 |
Over 52 complete years from 1959 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.2°F per century (+0.23°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00451350; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Chelan's climate compare?
Chelan is warmer than 41 of the other 95 places with their own NOAA record in Washington, and wetter than 21. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.1°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Chelan is BSk: cold 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.
Which places near Chelan 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.
- Manson, WA1,595 people · 8 mi W
- Chelan Falls, WA141 people · 2 mi S
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 Chelan's climate
What is the coldest month in Chelan?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Chelan?
Yes: 21 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (8.7 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Chelan?
December, with 1.83 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.32 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Chelan in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Chelan in zone 7b in ZIP code 98817, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Chelan's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Chelan?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 17; in one year in ten it comes after April 30. Waiting until April 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Washington climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Waterville, WA13 miles from this station, 45.2°F a year
- Entiat, WA17 miles from this station, 51.4°F a year
- Methow, WA19 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Chief Joseph Dam, WA20 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made