Cherry Valley Dam, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Cherry Valley Dam's normal year runs from 31°F December nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 49.0 inches of precipitation and 108 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.6°C, December lows of 0°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,246 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCherry Valley Dam
- Station IDUSC00041697
- Location37.97°N 119.92°W
- Elevation4,765 ft (1,452 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Cherry Valley Dam is 67°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cherry Valley Dam.
- Jan 49° 31°
- Feb 51° 31°
- Mar 55° 33°
- Apr 61° 37°
- May 70° 44°
- Jun 81° 51°
- Jul 89° 58°
- Aug 89° 57°
- Sep 82° 53°
- Oct 70° 45°
- Nov 57° 36°
- Dec 49° 31°
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 Cherry Valley Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in January (9.65 in), the least in August (0.08 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 31°F | 40.3°F | 9.65 | 21.0 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 51°F | 31°F | 41.0°F | 8.28 | 26.4 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 55°F | 33°F | 44.4°F | 7.36 | 21.1 | 11 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 37°F | 49.0°F | 3.93 | 10.5 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 70°F | 44°F | 56.9°F | 2.57 | 1.1 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 81°F | 51°F | 65.9°F | 0.82 | 0.1 | 2 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 89°F | 58°F | 73.7°F | 0.29 | 0.0 | 1 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 89°F | 57°F | 73.2°F | 0.08 | 0.0 | 1 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 53°F | 67.4°F | 0.43 | 0.0 | 2 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 45°F | 57.4°F | 2.74 | 0.5 | 4 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 57°F | 36°F | 46.6°F | 4.61 | 5.6 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 49°F | 31°F | 39.9°F | 8.29 | 21.3 | 9 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 42°F | 54.6°F | 49.05 | 107.6 | 73 | 38 | 87 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 10°C | 0°C | 4.6°C | 245 mm | 53 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.0°C | 210 mm | 67 cm |
| March | 13°C | 1°C | 6.9°C | 187 mm | 54 cm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 9.4°C | 100 mm | 27 cm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 13.8°C | 65 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 27°C | 11°C | 18.8°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 15°C | 23.2°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 14°C | 22.9°C | 2 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 12°C | 19.7°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 7°C | 14.1°C | 70 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 14°C | 2°C | 8.1°C | 117 mm | 14 cm |
| December | 9°C | 0°C | 4.4°C | 211 mm | 54 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00041697; 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 Cherry Valley Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. 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 USC00041697.
When is the last frost at Cherry Valley Dam?
In Cherry Valley Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 2 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 15 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 21 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after April 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 15; 9 in 10 before November 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 183 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 217 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before November 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cherry Valley Dam in zone 6a in ZIP code 95321, 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 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (26 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00041697; 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 Cherry Valley Dam?
In a normal year in Cherry Valley Dam, 38 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 87 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 38a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 87a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 21a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1955) is 105°F, on July 15, 1972; the lowest is −2°F, on February 27, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 81.36 in; the snowiest season is 1981–82, with 184.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00041697; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00041697. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Cherry Valley Dam?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Cherry Valley Dam, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (96%) and December the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.4 |
| March | 75% | 4.7 |
| April | 78% | 6.0 |
| May | 84% | 7.2 |
| June | 93% | 8.4 |
| July | 94% | 8.2 |
| August | 96% | 7.5 |
| September | 94% | 6.1 |
| October | 89% | 4.5 |
| November | 81% | 3.0 |
| December | 73% | 2.3 |
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 Cherry Valley Dam record?
A normal year at Cherry Valley Dam brings 4,564 heating degree days, 15% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 812 cooling degree days, 11% fewer than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,174 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 764 | 0 |
| February | 673 | 0 |
| March | 640 | 0 |
| April | 479 | 1 |
| May | 275 | 24 |
| June | 80 | 109 |
| July | 5 | 273 |
| August | 4 | 257 |
| September | 56 | 130 |
| October | 257 | 20 |
| November | 552 | 0 |
| December | 778 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,564 | 812 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00041697. 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 Cherry Valley Dam been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 55.8°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55.8°F | +1.2°F | 40.32 | 50.3 |
Over 48 complete years from 1956 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.5°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00041697; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cherry Valley Dam's climate compare?
Cherry Valley Dam is warmer than 41 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 199. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.6°F is warmer than 59%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cherry Valley Dam is Csa: temperate, dry-summer, hot 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 Cherry Valley Dam share this climate record?
3 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.
- Strawberry, CA65 people · 16 mi N
- Cold Springs, CA22 people · 15 mi NW
- Long Barn, CA20 people · 14 mi NW
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 Cherry Valley Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Cherry Valley Dam?
December, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow at Cherry Valley Dam?
Yes: 108 inches in a normal year, falling on 24 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (26.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Cherry Valley Dam?
January, with 9.65 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.08 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cherry Valley Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cherry Valley Dam in zone 6a in ZIP code 95321, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 14°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come at Cherry Valley Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 2; in one year in ten it comes after May 29. Waiting until May 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Hetch Hetchy, CA7 miles from this station, 54.9°F a year
- Yosemite Village (12 mi W), CA16 miles from this station, 49.5°F a year
- Groveland, CA19 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Yosemite Park Headquarters, CA24 miles from this station, 54.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made