Colfax, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Colfax's primary NOAA station, COLFAX.
The climate verdict for Colfax
Water is the standout signal in Colfax, California: 45.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 59°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 59°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 45.9"
- annual precipitation · 7" snow
- 235 days
- frost-free growing season
Colfax: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00041912 · Colfax, CA 59°F mean · 45.9" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 59°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,009
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pine Springs
- PRCP-MID 45.9"
- SWING-MID 33°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 3,335 HDD
- STN-1 USC00041912
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Pine Springs, TX (+ 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 CA station list.
- Hot Greenville, SC 60°F
- Near Alto, GA 60°F
- Near Tryon, NC 60°F
- Colfax (this station) 59°F
- Near Pine Springs, TX 59°F
Climate Living Index · Colfax
Colfax: 77/100 · grade B
Colfax publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Colfax, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 57 calendar days | 90/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 235 days/year | 83/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 59.3°F · 8.2° from 67.5°F | 74/100 · B |
| Snowfall burden | 7.2 inches/year | 67/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 45.9 in · 10.9 from 35 in | 62/100 · C |
Colfax · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Colfax is a temperate Köppen climate: Csa
Coldest-month mean 44.8°F and warmest-month mean 77.3°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, hot summer climates (Csa). Class Csa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Csa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 77.3°F
- Coldest month
- 44.8°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 Colfax sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Colfax's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 27% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Colfax sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 30% wettest
- Colfax's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 87%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Colfax is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Colfax compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Colfax's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% 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%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Colfax's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 108 complete annual observations from 1871 to 2024, COLFAX warmed at a fitted rate of 0.04°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Colfax primary station fitted change +0.04 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F (13°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 7.8" | 0.9" | 8.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 57°F (14°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 8.0" | 2.6" | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 60°F (16°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 7.2" | 1.2" | 5.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 3.6" | 0.6" | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 2.3" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| June | 83°F (29°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.3 |
| July | 92°F (33°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 21.2 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 76°F (25°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 19.8 |
| September | 86°F (30°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| October | 75°F (24°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 2.1" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| November | 61°F (16°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 5.2" | 0.4" | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 54°F (12°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 8.5" | 1.5" | 9.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Colfax runs from a mild 36°F around December 16 to 93°F at the peak near July 23, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 4 through August 29, covering 57 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 1 to October 27.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
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 36°F around December 16.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 18, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 23 at 1%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 76 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 16 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 30°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Colfax.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 0.9"
11.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.6"
11.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
10.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
7.7 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
1.2 days with precipitation
4.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
9.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.5"
11.4 days with precipitation
Colfax's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 53% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 2%. 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 a 32.5°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- December, 8.5"
- Driest month
- July, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- December, February, January (53% 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.
When it rains in Colfax, it arrives in quantity
45.9" of precipitation falls across only about 76 wet days here, averaging 0.61 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 76 a year, 21% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.61 inches
- Most wet days
- February, about 12
- Fewest wet days
- July, about 0
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Snow reaches Colfax, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 7.2 inches of snow a year here, most likely in February. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 4 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 24
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
235 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
3,335
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,273
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Colfax 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 (59°F here).
- Abernathy, TX 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Big Sandy, TN 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Coldwater, KS 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Jackson, TN 59°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (45.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Salem, IL 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Siler City, NC 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Chester, SC 45.9" · 0.0" off
- Claremore, OK 45.9" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Colfax's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · mid swing
Colfax's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 3,335 annual heating degree days against 1,273 for cooling. Its 32.5°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Colfax's frost-free season lasts about 235 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Colfax's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 32.5°F. The annual average is 59°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Alongside its heating load, Colfax carries 45.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Annual snowfall totals 7.2 inches. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Colfax'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 Colfax, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Colfax's climate
How much rain does Colfax get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Colfax get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Colfax? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Colfax's primary station: COLFAX (USC00041912). 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 0614498). Match rule for Colfax: 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 Colfax 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.