Colfax, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Colfax's normal year runs from 36°F December nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 45.9 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.2°C, December lows of 2°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,166 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationColfax
- Station IDUSC00041912
- Location39.09°N 120.95°W
- Elevation2,380 ft (725 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population2,058
On October 22, the normal high in Colfax is 72°F and the normal low 47°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 Colfax.
- Jan 55° 37°
- Feb 57° 37°
- Mar 60° 40°
- Apr 66° 43°
- May 74° 49°
- Jun 83° 56°
- Jul 92° 63°
- Aug 91° 61°
- Sep 86° 57°
- Oct 75° 49°
- Nov 61° 41°
- Dec 54° 36°
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 Colfax each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 36°F. The most precipitation falls in December (8.52 in), the least in July (0.02 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55°F | 37°F | 45.8°F | 7.83 | 0.9 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 57°F | 37°F | 47.1°F | 8.02 | 2.6 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 60°F | 40°F | 49.9°F | 7.24 | 1.2 | 11 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 43°F | 54.1°F | 3.58 | 0.6 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 49°F | 61.6°F | 2.27 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 83°F | 56°F | 69.7°F | 0.70 | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 63°F | 77.3°F | 0.02 | 0.0 | <1 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 91°F | 61°F | 76.2°F | 0.11 | 0.0 | 1 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 86°F | 57°F | 71.7°F | 0.35 | 0.0 | 1 | 13 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 75°F | 49°F | 61.9°F | 2.11 | 0.0 | 4 | 3 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 61°F | 41°F | 50.9°F | 5.15 | 0.4 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 10 h |
| December | 54°F | 36°F | 44.8°F | 8.52 | 1.5 | 11 | <1 | 9 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 47°F | 59.3°F | 45.90 | 7.2 | 76 | 66 | 37 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 13°C | 3°C | 7.7°C | 199 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 14°C | 3°C | 8.4°C | 204 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 16°C | 4°C | 9.9°C | 184 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 19°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 91 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 58 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 13°C | 20.9°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 17°C | 25.2°C | 1 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 16°C | 24.6°C | 3 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 14°C | 22.1°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 9°C | 16.6°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 5°C | 10.5°C | 131 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 12°C | 2°C | 7.1°C | 216 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00041912; 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 Colfax?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June and October. Of those, June 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 USC00041912.
When is the last frost in Colfax?
In Colfax, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 3 in half of years and after April 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 24 in half of years and before November 2 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 31 year in 10 after April 29; 9 in 10 after February 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 241 year in 10 before November 2; 9 in 10 before December 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 233 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 294 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 21 in half of springs and before December 13 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Colfax in zone 9a in ZIP code 95713, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Colfax's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (26 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 USC00041912; 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 Colfax?
In a normal year in Colfax, 66 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 37 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 76 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 37a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 76a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1905) is 110°F, on July 10, 1961; the lowest is 4°F, on January 3, 1906.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1982, with 70.32 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 67.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00041912; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00041912. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Colfax?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Colfax, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (95%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.4 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 73% | 4.4 |
| April | 77% | 5.8 |
| May | 82% | 7.1 |
| June | 92% | 8.3 |
| July | 95% | 8.3 |
| August | 95% | 7.4 |
| September | 93% | 5.9 |
| October | 87% | 4.2 |
| November | 77% | 2.7 |
| December | 69% | 2.0 |
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 Colfax need?
A normal year in Colfax brings 3,335 heating degree days, 38% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,273 cooling degree days, 40% more 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 4,102 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 595 | 0 |
| February | 500 | 0 |
| March | 469 | 1 |
| April | 334 | 8 |
| May | 161 | 57 |
| June | 43 | 185 |
| July | 2 | 383 |
| August | 2 | 351 |
| September | 24 | 227 |
| October | 156 | 60 |
| November | 424 | 2 |
| December | 626 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,335 | 1,273 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00041912. 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 Colfax been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 60.4°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 59.3°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.8°F | +1.5°F | 46.39 | – |
| 2022 | 60.6°F | +1.3°F | 35.42 | – |
| 2023 | 57.4°F | −1.9°F | 52.68 | – |
| 2024 | 60.4°F | +1.1°F | 47.01 | – |
Over 108 complete years from 1871 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.7°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00041912; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Colfax's climate compare?
Colfax is warmer than 79 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 195. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.3°F is warmer than 73%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Colfax 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 Colfax share this climate record?
Lake of the Pines has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Lake of the Pines, CA5,012 people · 7 mi SW
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 Colfax's climate
What is the coldest month in Colfax?
December, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 36°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Colfax?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (2.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Colfax?
December, with 8.52 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Colfax in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Colfax in zone 9a in ZIP code 95713, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Colfax's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Colfax?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 3; in one year in ten it comes after April 29. Waiting until April 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
- Grass Valley, CA10 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Nevada City, CA11 miles from this station, 56.2°F a year
- Georgetown, CA14 miles from this station, 58.2°F a year
- Auburn, CA15 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made