Cuyamaca, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Cuyamaca's normal year runs from 32°F December nights to 84°F August afternoons, with 30.3 inches of precipitation and 20 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.2°C, December lows of 0°C, August highs of 29°C, 768 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCuyamaca
- Station IDUSC00042239
- Location32.99°N 116.59°W
- Elevation4,640 ft (1,414 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Cuyamaca is 67°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Cuyamaca.
- Jan 51° 33°
- Feb 51° 34°
- Mar 55° 36°
- Apr 60° 39°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 76° 51°
- Jul 83° 58°
- Aug 84° 58°
- Sep 79° 51°
- Oct 69° 42°
- Nov 59° 35°
- Dec 51° 32°
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 Cuyamaca each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in February (6.43 in), the least in June (0.17 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 33°F | 42.0°F | 5.51 | 3.8 | 7 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 51°F | 34°F | 42.4°F | 6.43 | 5.4 | 8 | <1 | 15 | 11 h |
| March | 55°F | 36°F | 45.7°F | 4.87 | 5.5 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 12 h |
| April | 60°F | 39°F | 49.1°F | 2.34 | 3.1 | 5 | <1 | 6 | 13 h |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.3°F | 1.06 | 0.1 | 3 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 51°F | 63.6°F | 0.17 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 83°F | 58°F | 70.7°F | 0.35 | 0.0 | 2 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 84°F | 58°F | 70.8°F | 0.50 | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 79°F | 51°F | 65.1°F | 0.57 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 42°F | 55.2°F | 1.46 | 0.0 | 4 | <1 | 3 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 59°F | 35°F | 47.0°F | 2.65 | 0.7 | 4 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 51°F | 32°F | 41.3°F | 4.34 | 1.3 | 7 | <1 | 20 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 43°F | 54.0°F | 30.25 | 19.9 | 52 | 19 | 87 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 1°C | 5.6°C | 140 mm | 10 cm |
| February | 11°C | 1°C | 5.8°C | 163 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 13°C | 2°C | 7.6°C | 124 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 15°C | 4°C | 9.5°C | 59 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 4 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 15°C | 21.5°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 14°C | 21.6°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 11°C | 18.4°C | 14 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.9°C | 37 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 2°C | 8.3°C | 67 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 10°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 110 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042239; 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 Cuyamaca?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00042239.
When is the last frost at Cuyamaca?
In Cuyamaca, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 19 in half of years and after May 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 27 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 191 year in 10 after May 14; 9 in 10 after March 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 271 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 190 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 239 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 14 in half of springs and before November 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Cuyamaca in zone 9b in ZIP code 91916, 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 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°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 USC00042239; 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 Cuyamaca?
In a normal year in Cuyamaca, 19 days a year reach 90°F, 87 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 52 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 87a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 52a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 5a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1899) is 104°F, on July 13, 1924; the lowest is −1°F, on January 31, 1949.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1980, with 68.49 in; the snowiest season is 1948–49, with 101.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00042239; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00042239. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Cuyamaca?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Cuyamaca, 5.8 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (94%) and February the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.5 |
| February | 83% | 4.3 |
| March | 87% | 5.7 |
| April | 89% | 7.0 |
| May | 90% | 7.7 |
| June | 94% | 8.3 |
| July | 92% | 7.7 |
| August | 94% | 7.3 |
| September | 93% | 6.3 |
| October | 91% | 5.0 |
| November | 88% | 3.8 |
| December | 84% | 3.1 |
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 Cuyamaca record?
A normal year at Cuyamaca brings 4,519 heating degree days, 16% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 537 cooling degree days, 41% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,729 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 712 | 0 |
| February | 634 | 0 |
| March | 598 | 0 |
| April | 477 | 0 |
| May | 311 | 9 |
| June | 107 | 65 |
| July | 15 | 190 |
| August | 9 | 190 |
| September | 74 | 78 |
| October | 308 | 4 |
| November | 540 | 0 |
| December | 735 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,519 | 537 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042239. 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 Cuyamaca been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 55.4°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.6°F | +1.6°F | 27.16 | 30.8 |
| 2022 | 54.7°F | +0.7°F | 27.36 | – |
| 2023 | 53.2°F | −0.8°F | 49.99 | 56.6 |
| 2024 | 55.9°F | +1.9°F | 29.17 | – |
| 2025 | 55.4°F | +1.4°F | 23.02 | 20.6 |
Over 83 complete years from 1904 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.1°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 USC00042239; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Cuyamaca's climate compare?
Cuyamaca is warmer than 38 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 168. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.0°F is warmer than 57%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Cuyamaca is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm 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 Cuyamaca share this climate record?
Descanso 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.
- Descanso, CA1,670 people · 9 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 Cuyamaca's climate
What is the coldest month at Cuyamaca?
December, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is August (84°F by day, 58°F at night).
Does it snow at Cuyamaca?
Yes: 20 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in March (5.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Cuyamaca?
February, with 6.43 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.17 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Cuyamaca in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Cuyamaca in zone 9b in ZIP code 91916, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (26 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come at Cuyamaca?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 19; in one year in ten it comes after May 14. Waiting until May 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Julian, CA6 miles from this station, 57.8°F a year
- Mount Laguna, CA13 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- El Capitan Dam, CA15 miles from this station, 65.4°F a year
- Alpine, CA16 miles from this station, 62.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made