Death Valley National Park, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Death Valley National Park's normal year runs from 41°F December nights to 117°F July afternoons, with 2.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 26.0°C, December lows of 5°C, July highs of 47°C, 56 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDeath Valley National Park
- Station IDUSC00042319
- Location36.46°N 116.87°W
- Elevation-194 ft (-59 m)
On October 14, the normal high in Death Valley National Park is 94°F and the normal low 65°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 3%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Death Valley National Park.
- Jan 67° 43°
- Feb 74° 49°
- Mar 83° 57°
- Apr 91° 65°
- May 101° 75°
- Jun 111° 84°
- Jul 117° 91°
- Aug 116° 89°
- Sep 108° 79°
- Oct 93° 64°
- Nov 77° 51°
- Dec 66° 41°
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 Death Valley National Park each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 117°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 41°F. The most precipitation falls in February (0.52 in), the least in May (0.03 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67°F | 43°F | 54.9°F | 0.37 | 2 | <1 | 3 | 10 h |
| February | 74°F | 49°F | 61.3°F | 0.52 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 83°F | 57°F | 69.8°F | 0.25 | 2 | 7 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 91°F | 65°F | 77.9°F | 0.10 | 1 | 18 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 101°F | 75°F | 87.8°F | 0.03 | 1 | 27 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 111°F | 84°F | 97.5°F | 0.05 | <1 | 30 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 117°F | 91°F | 104.2°F | 0.10 | 1 | 31 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 116°F | 89°F | 102.3°F | 0.10 | 1 | 31 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 108°F | 79°F | 93.4°F | 0.20 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 93°F | 64°F | 78.9°F | 0.12 | 1 | 22 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 77°F | 51°F | 64.0°F | 0.10 | 1 | 2 | <1 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 66°F | 41°F | 53.4°F | 0.26 | 2 | <1 | 5 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 92°F | 66°F | 78.8°F | 2.20 | 16 | 197 | 9 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°C | 6°C | 12.7°C | 9 mm |
| February | 23°C | 9°C | 16.3°C | 13 mm |
| March | 28°C | 14°C | 21.0°C | 6 mm |
| April | 33°C | 18°C | 25.5°C | 3 mm |
| May | 38°C | 24°C | 31.0°C | 1 mm |
| June | 44°C | 29°C | 36.4°C | 1 mm |
| July | 47°C | 33°C | 40.1°C | 3 mm |
| August | 47°C | 32°C | 39.1°C | 3 mm |
| September | 42°C | 26°C | 34.1°C | 5 mm |
| October | 34°C | 18°C | 26.1°C | 3 mm |
| November | 25°C | 10°C | 17.8°C | 3 mm |
| December | 19°C | 5°C | 11.9°C | 7 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042319; 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 Death Valley National Park?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, November and December. Of those, November 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 USC00042319.
When is the last frost at Death Valley National Park?
In Death Valley National Park, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 1 in half of years and after January 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 19 in half of years and before December 4 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 81% of years here (NOAA).
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 11 year in 10 after January 21; 9 in 10 after December 14
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 191 year in 10 before December 4; 9 in 10 before January 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 350 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after December 27 in half of springs and before December 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Death Valley National Park in zone 9a in ZIP code 92328, 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 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (30 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 USC00042319; 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 Death Valley National Park?
In a normal year in Death Valley National Park, 197 days a year reach 90°F (147 of them 100°F or more), 9 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 16 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 197a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 147a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 9a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 16a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 134°F, on July 10, 1913; the lowest is 15°F, on January 8, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2005, with 4.73 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00042319; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00042319. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Death Valley National Park?
Over a year 92% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Death Valley National Park, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (96%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.0 |
| February | 85% | 4.0 |
| March | 88% | 5.5 |
| April | 91% | 6.9 |
| May | 93% | 7.9 |
| June | 96% | 8.6 |
| July | 94% | 7.9 |
| August | 96% | 7.4 |
| September | 96% | 6.3 |
| October | 92% | 4.7 |
| November | 89% | 3.4 |
| December | 83% | 2.7 |
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 Death Valley National Park record?
A normal year at Death Valley National Park brings 954 heating degree days, 82% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 6,020 cooling degree days, 6.6 times the median (908). Two months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 10,583 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 317 | 2 |
| February | 133 | 31 |
| March | 31 | 181 |
| April | 5 | 392 |
| May | 0 | 709 |
| June | 0 | 977 |
| July | 0 | 1,215 |
| August | 0 | 1,156 |
| September | 0 | 852 |
| October | 3 | 433 |
| November | 103 | 71 |
| December | 363 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 954 | 6,020 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042319. 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 Death Valley National Park been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 80.2°F, 1.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 78.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80.3°F | +1.5°F | 2.16 |
| 2022 | 80.3°F | +1.5°F | – |
| 2023 | 78.0°F | −0.8°F | 3.99 |
| 2024 | 79.8°F | +1.0°F | 2.98 |
| 2025 | 80.2°F | +1.4°F | 3.88 |
Over 87 complete years from 1912 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 USC00042319; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Death Valley National Park's climate compare?
Death Valley National Park is warmer than 219 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 0. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 78.8°F is warmer than 100%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Death Valley National Park is BWh: hot desert. 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 Death Valley National Park share this climate record?
Furnace Creek 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.
- Furnace Creek, CA102 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 Death Valley National Park's climate
What is the coldest month at Death Valley National Park?
December, with a normal high of 66°F and a normal low of 41°F. The warmest is July (117°F by day, 91°F at night).
Does it snow at Death Valley National Park?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month at Death Valley National Park?
February, with 0.52 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is May with 0.03 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Death Valley National Park in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Death Valley National Park in zone 9a in ZIP code 92328, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come at Death Valley National Park?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 1; in one year in ten it comes after January 21. Waiting until January 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Stovepipe Wells (1 mi SW), CA18 miles from this station, 77.0°F a year
- Amargosa Farms-Garey, NV24 miles from this station, 64.5°F a year
- Beatty, NV38 miles from this station, 59.8°F a year
- Pahrump, NV47 miles from this station, 62.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made