Desert Nwr, NV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Desert Nwr's primary NOAA station, DESERT NWR.
The climate verdict for Desert Nwr
Dryness leads the climate profile for Desert Nwr, Nevada, with 4.6 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 63°F. Its climate comfort score of 73/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 66% of station-mapped location scores.
- 63°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 73/100
- comfort score, above 66% of station-mapped location scores
- 4.6"
- annual precipitation
- 230 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Desert Nwr: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00262243 · Desert Nwr, NV 63°F mean · 4.6" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 63°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,557
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Antioch Pumping…
- PRCP-ARID 4.6"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-MID 73/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00262243
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Antioch Pumping Plt, CA (+ 0 °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 NV station list.
- Desert Nwr (this station) 63°F
- Hot Carlsbad Palomar, CA 63°F
- Near Antioch Pumping…, CA 63°F
- Near Camarillo, CA 63°F
- Near Camp Pardee, CA 63°F
Climate Living Index · Desert Nwr
Desert Nwr: 51/100 · grade D
Desert Nwr publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Desert Nwr, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 73/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 0.3 inches/year | 88/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 62.5°F · 5.0° from 67.5°F | 85/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 230 days/year | 81/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 185 calendar days | 22/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 4.6 in · 30.4 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Desert Nwr · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Desert Nwr's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWk
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as cold desert (BWk). Class BWk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold desert.
- Köppen code
- BWk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 84.4°F
- Coldest month
- 42.8°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 · balanced station
Where Desert Nwr sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Desert Nwr's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 19% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Desert Nwr sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 99%
- Desert Nwr's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 43rd percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Desert Nwr compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Desert Nwr's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
73 Top 34% score exceeds 66% 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
Desert Nwr's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 41 complete annual observations from 1941 to 2023, DESERT NWR warmed at a fitted rate of 0.26°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Desert Nwr primary station fitted change +0.26 °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 | 57°F (14°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 17.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 61°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 0.8" | 0.1" | 10.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 3.7 | 0.1 |
| April | 76°F (24°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| May | 85°F (30°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| June | 96°F (36°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 25.5 |
| July | 101°F (38°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 84°F (29°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 30.3 |
| August | 100°F (38°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 83°F (28°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 30.0 |
| September | 92°F (33°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 22.6 |
| October | 79°F (26°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 4.4 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 7.8 | 0.1 |
| December | 56°F (13°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 0.4" | 0.2" | 19.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Desert Nwr works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 102°F by July 14 and hold at or above 90°F on 116 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 69 dates, bottoming at 30°F around December 18.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 29 through September 21, covering 116 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 24 to November 6.
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.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 5, then returns to freezing around November 29, covering 69 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 15, when 13% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 9 at 2%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 25 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 14 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 36°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Desert Nwr.
Where Desert Nwr Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 116 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 5 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Desert Nwr earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
3.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
3.7 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
1.2 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
1.3 days with precipitation
1.7 days with precipitation
1.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
2.4 days with precipitation
Desert Nwr's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 39% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 18%. 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 41.6°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 0.8"
- Driest month
- June, 0.1"
- Wettest three months
- February, March, January (43% 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.
Desert Nwr is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 24 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 7% of the calendar, and they carry 4.6" between them. At roughly 0.19 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is February at about 4 wet days; the driest is June at about 1.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Snow reaches Desert Nwr, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 0.3 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. 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 0 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 7
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 22
50% probability date
Growing Season
230 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,983
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,115
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NV closest to Desert Nwr 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 (63°F here).
- Camarillo, CA 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Grenada, MS 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Lambert, MS 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Lumberton, NC 63°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (4.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Quartzsite, AZ 4.6" · 0.0" off
- Parker, AZ 4.6" · 0.0" off
- Joshua Tree, CA 4.4" · 0.2" off
- Bishop, CA 4.8" · 0.2" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Desert Nwr's limited precipitation lands
mixed demand · dry · mid swing
Local precipitation is sparse in this otherwise mixed profile. The station reports 4.6 inches annually, within PlainClimate's dry band. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. The monthly distribution matters because the total alone does not reveal the timing.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Desert Nwr's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 41.6°F. The annual average is 63°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Desert Nwr's normal, at 2,983 and 2,115 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 230-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
Desert Nwr wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (4.6 inches).
Desert Nwr driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Desert Nwr's climate
How dry is Desert Nwr? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Desert Nwr get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Desert Nwr? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Desert Nwr's primary station: DESERT NWR (USC00262243). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Desert Nwr; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Desert Nwr 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.