Downieville, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Downieville's normal year runs from 29°F December nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 64.9 inches of precipitation and 26 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.7°C, December lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,649 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationDownieville
- Station IDUSC00042500
- Location39.56°N 120.82°W
- Elevation2,915 ft (889 m)
- Population (census place)174
On October 23, the normal high in Downieville is 68°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Downieville.
- Jan 48° 30°
- Feb 52° 31°
- Mar 58° 33°
- Apr 63° 36°
- May 72° 42°
- Jun 81° 46°
- Jul 89° 51°
- Aug 89° 50°
- Sep 83° 46°
- Oct 72° 39°
- Nov 56° 33°
- Dec 46° 29°
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 Downieville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in December (11.81 in), the least in July (0.06 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F | 30°F | 39.0°F | 11.26 | 6.4 | 13 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 10.73 | 7.9 | 12 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 58°F | 33°F | 45.3°F | 10.00 | 4.2 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 36°F | 49.5°F | 5.34 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 9 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 42°F | 57.0°F | 3.65 | 0.1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 81°F | 46°F | 63.8°F | 1.07 | 0.0 | 3 | 7 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 89°F | 51°F | 70.2°F | 0.06 | 0.0 | 1 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 89°F | 50°F | 69.3°F | 0.19 | 0.0 | 1 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 83°F | 46°F | 64.7°F | 0.66 | 0.0 | 2 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 39°F | 55.4°F | 3.34 | 0.1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 56°F | 33°F | 44.3°F | 6.81 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 15 | 10 h |
| December | 46°F | 29°F | 37.7°F | 11.81 | 5.1 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 39°F | 53.1°F | 64.92 | 26.2 | 83 | 53 | 112 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −1°C | 3.9°C | 286 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 273 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 14°C | 1°C | 7.4°C | 254 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 17°C | 2°C | 9.7°C | 136 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 22°C | 5°C | 13.9°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 8°C | 17.7°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 11°C | 21.2°C | 2 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 10°C | 20.7°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 8°C | 18.2°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 4°C | 13.0°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | 1°C | 6.8°C | 173 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 8°C | −2°C | 3.2°C | 300 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042500; 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 Downieville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00042500.
When is the last frost in Downieville?
In Downieville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 28 in half of years and after May 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 25 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 281 year in 10 after May 22; 9 in 10 after April 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 251 year in 10 before October 9; 9 in 10 before November 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 178 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 219 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 6 in half of springs and before November 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Downieville in zone 8a in ZIP code 95936, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Downieville's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (27 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 USC00042500; 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 Downieville?
In a normal year in Downieville, 53 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 112 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 83 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 53a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 112a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 83a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 107°F, on June 25, 2006; the lowest is 1°F, on January 10, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 114.36 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 151.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00042500; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00042500. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Downieville?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Downieville, 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 Downieville need?
A normal year in Downieville brings 4,757 heating degree days, 11% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 455 cooling degree days, 50% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,642 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 806 | 0 |
| February | 658 | 0 |
| March | 611 | 0 |
| April | 465 | 0 |
| May | 263 | 13 |
| June | 94 | 59 |
| July | 10 | 172 |
| August | 11 | 143 |
| September | 73 | 62 |
| October | 302 | 6 |
| November | 620 | 0 |
| December | 846 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,757 | 455 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042500. 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 Downieville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 54.8°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54.2°F | +1.1°F | 64.24 | 65.0 |
| 2022 | 53.5°F | +0.4°F | 50.72 | 14.5 |
| 2023 | 52.2°F | −0.9°F | 71.30 | 82.0 |
| 2024 | 54.2°F | +1.1°F | 75.70 | 15.5 |
| 2025 | 54.8°F | +1.7°F | – | – |
Over 45 complete years from 1947 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00042500; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Downieville's climate compare?
Downieville is warmer than 33 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 211. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.1°F is warmer than 54%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Downieville 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 Downieville share this climate record?
3 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Goodyears Bar, CA91 people · 4 mi W
- Alleghany, CA35 people · 7 mi S
- Little Grass Valley, CA10 people · 13 mi NW
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 Downieville's climate
What is the coldest month in Downieville?
December, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 51°F at night).
Does it snow in Downieville?
Yes: 26 inches in a normal year, falling on 9 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (7.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Downieville?
December, with 11.81 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.06 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Downieville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Downieville in zone 8a in ZIP code 95936, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Downieville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Downieville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 28; in one year in ten it comes after May 22. Waiting until May 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bowman Dam, CA12 miles from this station, 50.4°F a year
- Strawberry Valley, CA15 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Lake Spaulding, CA20 miles from this station, 48.1°F a year
- Blue Canyon Airport, CA21 miles from this station, 52.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made