El Centro, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from El Centro's primary NOAA station, EL CENTRO 2 SSW.
The climate verdict for El Centro
El Centro, California is cooling-led and dry. Its 2.5 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 74°F. It scores 80/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 76% of them.
- 74°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 80/100
- comfort score, above 76% of station-mapped location scores
- 2.5"
- yearly precipitation total
- 358 days
- frost-free days per growing season
El Centro: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00042713 · El Centro, CA 74°F mean · 2.5" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 74°F
- RANK-WARM #6,724
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Zapata
- PRCP-ARID 2.5"
- SWING-MID 37°F
- COMF-TOP 80/100
- LOAD-COOL 4,247 CDD
- STN-1 USC00042713
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Zapata, TX (+ 0.1 °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 CA station list.
- Hot Yuma Quartermas…, AZ 75°F
- El Centro (this station) 74°F
- Near Zapata, TX 74°F
- Near Rio Grande City, TX 74°F
- Near Kofa Mine, AZ 74°F
Climate Living Index · El Centro
El Centro: 55/100 · grade C
El Centro publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for El Centro, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 80/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 358 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.0 inches/year | 90/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 74.3°F · 6.8° from 67.5°F | 79/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 171 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 2.5 in · 32.5 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
El Centro · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
El Centro's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWh
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as hot desert (BWh). Class BWh is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically hot desert.
- Köppen code
- BWh
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 93.0°F
- Coldest month
- 56.2°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 · cooling-led station
Where El Centro sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for El Centro's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 2% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, El Centro sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 100%
- El Centro's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 78%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for El Centro is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How El Centro compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
El Centro's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
80 Top 24% score exceeds 76% 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%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
El Centro's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 47 complete annual observations from 1934 to 2024, EL CENTRO 2 SSW warmed at a fitted rate of 0.24°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- El Centro primary station fitted change +0.24 °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 | 71°F (22°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 74°F (23°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 80°F (27°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| April | 86°F (30°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 10.8 |
| May | 94°F (34°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 23.1 |
| June | 103°F (39°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 87°F (30°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.3 |
| July | 107°F (42°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 93°F (34°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 31.0 |
| August | 107°F (42°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 93°F (34°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 30.9 |
| September | 102°F (39°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 88°F (31°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.0 |
| October | 92°F (33°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 19.9 |
| November | 79°F (26°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| December | 70°F (21°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in El Centro runs from a mild 42°F around December 20 to 107°F at the peak near July 15, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 3 through October 20, covering 171 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs January 7 to December 9.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 42°F around December 20.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 15, when 9% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 12 at 0%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 13 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 11 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 33°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for El Centro.
Where El Centro Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 171 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 3 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
El Centro 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
1.7 days with precipitation
2.5 days with precipitation
1.7 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.3 days with precipitation
0.1 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
1.1 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
1.9 days with precipitation
El Centro's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 47% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 12%. 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 36.8°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 0.4"
- Driest month
- June, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- February, January, December (47% 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.
El Centro is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 13 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 4% of the calendar, and they carry 2.5" 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 3 wet days; the driest is June at about 0.
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.
El Centro's record shows no measurable snowfall
This station measured snowfall across the 1991-2020 period and recorded none: the annual normal is 0.0 inches. That is a measured zero rather than missing data, which is a meaningful distinction here , most stations in the database simply do not report snow at all, and those pages say nothing about it.
A thirty-year normal of zero describes the typical year at this station. It is not a claim that snow has never fallen in the area.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 27
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 3
50% probability date
Growing Season
358 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
834
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
4,247
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to El Centro 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 (74°F here).
- Belle Glade, FL 74°F · 0.0°F off
- Hana, HI 74°F · 0.0°F off
- Plant City, FL 74°F · 0.0°F off
- Bullhead City, AZ 74°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (2.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Yuma Proving Ground, AZ 3.5" · 1.0" off
- Wendover, UT 3.6" · 1.1" off
- Tacna, AZ 3.8" · 1.3" off
- Yuma, AZ 4.0" · 1.5" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where El Centro's limited precipitation lands
cooling led · dry · mid swing
Air-conditioning demand is the clearest thermal signal here. El Centro accumulates 4,247 cooling degree days, more than twice its 834 heating total; the monthly table shows when that imbalance builds rather than treating it as a year-round condition.
Heat demand sits beside limited local precipitation: El Centro receives 2.5 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. Month-level precipitation is the useful check on when that small annual total arrives.
August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in El Centro's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 36.8°F. The annual average is 74°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
With about 358 frost-free days, the calendar is constrained more by sustained heat than by freeze timing. This does not measure crop suitability or soil moisture; it only reports the NOAA-derived frost-free window for El Centro.
El Centro wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (2.5 inches).
El Centro driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about El Centro's climate
How dry is El Centro? ▼
How many days above 90°F does El Centro get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in El Centro? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from El Centro's primary station: EL CENTRO 2 SSW (USC00042713). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0621782). Match rule for El Centro: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for El Centro 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.