Elma, WA 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 Elma's primary NOAA station, ELMA.
The climate verdict for Elma
Water is the standout signal in Elma, Washington: 72.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 52°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 52°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 72.0"
- annual precipitation
- 166 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Elma: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00452531 · Elma, WA 52°F mean · 72.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-NARROW · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 52°F
- RANK-MID #3,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Toledo Faa
- PRCP-WET 72.0"
- SWING-NARROW 25°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,780 HDD
- STN-1 USC00452531
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Toledo Faa, WA (+ 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 WA station list.
- Elma (this station) 52°F
- Cold Everett, WA 52°F
- Hot Foster Dam, OR 52°F
- Near Toledo Faa, WA 52°F
- Near Bremerton, WA 52°F
Climate Living Index · Elma
Elma: 55/100 · grade C
Elma publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Elma, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 52.3°F · 15.2° from 67.5°F | 50/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 166 days/year | 38/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 72.0 in · 37.0 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Elma · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Elma is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 40.6°F and warmest-month mean 65.5°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Csb). Class Csb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Csb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 65.5°F
- Coldest month
- 40.6°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 · heating-led station
Where Elma sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Elma's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 50th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 2% wettest
- Elma's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 95%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Elma is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Elma compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Elma's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 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
Elma's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 59 complete annual observations from 1941 to 2025, ELMA warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Elma primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F (9°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 11.1" | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 52°F (11°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 7.0" | 12.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (14°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 8.2" | 10.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 62°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 5.4" | 5.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.3" | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| June | 72°F (22°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 2.2" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| July | 78°F (26°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.8" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| August | 80°F (26°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 1.4" | 0.0 | 3.7 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 2.7" | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 7.2" | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 53°F (12°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 11.4" | 9.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 47°F (9°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 11.4" | 13.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Elma: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 34°F near December 13 and 80°F near July 30.
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 34°F around December 13.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is November 25, when 77% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 25 at 18%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 197 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 26 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Elma.
Where Elma Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 72 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Elma earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
22.7 days with precipitation
19.1 days with precipitation
21.6 days with precipitation
19.7 days with precipitation
13.7 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
5.2 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
18.6 days with precipitation
23.3 days with precipitation
23.3 days with precipitation
Elma's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 41% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 6%. 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 an unusually narrow 24.9°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- November, 11.4"
- Driest month
- July, 0.8"
- Wettest three months
- November, December, January (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.
When it rains in Elma, it arrives in quantity
72.0" of precipitation falls across only about 196 wet days here, averaging 0.37 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 196 a year, 54% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.37 inches
- Most wet days
- November, about 23
- Fewest wet days
- July, about 5
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 14
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
166 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,780
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
171
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WA closest to Elma 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 (52°F here).
- Albany, MO 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Avondale, PA 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Benkelman, NE 52°F · 0.0°F off
- Bucyrus, OH 52°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (72.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hana, HI 72.2" · 0.1" off
- Juno Beach, FL 72.2" · 0.1" off
- Bay Minette, AL 71.8" · 0.2" off
- Clayton, GA 71.7" · 0.3" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Elma's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Elma, at 4,780 degree days versus 171 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 24.9°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Elma's frost-free season lasts about 166 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Elma's 24.9°F seasonal spread is compact even though precipitation is abundant. August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar. The annual average is 52°F. Temperature is relatively steady; the monthly rows show how rain and snow observations vary across the calendar.
Alongside its heating load, Elma carries 72.0 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Elma's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Elma, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Elma's climate
How much rain does Elma get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Elma? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Elma's primary station: ELMA (USC00452531). 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 5321450). Match rule for Elma: 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 Elma 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.