Forks, WA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Forks's primary NOAA station, FORKS 1 E.
The climate verdict for Forks
Water is the standout signal in Forks, Washington: 119.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 50°F. At 48/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 17% of scores.
- 50°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 48/100
- comfort score, above 17% of station-mapped location scores
- 119.9"
- annual precipitation · 8" snow
- 182 days
- frost-free growing season
Forks: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00452914 · Forks, WA 50°F mean · 119.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-NARROW · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-MID #2,882
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Clearwater
- PRCP-WET 119.9"
- SWING-NARROW 23°F
- COMF-LOW 48/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,384 HDD
- STN-1 USC00452914
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Clearwater, 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.
- Hot Olympia, WA 51°F
- Forks (this station) 50°F
- Cold Coupeville, WA 50°F
- Near Clearwater, WA 50°F
- Near Clearbrook, WA 50°F
Climate Living Index · Forks
Forks: 56/100 · grade C
Forks publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Forks, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 48/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 7.9 inches/year | 66/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 182 days/year | 51/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 50.4°F · 17.1° from 67.5°F | 42/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 119.9 in · 84.9 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Forks · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Forks is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfb
Coldest-month mean 39.8°F and warmest-month mean 62.3°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, warm summer climates (Cfb). Class Cfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 62.3°F
- Coldest month
- 39.8°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 · heating-led station
Where Forks sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Forks's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 42nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 1% wettest
- Forks's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 96%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Forks is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Forks compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Forks's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
48 17th percentile score exceeds 17% 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
Forks's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 82 complete annual observations from 1915 to 2025, FORKS 1 E warmed at a fitted rate of 0.07°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Forks primary station fitted change +0.07 °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 | 47°F (8°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 19.1" | 3.1" | 11.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 50°F (10°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 11.7" | 1.3" | 11.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 53°F (12°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 14.3" | 0.5" | 9.4 | 0.0 |
| April | 59°F (15°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 9.4" | 0.1" | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 65°F (18°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 5.0" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| June | 68°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| July | 73°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 2.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| August | 74°F (23°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 2.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| September | 70°F (21°C) | 47°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| October | 60°F (16°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 11.7" | 0.0" | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 18.1" | 1.0" | 7.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 46°F (8°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 17.4" | 1.9" | 12.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Forks: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 34°F near December 19 and 75°F near July 31.
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 19.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is December 18, when 77% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 1 at 28%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 216 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 30 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Forks.
Where Forks Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 120 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Forks 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 and snowfall
Snow: 3.1"
23.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.3"
20.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.5"
23.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
20.4 days with precipitation
15.9 days with precipitation
15.7 days with precipitation
10.2 days with precipitation
9.4 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
18.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
23.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
23.7 days with precipitation
Forks's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 40% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 7%. 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 22.5°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 19.1"
- Driest month
- July, 2.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, November, December (45% 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 Forks, it arrives in quantity
119.9" of precipitation falls across only about 215 wet days here, averaging 0.56 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 215 a year, 59% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.56 inches
- Most wet days
- December, about 24
- Fewest wet days
- August, about 9
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.
Snow reaches Forks, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 7.9 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. 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 5 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
October 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
182 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,384
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
56
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WA closest to Forks 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 (50°F here).
- Alcalde, NM 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Beaver Falls, PA 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Brewster, KS 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Colorado Springs, CO 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (119.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Hilo, HI 120.4" · 0.5" off
- Petersburg, AK 110.2" · 9.8" off
- Metlakatla, AK 105.2" · 14.7" off
- Elfin Cove, AK 104.0" · 15.9" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Forks's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Forks, at 5,384 degree days versus 56 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 22.5°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Forks's frost-free season lasts about 182 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Forks's 22.5°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 50°F. Temperature is relatively steady; the monthly rows show how rain and snow observations vary across the calendar.
Alongside its heating load, Forks carries 119.9 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Annual snowfall totals 7.9 inches. 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 Forks'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 Forks, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Forks's climate
How much rain does Forks get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Forks? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Forks's primary station: FORKS 1 E (USC00452914). 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 5324810). Match rule for Forks: 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 Forks 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.