Fort Bragg, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Fort Bragg's normal year runs from 40°F December nights to 65°F August afternoons, with 43.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.8°C, December lows of 4°C, August highs of 18°C, 1,096 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationFort Bragg (5 mi N)
- Station IDUSC00043161
- Location39.51°N 123.76°W
- Elevation123 ft (38 m)
- Population7,117
On October 23, the normal high in Fort Bragg is 60°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Fort Bragg.
- Jan 52° 40°
- Feb 54° 41°
- Mar 55° 41°
- Apr 57° 42°
- May 60° 45°
- Jun 63° 47°
- Jul 65° 49°
- Aug 65° 50°
- Sep 65° 49°
- Oct 62° 46°
- Nov 56° 43°
- Dec 52° 40°
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 Fort Bragg each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 65°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 40°F. The most precipitation falls in December (8.66 in), the least in July (0.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F | 40°F | 45.9°F | 7.66 | 16 | <1 | 3 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 54°F | 41°F | 47.1°F | 7.27 | 14 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 55°F | 41°F | 48.0°F | 6.43 | 15 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 42°F | 49.8°F | 3.60 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 60°F | 45°F | 52.6°F | 1.57 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 63°F | 47°F | 55.2°F | 0.74 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 65°F | 49°F | 57.0°F | 0.07 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 65°F | 50°F | 57.4°F | 0.10 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 65°F | 49°F | 56.7°F | 0.25 | 4 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 46°F | 53.8°F | 2.26 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 56°F | 43°F | 49.3°F | 4.55 | 13 | <1 | 1 | 10 h |
| December | 52°F | 40°F | 45.7°F | 8.66 | 17 | <1 | 4 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 59°F | 44°F | 51.5°F | 43.16 | 111 | <1 | 12 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | 5°C | 7.7°C | 195 mm |
| February | 12°C | 5°C | 8.4°C | 185 mm |
| March | 13°C | 5°C | 8.9°C | 163 mm |
| April | 14°C | 6°C | 9.9°C | 91 mm |
| May | 16°C | 7°C | 11.4°C | 40 mm |
| June | 17°C | 8°C | 12.9°C | 19 mm |
| July | 18°C | 9°C | 13.9°C | 2 mm |
| August | 18°C | 10°C | 14.1°C | 3 mm |
| September | 18°C | 9°C | 13.7°C | 6 mm |
| October | 16°C | 8°C | 12.1°C | 57 mm |
| November | 13°C | 6°C | 9.6°C | 116 mm |
| December | 11°C | 4°C | 7.6°C | 220 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00043161; 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 Fort Bragg?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in July and August. Of those, July 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 USC00043161.
When is the last frost in Fort Bragg?
In Fort Bragg, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 2 in half of years and after April 6 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 1 in half of years and before November 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
- March 21 year in 10 after April 6; 9 in 10 after January 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 11 year in 10 before November 9; 9 in 10 before January 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 272 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 360 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 7 in half of springs and before December 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fort Bragg in zone 9b in ZIP code 95420, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Fort Bragg's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00043161; 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 Fort Bragg?
In a normal year in Fort Bragg, a 90°F day is rare, 12 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 111 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 12a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 111a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 87°F, on September 26, 1895; the lowest is 18°F, on December 21, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 55.28 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00043161; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00043161. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Fort Bragg?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Fort Bragg, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (93%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.2 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 74% | 4.3 |
| April | 79% | 5.8 |
| May | 84% | 7.0 |
| June | 91% | 8.0 |
| July | 93% | 7.9 |
| August | 91% | 6.9 |
| September | 90% | 5.6 |
| October | 85% | 4.0 |
| November | 77% | 2.5 |
| December | 68% | 1.8 |
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 Fort Bragg need?
A normal year in Fort Bragg brings 4,908 heating degree days, 9% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 4 cooling degree days, 100% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,186 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 591 | 0 |
| February | 500 | 0 |
| March | 527 | 0 |
| April | 456 | 0 |
| May | 385 | 0 |
| June | 296 | 0 |
| July | 248 | 0 |
| August | 235 | 1 |
| September | 251 | 2 |
| October | 348 | 1 |
| November | 473 | 0 |
| December | 600 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,908 | 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00043161. 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 Fort Bragg been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 52.8°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.5°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52.8°F | +1.3°F | 39.96 |
Over 54 complete years from 1937 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 USC00043161; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Fort Bragg's climate compare?
Fort Bragg is warmer than 27 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 192. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.5°F is warmer than 47%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Fort Bragg 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 Fort Bragg share this climate record?
5 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.
- Cleone, CA918 people · 2 mi SW
- Mendocino, CA630 people · 14 mi S
- Caspar, CA337 people · 10 mi S
- Albion, CA214 people · 20 mi S
- Little River, CA141 people · 17 mi S
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 Fort Bragg's climate
What is the coldest month in Fort Bragg?
December, with a normal high of 52°F and a normal low of 40°F. The warmest is August (65°F by day, 50°F at night).
Does it snow in Fort Bragg?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Fort Bragg?
December, with 8.66 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Fort Bragg in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Fort Bragg in zone 9b in ZIP code 95420, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Fort Bragg's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Fort Bragg?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 2; in one year in ten it comes after April 6. Waiting until April 6 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Willits, CA23 miles from this station, 53.1°F a year
- Covelo, CA35 miles from this station, 55.8°F a year
- Potter Valley, CA35 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Richardson Grove State Park, CA36 miles from this station, 56.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made