Garden Valley, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Garden Valley's normal year runs from 19°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 26.6 inches of precipitation and 69 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.2°C, January lows of −7°C, July highs of 32°C, 674 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationGarden Valley
- Station IDUSC00103448
- Location44.10°N 115.97°W
- Elevation3,100 ft (945 m)
- Population (census place)364
On October 23, the normal high in Garden Valley is 59°F and the normal low 30°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Garden Valley.
- Jan 34° 19°
- Feb 41° 22°
- Mar 52° 27°
- Apr 60° 32°
- May 69° 38°
- Jun 78° 44°
- Jul 89° 48°
- Aug 89° 46°
- Sep 79° 39°
- Oct 64° 31°
- Nov 44° 26°
- Dec 33° 20°
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 Garden Valley each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in December (4.96 in), the least in July (0.42 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 19°F | 26.5°F | 4.22 | 22.8 | 12 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 41°F | 22°F | 31.2°F | 2.53 | 10.2 | 11 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 52°F | 27°F | 39.5°F | 2.91 | 3.5 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 32°F | 46.2°F | 2.13 | 0.4 | 10 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 38°F | 53.8°F | 1.79 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 78°F | 44°F | 60.8°F | 1.35 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 48°F | 68.4°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 3 | 18 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 89°F | 46°F | 67.1°F | 0.46 | 0.0 | 2 | 18 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 79°F | 39°F | 58.9°F | 0.85 | 0.0 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 64°F | 31°F | 47.5°F | 1.73 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 44°F | 26°F | 34.8°F | 3.20 | 8.0 | 11 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 33°F | 20°F | 26.5°F | 4.96 | 24.2 | 13 | <1 | 29 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 33°F | 46.8°F | 26.55 | 69.4 | 98 | 46 | 180 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −7°C | −3.1°C | 107 mm | 58 cm |
| February | 5°C | −6°C | −0.4°C | 64 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 4.2°C | 74 mm | 9 cm |
| April | 16°C | 0°C | 7.9°C | 54 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 21°C | 3°C | 12.1°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 26°C | 6°C | 16.0°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 9°C | 20.2°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 8°C | 19.5°C | 12 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 4°C | 14.9°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 0°C | 8.6°C | 44 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −3°C | 1.6°C | 81 mm | 20 cm |
| December | 1°C | −7°C | −3.1°C | 126 mm | 61 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00103448; 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 Garden Valley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00103448.
When is the last frost in Garden Valley?
In Garden Valley, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 1 in half of years and after June 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 10 in half of years and before August 28 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
- June 11 year in 10 after June 20; 9 in 10 after May 13
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 101 year in 10 before August 28; 9 in 10 before September 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 102 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 136 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 11 in half of springs and before September 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Garden Valley in zone 6b in ZIP code 83622, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Garden Valley's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 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 Idaho · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00103448; 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 Garden Valley?
In a normal year in Garden Valley, 46 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 180 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 98 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 46a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 180a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 23high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 98a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 22a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on July 28, 1934; the lowest is −32°F, on January 21, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1970, with 35.71 in; the snowiest season is 2007–08, with 120.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00103448; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00103448. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Garden Valley?
Over a year 75% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Garden Valley, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and December the cloudiest (58%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.6 |
| February | 66% | 2.6 |
| March | 65% | 3.6 |
| April | 70% | 5.1 |
| May | 71% | 6.0 |
| June | 78% | 7.0 |
| July | 89% | 7.7 |
| August | 87% | 6.5 |
| September | 83% | 4.9 |
| October | 73% | 3.1 |
| November | 64% | 1.8 |
| December | 58% | 1.3 |
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 Garden Valley need?
A normal year in Garden Valley brings 6,913 heating degree days, 29% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 292 cooling degree days, 68% 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 1,953 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,194 | 0 |
| February | 945 | 0 |
| March | 791 | 0 |
| April | 564 | 0 |
| May | 350 | 3 |
| June | 157 | 31 |
| July | 31 | 135 |
| August | 40 | 106 |
| September | 201 | 18 |
| October | 545 | 1 |
| November | 906 | 0 |
| December | 1,192 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,913 | 292 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00103448. 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 Garden Valley been warmer than normal lately?
Over 44 complete years from 1917 to 2018, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.6°F per century (+0.03°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Garden Valley's climate compare?
Garden Valley is warmer than 44 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 69. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.8°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Garden Valley is Dsb: continental, 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 Garden Valley share this climate record?
2 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.
- Crouch, ID179 people · 1 mi N
- Banks, ID0 people · 8 mi W
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 Garden Valley's climate
What is the coldest month in Garden Valley?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Garden Valley?
Yes: 69 inches in a normal year, falling on 24 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (24.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Garden Valley?
December, with 4.96 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Garden Valley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Garden Valley in zone 6b in ZIP code 83622, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Garden Valley's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −8°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Garden Valley?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 1; in one year in ten it comes after June 20. Waiting until June 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ola, ID16 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Lowman, ID17 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Idaho City, ID19 miles from this station, 43.8°F a year
- Cascade, ID29 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made