Hanford, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Hanford's normal year runs from 35°F December nights to 98°F July afternoons, with 8.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.4°C, December lows of 2°C, July highs of 37°C, 207 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHanford Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00053119
- Location36.32°N 119.63°W
- Elevation249 ft (76 m)
- Population60,594
On October 14, the normal high in Hanford is 82°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 9%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Hanford.
- Jan 57° 37°
- Feb 63° 39°
- Mar 70° 44°
- Apr 76° 47°
- May 85° 54°
- Jun 93° 60°
- Jul 98° 64°
- Aug 97° 62°
- Sep 92° 57°
- Oct 81° 49°
- Nov 67° 40°
- Dec 57° 35°
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 Hanford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 98°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 35°F. The most precipitation falls in January (1.56 in), the least in August (0.00 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 37°F | 46.8°F | 1.56 | 8 | <1 | 9 | 10 h |
| February | 63°F | 39°F | 50.9°F | 1.44 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 70°F | 44°F | 56.7°F | 1.49 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 76°F | 47°F | 61.8°F | 0.72 | 5 | 3 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 85°F | 54°F | 69.2°F | 0.35 | 3 | 9 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 93°F | 60°F | 76.0°F | 0.07 | 1 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 98°F | 64°F | 81.1°F | 0.02 | <1 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 97°F | 62°F | 79.9°F | 0.00 | <1 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 92°F | 57°F | 74.7°F | 0.04 | 1 | 20 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 81°F | 49°F | 64.6°F | 0.46 | 3 | 3 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 40°F | 53.2°F | 0.62 | 7 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 57°F | 35°F | 46.0°F | 1.36 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 49°F | 63.4°F | 8.13 | 50 | 112 | 31 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 3°C | 8.2°C | 40 mm |
| February | 17°C | 4°C | 10.5°C | 37 mm |
| March | 21°C | 6°C | 13.7°C | 38 mm |
| April | 25°C | 8°C | 16.6°C | 18 mm |
| May | 29°C | 12°C | 20.7°C | 9 mm |
| June | 34°C | 15°C | 24.4°C | 2 mm |
| July | 37°C | 18°C | 27.3°C | 1 mm |
| August | 36°C | 17°C | 26.6°C | 0 mm |
| September | 33°C | 14°C | 23.7°C | 1 mm |
| October | 27°C | 9°C | 18.1°C | 12 mm |
| November | 19°C | 4°C | 11.8°C | 16 mm |
| December | 14°C | 2°C | 7.8°C | 35 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Hanford's own co-op station Hanford (1 mi S) does: 0 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053119; 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 Hanford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USW00053119.
When is the last frost in Hanford?
In Hanford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 20 in half of years and after March 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 23 in half of years and before November 6 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
- February 201 year in 10 after March 21; 9 in 10 after January 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 231 year in 10 before November 6; 9 in 10 before December 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 276 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 329 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 19 in half of springs and before December 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Hanford in zone 9a in ZIP code 93202, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Hanford's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (22 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 USW00053119; 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 Hanford?
In a normal year in Hanford, 112 days a year reach 90°F (33 of them 100°F or more), 31 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 50 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 112a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 33a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 31a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 50a normal year
The highest temperature in Hanford's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1899) is 116°F, on July 27, 1933; the lowest is 14°F, on January 7, 1913.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 15.57 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 2.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00053119; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record HJOthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Hanford?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Hanford, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (98%) and January the cloudiest (71%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 21st (with 17 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 2.4 |
| February | 78% | 3.6 |
| March | 84% | 5.1 |
| April | 87% | 6.5 |
| May | 92% | 7.7 |
| June | 97% | 8.5 |
| July | 97% | 8.1 |
| August | 98% | 7.4 |
| September | 97% | 6.1 |
| October | 92% | 4.5 |
| November | 83% | 3.1 |
| December | 72% | 2.2 |
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 Hanford need?
A normal year in Hanford brings 2,423 heating degree days, 55% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,868 cooling degree days, 2.1 times the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,283 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 564 | 0 |
| February | 393 | 0 |
| March | 264 | 6 |
| April | 137 | 39 |
| May | 32 | 162 |
| June | 3 | 333 |
| July | 0 | 499 |
| August | 0 | 462 |
| September | 5 | 297 |
| October | 81 | 69 |
| November | 355 | 1 |
| December | 589 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,423 | 1,868 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00053119. 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 Hanford been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 64.3°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.4°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.9°F | +1.5°F | 8.22 |
| 2022 | 65.0°F | +1.6°F | 5.43 |
| 2024 | 66.6°F | +3.2°F | 10.03 |
| 2025 | 64.3°F | +0.9°F | 9.48 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00053119. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Hanford's climate compare?
Hanford is warmer than 158 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 33. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.4°F is warmer than 84%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Hanford is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Hanford share this climate record?
7 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.
- Kingsburg, CA13,128 people · 15 mi N
- Armona, CA4,084 people · 4 mi W
- Home Garden, CA1,903 people · 1 mi S
- Laton, CA1,151 people · 9 mi NW
- Traver, CA384 people · 12 mi NE
- Grangeville, CA190 people · 5 mi W
- Hardwick, CA167 people · 8 mi NW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Hanford's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Hanford. This page uses Hanford Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanford (1 mi S) USC00043747 | in town | 237 ft | 63.9°F | 37°F | 98°F | 8.5 | 0 | February 7 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Hanford's climate
What is the coldest month in Hanford?
December, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 35°F. The warmest is July (98°F by day, 64°F at night).
Does it snow in Hanford?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Hanford's NOAA station; Hanford's own co-op station Hanford (1 mi S) records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Hanford?
January, with 1.56 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.00 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Hanford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Hanford in zone 9a in ZIP code 93202, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Hanford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Hanford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 20; in one year in ten it comes after March 21. Waiting until March 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Hanford in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Corcoran, CA16 miles from this station, 63.7°F a year
- Lemoore, CA18 miles from this station, 63.0°F a year
- Visalia, CA19 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Kettleman City, CA29 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made