Hat Creek, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Hat Creek's primary NOAA station, HAT CREEK.
The climate verdict for Hat Creek
Dryness leads the climate profile for Hat Creek, California, with 19.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 51°F. At 54/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 31% of scores.
- 51°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 54/100
- comfort score, above 31% of station-mapped location scores
- 19.3"
- annual precipitation · 11" snow
- 113 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Hat Creek: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00043824 · Hat Creek, CA 51°F mean · 19.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 51°F
- RANK-MID #2,882
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Transou
- PRCP-DRY 19.3"
- SWING-MID 35°F
- COMF-LOW 54/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,608 HDD
- STN-1 USC00043824
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Transou, NC ( -0.1 °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 CA station list.
- Hat Creek (this station) 51°F
- Hot Adin Ranger Sta…, CA 51°F
- Cold Mt Shasta, CA 50°F
- Near Transou, NC 50°F
- Near Bowman Dam, CA 50°F
Climate Living Index · Hat Creek
Hat Creek: 28/100 · grade F
Hat Creek publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Hat Creek, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 54/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 10.7 inches/year | 62/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 19.3 in · 15.7 from 35 in | 44/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 50.5°F · 17.0° from 67.5°F | 43/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 113 days/year | 4/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 236 calendar days | 0/100 · F |
Hat Creek · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Hat Creek is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 34.2°F and warmest-month mean 69.2°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
- 69.2°F
- Coldest month
- 34.2°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 Hat Creek sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Hat Creek'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
- Drier than 73%
- Hat Creek's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 82%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Hat Creek is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Hat Creek compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Hat Creek's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
54 31st percentile score exceeds 31% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Hat Creek's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 68 complete annual observations from 1921 to 2024, HAT CREEK warmed at a fitted rate of 0.04°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Hat Creek primary station fitted change +0.04 °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 | 48°F (9°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 3.0" | 0.4" | 28.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 53°F (11°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 2.6" | 2.4" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 58°F (15°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 2.7" | 1.1" | 24.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 64°F (18°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.8" | 0.8" | 17.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.5" | 0.0" | 5.4 | 2.3 |
| June | 82°F (28°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 7.7 |
| July | 91°F (33°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 20.0 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 19.4 |
| September | 85°F (29°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 4.3 | 10.5 |
| October | 71°F (22°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 20.9 | 1.0 |
| November | 56°F (13°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 2.1" | 0.4" | 25.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 46°F (8°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 3.0" | 5.6" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Hat Creek works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 24 and hold at or above 90°F on 43 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 193 dates, bottoming at 21°F around December 25.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 8 through August 19, covering 43 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 5 to October 18.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 18, then returns to freezing around October 9, covering 193 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 6, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 6 at 3%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 85 wet dates a year.
The widest day
September 7 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 47°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Hat Creek.
Where Hat Creek Stands Nationally
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 47°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 193 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Hat Creek earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 0.4"
12.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.4"
11.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
12.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
9.4 days with precipitation
7.6 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
1.0 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.4"
8.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.6"
12.3 days with precipitation
Hat Creek's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 45% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 5%. 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 a 35°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- December, 3.0"
- Driest month
- July, 0.2"
- Wettest three months
- December, January, March (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.
How Hat Creek's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 86 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 19.3" between them, or roughly 0.22 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Snow reaches Hat Creek, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 10.7 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. 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 4 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
September 19
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 29
50% probability date
Growing Season
113 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,608
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
340
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Hat Creek 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 (51°F here).
- Chenoa, IL 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Columbus, NE 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Coos Bay, OR 51°F · 0.0°F off
- Crook, CO 51°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (19.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Friona, TX 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Guffey, CO 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Elizabeth, CO 19.3" · 0.0" off
- Greer, AZ 19.3" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Hat Creek's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Hat Creek's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,608 annual heating degree days against 340 for cooling. Its 35.0°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 113 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Hat Creek's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 35.0°F. The annual average is 51°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Hat Creek's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 19.3 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 10.7 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Hat Creek'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 Hat Creek, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Hat Creek's climate
How much rain does Hat Creek get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Hat Creek get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Hat Creek? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Hat Creek's primary station: HAT CREEK (USC00043824). 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 0632408), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Hat Creek: 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 Hat Creek 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.