Hollister, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Hollister's primary NOAA station, HOLLISTER 2.
The climate verdict for Hollister
Dryness leads the climate profile for Hollister, California, with 13.7 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 59°F. It scores 77/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 70% of them.
- 59°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 77/100
- comfort score, above 70% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.7"
- yearly precipitation total
- 285 days
- frost-free growing season
Hollister: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00044025 · Hollister, CA 59°F mean · 13.7" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 59°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,871
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Palo Alto
- PRCP-DRY 13.7"
- SWING-NARROW 20°F
- COMF-TOP 77/100
- LOAD-HEAT 2,739 HDD
- STN-1 USC00044025
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Palo Alto, CA ( -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.
- Hollister (this station) 59°F
- Hot Santa Rosa, CA 59°F
- Near Palo Alto, CA 59°F
- Cold Carmel Valley, CA 58°F
- Near Twitchell Dam, CA 58°F
Climate Living Index · Hollister
Hollister: 77/100 · grade B
Hollister publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Hollister, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 77/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 285 days/year | 98/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.1 inches/year | 89/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 58.6°F · 8.9° from 67.5°F | 72/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 13.7 in · 21.3 from 35 in | 24/100 · F |
Hollister · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Hollister is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 48.3°F and warmest-month mean 67.9°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
- 67.9°F
- Coldest month
- 48.3°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 Hollister sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Hollister's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 29% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Hollister sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 86%
- Hollister's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 97%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Hollister is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Hollister compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Hollister's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
77 Top 30% score exceeds 70% 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%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Hollister's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 107 complete annual observations from 1877 to 2025, HOLLISTER 2 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.
- Hollister 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 | 60°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 3.1" | 0.0" | 5.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 62°F (17°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 2.6" | 0.0" | 2.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 66°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.2" | 0.0" | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 69°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.0" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| June | 78°F (26°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| July | 80°F (26°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| October | 77°F (25°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.3 |
| November | 67°F (19°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 1.5 | 0.1 |
| December | 59°F (15°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 2.3" | 0.1" | 7.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Hollister: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 37°F near December 17 and 82°F near August 26.
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 37°F around December 17.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 15, when 32% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 24 at 0%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 48 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 10 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Hollister.
Where Hollister Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Hollister 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
8.3 days with precipitation
9.6 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.4 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
7.4 days with precipitation
Hollister's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 59% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 1%. 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 19.6°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 3.1"
- Driest month
- July, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (59% 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 Hollister's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 48 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.7" between them, or roughly 0.29 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 Hollister, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 0.1 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.
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
December 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 19
50% probability date
Growing Season
285 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,739
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
412
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Hollister 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 (59°F here).
- Alva, OK 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Billings, OK 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Chase City, VA 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Clarkesville, GA 59°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Canon City, CO 13.7" · 0.0" off
- Grandfalls, TX 13.7" · 0.0" off
- Seneca, OR 13.7" · 0.0" off
- Fort Stockton, TX 13.7" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Hollister's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Hollister, at 2,739 degree days versus 412 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 19.6°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Hollister has a long frost-free window of roughly 285 days, but the dry annual profile is a separate constraint. Growing-season length says when freezes are unlikely, not whether rainfall is sufficient.
The calendar stays thermally compact and dry. August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, only 19.6°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 59°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
Hollister's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.7 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Hollister wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (13.7 inches).
Hollister driest normal
July
July is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Hollister's climate
How dry is Hollister? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Hollister? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Hollister's primary station: HOLLISTER 2 (USC00044025). 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 0634120). Match rule for Hollister: 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 Hollister 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.