Howard Prairie Dam, Oregon climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Howard Prairie Dam's normal year runs from 23°F December nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 31.3 inches of precipitation and 118 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.7°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 26°C, 795 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationHoward Prairie Dam
- Station IDUSC00354060
- Location42.23°N 122.38°W
- Elevation4,567 ft (1,392 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Howard Prairie Dam is 54°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Howard Prairie Dam.
- Jan 36° 23°
- Feb 40° 24°
- Mar 45° 26°
- Apr 51° 30°
- May 60° 36°
- Jun 68° 40°
- Jul 79° 47°
- Aug 79° 46°
- Sep 72° 40°
- Oct 58° 33°
- Nov 42° 28°
- Dec 35° 23°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Howard Prairie Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.92 in), the least in August (0.39 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 23°F | 29.5°F | 4.67 | 25.4 | 15 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| February | 40°F | 24°F | 31.6°F | 3.76 | 23.5 | 14 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 45°F | 26°F | 35.2°F | 3.67 | 16.0 | 16 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 51°F | 30°F | 40.0°F | 2.66 | 9.2 | 13 | <1 | 22 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 60°F | 36°F | 47.9°F | 2.04 | 1.2 | 11 | <1 | 11 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 68°F | 40°F | 54.3°F | 1.03 | 0.1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 79°F | 47°F | 62.9°F | 0.49 | 0.0 | 2 | 3 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 79°F | 46°F | 62.3°F | 0.39 | 0.0 | 2 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 72°F | 40°F | 56.1°F | 0.68 | 0.1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 58°F | 33°F | 45.5°F | 2.00 | 1.0 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 42°F | 28°F | 35.0°F | 3.97 | 14.8 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 35°F | 23°F | 28.8°F | 5.92 | 26.3 | 16 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 55°F | 33°F | 44.1°F | 31.28 | 117.6 | 118 | 7 | 189 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −5°C | −1.4°C | 119 mm | 65 cm |
| February | 4°C | −5°C | −0.2°C | 96 mm | 60 cm |
| March | 7°C | −3°C | 1.8°C | 93 mm | 41 cm |
| April | 10°C | −1°C | 4.4°C | 68 mm | 23 cm |
| May | 16°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 52 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 8°C | 17.2°C | 12 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 8°C | 16.8°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 4°C | 13.4°C | 17 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | 1°C | 7.5°C | 51 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 6°C | −2°C | 1.7°C | 101 mm | 38 cm |
| December | 2°C | −5°C | −1.8°C | 150 mm | 67 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00354060; 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.
Which months are mildest at Howard Prairie Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00354060.
When is the last frost at Howard Prairie Dam?
In Howard Prairie Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 8 in half of years and after June 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 24 in half of years and before September 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
- June 81 year in 10 after June 25; 9 in 10 after May 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 241 year in 10 before September 6; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 108 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 157 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 7 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Howard Prairie Dam in zone 8a in ZIP code 97520, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (20 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 Oregon · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00354060; 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 at Howard Prairie Dam?
In a normal year in Howard Prairie Dam, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 189 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 189a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 22high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 36a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1960) is 100°F, on June 29, 2021; the lowest is −20°F, on January 22, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 50.16 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 272.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00354060; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00354060. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Howard Prairie Dam?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Howard Prairie Dam, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 63% | 1.7 |
| February | 67% | 2.6 |
| March | 67% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 5.2 |
| May | 78% | 6.5 |
| June | 86% | 7.6 |
| July | 94% | 8.0 |
| August | 93% | 6.9 |
| September | 89% | 5.3 |
| October | 80% | 3.5 |
| November | 66% | 2.0 |
| December | 59% | 1.4 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Howard Prairie Dam record?
A normal year at Howard Prairie Dam brings 7,688 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 89 cooling degree days, 90% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,283 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,099 | 0 |
| February | 937 | 0 |
| March | 922 | 0 |
| April | 750 | 0 |
| May | 533 | 1 |
| June | 326 | 6 |
| July | 109 | 44 |
| August | 116 | 32 |
| September | 271 | 6 |
| October | 603 | 0 |
| November | 900 | 0 |
| December | 1,124 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,688 | 89 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00354060. 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.
Have recent years at Howard Prairie Dam been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 46.3°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 44.1°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.8°F | +0.7°F | 21.64 | 115.5 |
| 2022 | 44.4°F | +0.3°F | 26.18 | 81.0 |
| 2023 | 44.0°F | −0.1°F | 29.94 | 140.5 |
| 2024 | 45.5°F | +1.4°F | 35.73 | 133.0 |
| 2025 | 46.3°F | +2.2°F | 32.53 | 96.0 |
Over 49 complete years from 1961 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.5°F per century (+0.20°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00354060; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Howard Prairie Dam's climate compare?
Howard Prairie Dam is warmer than 4 of the 105 places with their own NOAA record in Oregon, and wetter than 46. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 44.1°F is warmer than 16%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Howard Prairie Dam 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 Howard Prairie Dam share this climate record?
Rocky Point has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Rocky Point, OR326 people · 19 mi NE
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 Howard Prairie Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Howard Prairie Dam?
December, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 47°F at night).
Does it snow at Howard Prairie Dam?
Yes: 118 inches in a normal year, falling on 45 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (26.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Howard Prairie Dam?
December, with 5.92 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.39 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Howard Prairie Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Howard Prairie Dam in zone 8a in ZIP code 97520, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 4°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come at Howard Prairie Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 8; in one year in ten it comes after June 25. Waiting until June 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oregon climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ashland, OR17 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Copco #1 Dam, CA17 miles from this station, 53.8°F a year
- Keno, OR26 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Medford, OR27 miles from this station, 55.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made