Independence, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Independence's primary NOAA station, INDEPENDENCE.
The climate verdict for Independence
Dryness leads the climate profile for Independence, California, with 5.4 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 63°F. Its climate comfort score of 68/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 56% of station-mapped location scores.
- 63°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 68/100
- comfort score, above 56% of station-mapped location scores
- 5.4"
- annual precipitation
- 223 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Independence: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00044232 · Independence, CA 63°F mean · 5.4" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 63°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,626
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ashdown
- PRCP-ARID 5.4"
- SWING-MID 42°F
- COMF-MID 68/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00044232
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ashdown, AR (+ 0 °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.
- Independence (this station) 63°F
- Hot Goodsprings, NV 63°F
- Near Ashdown, AR 63°F
- Near Chisos Basin, TX 63°F
- Near Durant, OK 63°F
Climate Living Index · Independence
Independence: 46/100 · grade D
Independence publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Independence, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 68/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 62.9°F · 4.6° from 67.5°F | 86/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 223 days/year | 78/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 191 calendar days | 19/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 5.4 in · 29.6 from 35 in | 2/100 · F |
Independence · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Independence's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWk
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as cold desert (BWk). Class BWk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold desert.
- Köppen code
- BWk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 84.7°F
- Coldest month
- 42.7°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 · balanced station
Where Independence sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Independence's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 18% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Independence sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 99%
- Independence's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 44th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Independence compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Independence's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
68 Top 44% score exceeds 56% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Independence's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 63 complete annual observations from 1893 to 2016, INDEPENDENCE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.06°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Independence primary station fitted change +0.06 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 22.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 61°F (16°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 0.9" | 13.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 69°F (21°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 0.7" | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 76°F (24°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.2" | 2.5 | 1.2 |
| May | 85°F (30°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.1" | 0.1 | 10.0 |
| June | 96°F (36°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 22.8 |
| July | 102°F (39°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 85°F (29°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 30.1 |
| August | 101°F (38°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 83°F (28°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 29.7 |
| September | 93°F (34°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 20.9 |
| October | 81°F (27°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.2" | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| November | 67°F (20°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 0.5" | 10.3 | 0.1 |
| December | 57°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 0.9" | 23.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Independence works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 103°F by July 25 and hold at or above 90°F on 118 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 73 dates, bottoming at 28°F around December 18.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 28 through September 22, covering 118 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 18 to November 10.
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 February 7, then returns to freezing around November 27, covering 73 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 February 10, when 15% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 22 at 3%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 26 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 12 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 36°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Independence.
Where Independence Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 118 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 5 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Independence earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
4.2 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
1.4 days with precipitation
1.3 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
1.1 days with precipitation
1.3 days with precipitation
1.2 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
3.8 days with precipitation
Independence's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 58% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 7%. 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 42°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 1.4"
- Driest month
- September, 0.1"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (58% 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 Independence's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 26 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 5.4" between them, or roughly 0.21 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 9
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 31
50% probability date
Growing Season
223 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,950
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,213
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Independence 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 (63°F here).
- Ashdown, AR 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Durant, OK 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Goodsprings, NV 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Hamlet, NC 63°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (5.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bullhead City, AZ 5.4" · 0.0" off
- Dyer, NV 5.4" · 0.0" off
- Laughlin, NV 5.3" · 0.1" off
- Deaver, WY 5.5" · 0.1" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Independence's limited precipitation lands
mixed demand · dry · mid swing
Local precipitation is sparse in this otherwise mixed profile. The station reports 5.4 inches annually, within PlainClimate's dry band. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly distribution matters because the total alone does not reveal the timing.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Independence's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 42.0°F. The annual average is 63°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Independence's normal, at 2,950 and 2,213 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 223-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
Independence wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (5.4 inches).
Independence driest normal
July
July is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Independence's climate
How dry is Independence? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Independence get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Independence? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Independence's primary station: INDEPENDENCE (USC00044232). 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 0636350), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Independence: 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 Independence 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.