Independence, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Independence's normal year runs from 29°F December nights to 102°F July afternoons, with 5.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.2°C, December lows of −2°C, July highs of 39°C, 138 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationIndependence
- Station IDUSC00044232
- Location36.80°N 118.20°W
- Elevation3,950 ft (1,204 m)
- Population (census place)875
On October 23, the normal high in Independence is 78°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 4%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Independence.
- Jan 58° 30°
- Feb 61° 33°
- Mar 69° 39°
- Apr 76° 44°
- May 85° 53°
- Jun 96° 62°
- Jul 102° 67°
- Aug 101° 65°
- Sep 93° 58°
- Oct 81° 48°
- Nov 67° 36°
- Dec 57° 29°
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 Independence each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 102°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in January (1.36 in), the least in July (0.11 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F | 30°F | 43.8°F | 1.36 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 61°F | 33°F | 47.2°F | 0.93 | 5 | <1 | 14 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 69°F | 39°F | 53.9°F | 0.74 | 2 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 76°F | 44°F | 60.0°F | 0.18 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 85°F | 53°F | 69.0°F | 0.13 | 1 | 10 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 96°F | 62°F | 79.2°F | 0.13 | 1 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 102°F | 67°F | 84.7°F | 0.11 | 2 | 30 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 101°F | 65°F | 82.9°F | 0.15 | 1 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 93°F | 58°F | 75.5°F | 0.11 | 1 | 21 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 81°F | 48°F | 64.1°F | 0.24 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 36°F | 51.7°F | 0.47 | 2 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 57°F | 29°F | 42.7°F | 0.87 | 4 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 47°F | 62.9°F | 5.42 | 26 | 119 | 80 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 35 mm |
| February | 16°C | 1°C | 8.4°C | 24 mm |
| March | 21°C | 4°C | 12.2°C | 19 mm |
| April | 24°C | 7°C | 15.6°C | 5 mm |
| May | 30°C | 11°C | 20.6°C | 3 mm |
| June | 36°C | 17°C | 26.2°C | 3 mm |
| July | 39°C | 20°C | 29.3°C | 3 mm |
| August | 38°C | 18°C | 28.3°C | 4 mm |
| September | 34°C | 15°C | 24.2°C | 3 mm |
| October | 27°C | 9°C | 17.8°C | 6 mm |
| November | 20°C | 2°C | 10.9°C | 12 mm |
| December | 14°C | −2°C | 5.9°C | 22 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044232; 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 Independence?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00044232.
When is the last frost in Independence?
In Independence, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 31 in half of years and after April 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 9 in half of years and before October 27 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
- March 311 year in 10 after April 23; 9 in 10 after March 4
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 91 year in 10 before October 27; 9 in 10 before November 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 224 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 257 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 6 in half of springs and before November 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Independence in zone 8a in ZIP code 93526, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Independence's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (22 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 California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00044232; 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 Independence?
In a normal year in Independence, 119 days a year reach 90°F (50 of them 100°F or more), 80 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 26 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 119a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 50a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 80a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 26a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 115°F, on June 18, 2017; the lowest is −5°F, on January 9, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1909, with 10.71 in; the snowiest season is 1915–16, with 75.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00044232; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00044232. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Independence?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Independence, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (93%) and February the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.8 |
| February | 74% | 3.6 |
| March | 76% | 4.9 |
| April | 78% | 6.1 |
| May | 83% | 7.2 |
| June | 92% | 8.4 |
| July | 91% | 7.9 |
| August | 93% | 7.4 |
| September | 92% | 6.2 |
| October | 88% | 4.6 |
| November | 82% | 3.3 |
| December | 74% | 2.5 |
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 Independence need?
A normal year in Independence brings 2,950 heating degree days, 45% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,213 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,436 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 656 | 0 |
| February | 497 | 0 |
| March | 348 | 4 |
| April | 183 | 33 |
| May | 58 | 181 |
| June | 6 | 432 |
| July | 0 | 609 |
| August | 0 | 555 |
| September | 6 | 320 |
| October | 103 | 76 |
| November | 402 | 3 |
| December | 691 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,950 | 2,213 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044232. 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 Independence been warmer than normal lately?
Over 63 complete years from 1893 to 2016, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.1°F per century (+0.06°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Independence's climate compare?
Independence is warmer than 144 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 15. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.9°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Independence is BWk: cold desert. 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 Independence share this climate record?
Lone Pine 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.
- Lone Pine, CA1,373 people · 17 mi SE
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 Independence's climate
What is the coldest month in Independence?
December, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (102°F by day, 67°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Independence?
January, with 1.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.11 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Independence in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Independence in zone 8a in ZIP code 93526, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Independence's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Independence?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 31; in one year in ten it comes after April 23. Waiting until April 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lodgepole, CA32 miles from this station, 42.7°F a year
- Ash Mountain, CA40 miles from this station, 63.5°F a year
- Bishop, CA40 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Grant Grove, CA42 miles from this station, 48.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made