John Day, Oregon climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
John Day's normal year runs from 21°F December nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 12.3 inches of precipitation and 10 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.2°C, December lows of −6°C, July highs of 30°C, 312 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationJohn Day
- Station IDUSC00354291
- Location44.42°N 118.96°W
- Elevation3,063 ft (934 m)
- Population1,641
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for John Day.
- Jan 40° 21°
- Feb 45° 23°
- Mar 52° 26°
- Apr 57° 30°
- May 66° 37°
- Jun 75° 43°
- Jul 86° 48°
- Aug 86° 46°
- Sep 77° 39°
- Oct 62° 31°
- Nov 48° 26°
- Dec 39° 21°
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 John Day each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in May (1.83 in), the least in July (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 21°F | 30.8°F | 1.09 | 3.5 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 45°F | 23°F | 33.7°F | 0.60 | 1.4 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 52°F | 26°F | 38.9°F | 1.14 | 1.2 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 57°F | 30°F | 43.8°F | 1.49 | 0.3 | 12 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 66°F | 37°F | 51.8°F | 1.83 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 75°F | 43°F | 58.6°F | 1.30 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 86°F | 48°F | 67.0°F | 0.43 | 0.0 | 3 | 16 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 86°F | 46°F | 65.9°F | 0.50 | 0.0 | 3 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 77°F | 39°F | 57.9°F | 0.52 | 0.0 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 62°F | 31°F | 46.7°F | 1.04 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 48°F | 26°F | 36.6°F | 1.19 | 1.0 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 39°F | 21°F | 29.9°F | 1.14 | 2.0 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 33°F | 46.8°F | 12.27 | 9.6 | 103 | 39 | 163 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.7°C | 28 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 0.9°C | 15 mm | 4 cm |
| March | 11°C | −3°C | 3.8°C | 29 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 14°C | −1°C | 6.6°C | 38 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 19°C | 3°C | 11.0°C | 46 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 6°C | 14.8°C | 33 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 9°C | 19.4°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 8°C | 18.8°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 4°C | 14.4°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 0°C | 8.2°C | 26 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 30 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 4°C | −6°C | −1.2°C | 29 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00354291; 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 John Day?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00354291.
When is the last frost in John Day?
In John Day, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 28 in half of years and after June 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 18 in half of years and before September 2 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
- May 281 year in 10 after June 15; 9 in 10 after May 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 181 year in 10 before September 2; 9 in 10 before October 4
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 113 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 146 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 8 in half of springs and before October 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts John Day in zone 6b in ZIP code 97845, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Oregon · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00354291; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 John Day?
In a normal year in John Day, 39 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 163 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 103 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 163a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 11high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 103a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1903) is 112°F, on August 5, 1961; the lowest is −24°F, on January 27, 1957.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 19.13 in; the snowiest season is 1971–72, with 46.1 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00354291; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00354291. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is John Day?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around John Day, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (57%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.6 |
| February | 68% | 2.6 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 71% | 5.1 |
| May | 73% | 6.1 |
| June | 80% | 7.1 |
| July | 91% | 7.7 |
| August | 89% | 6.5 |
| September | 85% | 5.0 |
| October | 76% | 3.2 |
| November | 65% | 1.8 |
| December | 57% | 1.2 |
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 John Day need?
A normal year in John Day brings 6,866 heating degree days, 28% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 249 cooling degree days, 73% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,760 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,062 | 0 |
| February | 876 | 0 |
| March | 808 | 0 |
| April | 636 | 0 |
| May | 414 | 3 |
| June | 215 | 23 |
| July | 53 | 115 |
| August | 61 | 91 |
| September | 231 | 18 |
| October | 569 | 0 |
| November | 854 | 0 |
| December | 1,088 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,866 | 249 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00354291. 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 John Day been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.2°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.8°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 46.9°F | +0.1°F | 9.19 | – |
| 2023 | 47.2°F | +0.4°F | 10.19 | – |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00354291. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does John Day's climate compare?
John Day is warmer than 10 of the other 104 places with their own NOAA record in Oregon, and wetter than 15. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.8°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, John Day is Dfb: continental, no dry season, 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 John Day share this climate record?
3 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their 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.
- Prairie City, OR817 people · 13 mi E
- Canyon City, OR643 people · 2 mi S
- Mount Vernon, OR547 people · 8 mi W
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 John Day's climate
What is the coldest month in John Day?
December, with a normal high of 39°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in John Day?
Yes: 10 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.5 inches).
What is the rainiest month in John Day?
May, with 1.83 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is John Day in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts John Day in zone 6b in ZIP code 97845, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in John Day?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 28; in one year in ten it comes after June 15. Waiting until June 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oregon climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Seneca, OR20 miles from this station, 40.5°F a year
- Long Creek, OR21 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Austin (3 mi S), OR25 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Dayville, OR35 miles from this station, 53.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made