Joseph, OR Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Joseph's primary NOAA station, JOSEPH.
The climate verdict for Joseph
Dryness leads the climate profile for Joseph, Oregon, with 16.9 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 44°F. At 34/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 2% of scores.
- 44°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 34/100
- comfort score, above 2% of station-mapped location scores
- 16.9"
- annual precipitation · 54" snow
- 130 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Joseph: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00354329 · Joseph, OR 44°F mean · 16.9" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,098
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Robbinston
- PRCP-DRY 16.9"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 34/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,749 HDD
- STN-1 USC00354329
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Robbinston, ME (+ 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 OR station list.
- Joseph (this station) 44°F
- Cold Jonesboro, ME 44°F
- Hot Robbinston, ME 44°F
- Near Belfast, ME 44°F
- Near Oswayo, PA 44°F
Climate Living Index · Joseph
Joseph: 21/100 · grade F
Joseph publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Joseph, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 34/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 16.9 in · 18.1 from 35 in | 36/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 188 calendar days | 21/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 54.2 inches/year | 19/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.2°F · 23.3° from 67.5°F | 17/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 130 days/year | 12/100 · F |
Joseph · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Joseph is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 26.2°F and warmest-month mean 64.5°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 64.5°F
- Coldest month
- 26.2°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 Joseph sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Joseph's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 84%
- Among 6,861 stations, Joseph sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 78%
- Joseph's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Joseph is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Joseph compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Joseph's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
34 2nd percentile score exceeds 2% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F (2°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 1.3" | 10.7" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 39°F (4°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 1.1" | 9.2" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.4" | 10.1" | 27.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 52°F (11°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.9" | 6.3" | 20.9 | 0.0 |
| May | 61°F (16°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 2.6" | 1.1" | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| June | 68°F (20°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.9" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| July | 79°F (26°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.8" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| September | 71°F (21°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.1" | 0.1" | 2.2 | 0.4 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 1.2" | 15.4 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 1.4" | 7.3" | 24.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 35°F (2°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 1.3" | 8.2" | 29.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 28, short of 90°F on every date, while 188 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 17°F near December 18.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 26, then returns to freezing around October 22, covering 188 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 April 7, when 46% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 8 at 15%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 127 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Joseph.
Where Joseph Stands Nationally
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 188 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Joseph 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
Snow: 10.7"
12.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.2"
10.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.1"
13.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.3"
13.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
13.8 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
6.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
11.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
11.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 8.2"
13.8 days with precipitation
Joseph spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 20% of the annual total and December through February 21%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Joseph has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 38.3°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.6" and August 0.7". The three wettest months together take 38% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Rain reaches Joseph in small, frequent amounts
Joseph records about 127 days with measurable precipitation a year and 16.9" in total, which works out to roughly 0.13 inches on an average wet day. Precipitation on 35% of all days, arriving that lightly, is the damp many-grey-days pattern rather than the storm-driven one.
Places in this band read as wetter than their annual totals suggest, because what people notice is the number of overcast days, not the depth in the gauge.
- Most wet days: May, about 14 of them.
- Fewest: August, about 5.
- Average depth per wet day: 0.13 inches.
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.
Winter brings real snow to Joseph
Joseph averages 54.2 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 41 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 54.2 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 41 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 32% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 24
50% probability date
Growing Season
130 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,749
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
184
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside OR closest to Joseph 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 (44°F here).
- Andover, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Greer, AZ 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Jordan, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Jordan, MN 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.9" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Big Timber, MT 16.9" · 0.0" off
- Yampa, CO 16.9" · 0.0" off
- Crook, CO 16.9" · 0.0" off
- San Jon, NM 17.0" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Joseph
heating led · dry · mid swing
Joseph's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,749 annual heating degree days against 184 for cooling. Its 38.3°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 130 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
-
1. Joseph coldest normal
December
The monthly mean of 26°F (-3°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Joseph typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Joseph snow peak
January
Joseph averages 54.2 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Joseph's climate
How much snow does Joseph get? ▼
How cold does Joseph get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Joseph? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Joseph's primary station: JOSEPH (USC00354329). 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 4137900). Match rule for Joseph: 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 Joseph 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.