Kern River Powerhouse 3, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Kern River Powerhouse 3's normal year runs from 31°F December nights to 99°F July afternoons, with 11.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.3°C, December lows of 0°C, July highs of 37°C, 301 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKern River Powerhouse 3
- Station IDUSC00044523
- Location35.78°N 118.44°W
- Elevation2,703 ft (824 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Kern River Powerhouse 3 is 78°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 9%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Kern River Powerhouse 3.
- Jan 61° 32°
- Feb 63° 33°
- Mar 67° 36°
- Apr 72° 41°
- May 80° 48°
- Jun 91° 56°
- Jul 99° 63°
- Aug 98° 62°
- Sep 92° 56°
- Oct 81° 46°
- Nov 69° 36°
- Dec 60° 31°
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 Kern River Powerhouse 3 each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 99°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in February (2.39 in), the least in August (0.07 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61°F | 32°F | 46.1°F | 2.29 | 7 | <1 | 18 | 10 h |
| February | 63°F | 33°F | 48.0°F | 2.39 | 8 | <1 | 12 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 67°F | 36°F | 51.6°F | 1.71 | 6 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 41°F | 56.3°F | 0.67 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 80°F | 48°F | 64.1°F | 0.43 | 2 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 91°F | 56°F | 73.4°F | 0.10 | 1 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 99°F | 63°F | 80.6°F | 0.14 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 98°F | 62°F | 79.8°F | 0.07 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 92°F | 56°F | 73.8°F | 0.23 | 1 | 21 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 81°F | 46°F | 63.5°F | 0.55 | 3 | 7 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 69°F | 36°F | 52.3°F | 1.35 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 60°F | 31°F | 45.8°F | 1.91 | 6 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 45°F | 61.3°F | 11.84 | 43 | 111 | 68 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 0°C | 7.8°C | 58 mm |
| February | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 61 mm |
| March | 19°C | 2°C | 10.9°C | 43 mm |
| April | 22°C | 5°C | 13.5°C | 17 mm |
| May | 27°C | 9°C | 17.8°C | 11 mm |
| June | 33°C | 13°C | 23.0°C | 3 mm |
| July | 37°C | 17°C | 27.0°C | 4 mm |
| August | 37°C | 17°C | 26.6°C | 2 mm |
| September | 33°C | 13°C | 23.2°C | 6 mm |
| October | 27°C | 8°C | 17.5°C | 14 mm |
| November | 20°C | 2°C | 11.3°C | 34 mm |
| December | 16°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 49 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Glennville (15 miles away), gets 6 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044523; 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 Kern River Powerhouse 3?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, May 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 USC00044523.
When is the last frost at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
In Kern River Powerhouse 3, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 7 in half of years and after April 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 11 in half of years and before October 30 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
- April 71 year in 10 after April 28; 9 in 10 after March 16
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 111 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before November 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 217 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 257 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 10 in half of springs and before November 24 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Kern River Powerhouse 3 in zone 8b in ZIP code 93285, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00044523; 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 at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
In a normal year in Kern River Powerhouse 3, 111 days a year reach 90°F (32 of them 100°F or more), 68 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 43 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 111a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 32a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 68a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 43a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1946) is 112°F, on July 19, 1998; the lowest is 10°F, on December 22, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 28.27 in; the snowiest season is 1967–68, with 13.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00044523; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00044523. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Kern River Powerhouse 3, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (97%) and January the cloudiest (78%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78% | 2.9 |
| February | 79% | 3.8 |
| March | 83% | 5.2 |
| April | 86% | 6.6 |
| May | 91% | 7.7 |
| June | 97% | 8.5 |
| July | 96% | 8.1 |
| August | 97% | 7.5 |
| September | 96% | 6.3 |
| October | 91% | 4.7 |
| November | 86% | 3.4 |
| December | 78% | 2.6 |
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 Kern River Powerhouse 3 record?
A normal year at Kern River Powerhouse 3 brings 2,986 heating degree days, 44% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,654 cooling degree days, 82% more than 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 4,694 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 587 | 0 |
| February | 475 | 0 |
| March | 415 | 1 |
| April | 273 | 12 |
| May | 115 | 87 |
| June | 13 | 265 |
| July | 0 | 483 |
| August | 0 | 457 |
| September | 10 | 274 |
| October | 118 | 70 |
| November | 385 | 4 |
| December | 595 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,986 | 1,654 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044523. 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.
How does Kern River Powerhouse 3's climate compare?
Kern River Powerhouse 3 is warmer than 111 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 60. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.3°F is warmer than 78%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Kern River Powerhouse 3 is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Kern River Powerhouse 3 share this climate record?
4 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.
- Wofford Heights, CA2,209 people · 5 mi S
- Kernville, CA688 people · 2 mi S
- Ponderosa, CA64 people · 23 mi N
- Alta Sierra, CA13 people · 7 mi SW
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 Kern River Powerhouse 3's climate
What is the coldest month at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
December, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (99°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Glennville (15 miles away), records 6 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
February, with 2.39 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.07 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Kern River Powerhouse 3 in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Kern River Powerhouse 3 in zone 8b in ZIP code 93285, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come at Kern River Powerhouse 3?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 28. Waiting until April 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- South Lake FS, CA11 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Glennville, CA15 miles from this station, 54.2°F a year
- Loraine (5 mi NNE), CA27 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Inyokern, CA36 miles from this station, 64.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made