King City, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
King City's normal year runs from 37°F December nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 11.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.7°C, December lows of 3°C, July highs of 29°C, 300 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationKing City
- Station IDUSC00044555
- Location36.21°N 121.14°W
- Elevation320 ft (98 m)
- Population13,920
On October 23, the normal high in King City is 78°F and the normal low 45°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 King City.
- Jan 63° 38°
- Feb 65° 40°
- Mar 70° 42°
- Apr 74° 44°
- May 78° 48°
- Jun 83° 51°
- Jul 85° 54°
- Aug 85° 54°
- Sep 85° 52°
- Oct 80° 46°
- Nov 70° 41°
- Dec 62° 37°
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 King City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 37°F. The most precipitation falls in February (2.54 in), the least in July (0.01 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63°F | 38°F | 50.8°F | 2.44 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 10 h |
| February | 65°F | 40°F | 52.8°F | 2.54 | 9 | <1 | 4 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 70°F | 42°F | 56.1°F | 1.98 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 74°F | 44°F | 58.9°F | 0.83 | 5 | 2 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 78°F | 48°F | 62.8°F | 0.35 | 3 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 83°F | 51°F | 66.8°F | 0.04 | 1 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 85°F | 54°F | 69.4°F | 0.01 | <1 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 85°F | 54°F | 69.4°F | 0.01 | <1 | 7 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 85°F | 52°F | 68.3°F | 0.06 | 1 | 8 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 80°F | 46°F | 63.2°F | 0.54 | 2 | 5 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 70°F | 41°F | 55.2°F | 0.98 | 5 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 62°F | 37°F | 49.6°F | 2.05 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 46°F | 60.3°F | 11.83 | 51 | 39 | 27 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 3°C | 10.4°C | 62 mm |
| February | 19°C | 5°C | 11.6°C | 65 mm |
| March | 21°C | 6°C | 13.4°C | 50 mm |
| April | 23°C | 7°C | 14.9°C | 21 mm |
| May | 26°C | 9°C | 17.1°C | 9 mm |
| June | 28°C | 11°C | 19.3°C | 1 mm |
| July | 29°C | 12°C | 20.8°C | 0 mm |
| August | 30°C | 12°C | 20.8°C | 0 mm |
| September | 30°C | 11°C | 20.2°C | 2 mm |
| October | 27°C | 8°C | 17.3°C | 14 mm |
| November | 21°C | 5°C | 12.9°C | 25 mm |
| December | 17°C | 3°C | 9.8°C | 52 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044555; 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 King City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, May, June, July, October and November. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (0).
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 USC00044555.
When is the last frost in King City?
In King City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 23 in half of years and after March 31 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 22 in half of years and before November 1 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
- February 231 year in 10 after March 31; 9 in 10 after January 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 221 year in 10 before November 1; 9 in 10 before December 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 271 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 326 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 22 in half of springs and before December 6 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts King City in zone 9a in ZIP code 93930, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, King City's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (27 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00044555; 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 King City?
In a normal year in King City, 39 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 27 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 51 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 27a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 51a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1926) is 115°F, on September 2, 2017; the lowest is 14°F, on December 23, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 20.33 in; the snowiest season is 1956–57, with 5.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00044555; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00044555. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is King City?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around King City, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (78%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80% | 2.7 |
| February | 79% | 3.6 |
| March | 82% | 4.9 |
| April | 84% | 6.2 |
| May | 88% | 7.3 |
| June | 92% | 8.1 |
| July | 91% | 7.6 |
| August | 90% | 6.9 |
| September | 91% | 5.8 |
| October | 89% | 4.4 |
| November | 85% | 3.1 |
| December | 78% | 2.4 |
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 King City need?
A normal year in King City brings 2,288 heating degree days, 57% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 578 cooling degree days, 36% fewer than the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,940 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 440 | 0 |
| February | 342 | 0 |
| March | 278 | 2 |
| April | 193 | 11 |
| May | 104 | 38 |
| June | 29 | 84 |
| July | 4 | 138 |
| August | 3 | 141 |
| September | 18 | 117 |
| October | 101 | 44 |
| November | 299 | 3 |
| December | 479 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,288 | 578 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044555. 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 King City been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 60.9°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 60.3°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.3°F | at normal | 11.67 |
| 2022 | 60.4°F | +0.1°F | 6.75 |
| 2023 | 59.4°F | −0.9°F | 18.99 |
| 2024 | 60.9°F | +0.6°F | 14.59 |
| 2025 | 60.9°F | +0.6°F | 12.88 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00044555. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does King City's climate compare?
King City is warmer than 101 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 59. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.3°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, King City 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 King City 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.
- Greenfield, CA21,042 people · 10 mi NW
- Pine Canyon, CA2,538 people · 2 mi S
- Fort Hunter Liggett, CA1,038 people · 16 mi S
- San Lucas, CA181 people · 8 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 King City's climate
What is the coldest month in King City?
December, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 37°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in King City?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in King City?
February, with 2.54 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is King City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts King City in zone 9a in ZIP code 93930, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at King City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in King City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 23; in one year in ten it comes after March 31. Waiting until March 31 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Pinnacles National Monument, CA19 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Priest Valley, CA25 miles from this station, 57.4°F a year
- Big Sur Station, CA36 miles from this station, 57.4°F a year
- Hearst Castle, CA36 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made