King Salmon, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from King Salmon's primary NOAA station, KING SALMON - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for King Salmon
King Salmon, Alaska has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 37°F. At 49/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 18% of scores.
- 37°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 49/100
- comfort score, above 18% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.4"
- annual precipitation · 47" snow
- 112 days
- growing season, frost-free days
King Salmon: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00025503 · King Salmon, AK 37°F mean · 21.4" precip
TEMP-COLD · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COLD 37°F
- RANK-COOL #137
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sutton
- PRCP-DRY 21.4"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-LOW 49/100
- LOAD-HEAT 10,385 HDD
- STN-MULTI USW00025503
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Sutton, AK (+ 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 AK station list.
- King Salmon (this station) 37°F
- Hot Dixie, ID 37°F
- Near Sutton, AK 37°F
- Near Hope, AK 37°F
- Cold Lakeview, MT 36°F
King Salmon sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · King Salmon
King Salmon: 26/100 · grade F
King Salmon publishes all six Living Index dimensions from NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals.
PlainClimate-derived for King Salmon, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 49/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Summer moisture balance | 47.8°F mean dew point | 81/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 21.4 in · 13.6 from 35 in | 52/100 · D |
| Snowfall burden | 47.4 inches/year | 22/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 199 calendar days | 14/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 112 days/year | 3/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 36.5°F · 31.0° from 67.5°F | 0/100 · F |
King Salmon · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
King Salmon is a continental Köppen climate: Dfc
Coldest-month mean 16.6°F and warmest-month mean 56.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, cool summer climates (Dfc). Class Dfc is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, cool summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfc
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 56.7°F
- Coldest month
- 16.6°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 King Salmon sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for King Salmon's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 98%
- Among 6,861 stations, King Salmon sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- King Salmon's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 36th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How King Salmon compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
King Salmon's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
49 18th percentile score exceeds 18% 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%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
King Salmon's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 88 complete annual observations from 1919 to 2025, KING SALMON warmed at a fitted rate of 0.22°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- King Salmon primary station fitted change +0.22 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24°F (-5°C) | 10°F (-12°C) | 17°F (-9°C) | 0.9" | 8.6" | 27.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 30°F (-1°C) | 15°F (-10°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 0.9" | 7.2" | 24.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 32°F (0°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 0.8" | 7.2" | 27.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 45°F (7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.0" | 4.4" | 22.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 55°F (13°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.4" | 0.6" | 10.1 | 0.0 |
| June | 62°F (17°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| July | 65°F (18°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 63°F (17°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 3.3" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| September | 56°F (13°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.4" | 0.0" | 5.9 | 0.0 |
| October | 44°F (7°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.3" | 2.5" | 19.7 | 0.0 |
| November | 32°F (0°C) | 18°F (-8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 1.7" | 6.7" | 25.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 26°F (-4°C) | 11°F (-11°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 1.4" | 10.2" | 27.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 65°F around July 4, short of 90°F on every date, while 199 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 8°F near January 5.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 24, then returns to freezing around October 9, covering 199 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 September 5, when 61% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is March 11 at 31%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 159 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 28 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 20°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for King Salmon.
Where King Salmon Stands Nationally
Winters bite deep and often: the normal nightly low dips to freezing or below on around 199 nights a year, placing this among the most frost-prone tenth of ranked stations.
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 20°F.
King Salmon earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.6"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
10.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.2"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.4"
10.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
12.3 days with precipitation
14.4 days with precipitation
16.2 days with precipitation
17.1 days with precipitation
18.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.5"
14.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 6.7"
13.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 10.2"
12.9 days with precipitation
King Salmon runs a summer-peaked wet season
35% of King Salmon's yearly precipitation falls in June, July and August alone, against the 25% an evenly spread year would give those three months. The wettest month is September at 3.4", on a 40.1°F seasonal spread. Warm-season convection and, across the Southwest, the North American monsoon produce this shape: rain arrives in short heavy bursts during the hottest part of the year rather than as long cool-season soaking.
- Wettest three months: September, August, July, taking 43% of the annual total between them.
- Driest month: March at 0.8".
- Winter share: 15% falls in December, January and February.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A summer-peaked label means the June-August share reaches 35%; it describes timing across an average year, not any single season, and says nothing about how heavy an individual storm can be.
Rain reaches King Salmon in small, frequent amounts
King Salmon records about 159 days with measurable precipitation a year and 21.4" in total, which works out to roughly 0.13 inches on an average wet day. Precipitation on 44% 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: September, about 18 of them.
- Fewest: March, about 9.
- 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 King Salmon
King Salmon averages 47.4 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 50 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: 47.4 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 50 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 22% 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
September 15
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
112 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
10,385
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
3
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82% | 10.4 | 20% | 35% |
| February | 77% | 10.3 | 19% | 35% |
| March | 73% | 9.9 | 16% | 34% |
| April | 70% | 9.6 | 10% | 35% |
| May | 68% | 9.5 | 4% | 32% |
| June | 76% | 8.0 | 3% | 50% |
| July | 81% | 8.4 | 1% | 56% |
| August | 82% | 8.6 | 4% | 50% |
| September | 80% | 9.3 | 9% | 39% |
| October | 82% | 9.3 | 11% | 41% |
| November | 83% | 9.2 | 16% | 39% |
| December | 82% | 9.3 | 20% | 36% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to King Salmon 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 (37°F here).
- Atlantic City, WY 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Brian Head, UT 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Rolla, ND 37°F · 0.0°F off
- Lakeview, MT 36°F · 0.1°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Madrid, NE 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Robert Lee, TX 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Bigfork, MT 21.4" · 0.0" off
- Roscoe, SD 21.4" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define King Salmon
heating led · moderate · mid swing
King Salmon's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 10,385 annual heating degree days against 3 for cooling. Its 40.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 112 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. King Salmon coldest normal
January
Averaging 17°F (-9°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. King Salmon typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. King Salmon snow peak
December
King Salmon averages 47.4 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about King Salmon's climate
How much snow does King Salmon get? ▼
How cold does King Salmon get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in King Salmon? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from King Salmon's primary station: KING SALMON (USW00025503). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the King Salmon area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 0239630), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for King Salmon: 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 King Salmon 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.