Lake Elsinore, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lake Elsinore's normal year runs from 40°F December nights to 98°F August afternoons, with 11.7 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.2 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.9°C, December lows of 5°C, August highs of 37°C, 296 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationElsinore
- Station IDUSC00042805
- Location33.69°N 117.35°W
- Elevation1,268 ft (387 m)
- Population73,595
On October 14, the normal high in Lake Elsinore is 84°F and the normal low 54°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 6%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lake Elsinore.
- Jan 66° 42°
- Feb 67° 43°
- Mar 72° 46°
- Apr 77° 49°
- May 82° 54°
- Jun 90° 58°
- Jul 97° 64°
- Aug 98° 65°
- Sep 93° 61°
- Oct 83° 54°
- Nov 73° 46°
- Dec 65° 40°
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 Lake Elsinore each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 98°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 40°F. The most precipitation falls in January (2.97 in), the least in August (0.06 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 2.97 | 6 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 67°F | 43°F | 54.9°F | 2.85 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 h |
| March | 72°F | 46°F | 58.7°F | 1.49 | 5 | 1 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 77°F | 49°F | 62.6°F | 0.54 | 3 | 3 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 54°F | 67.9°F | 0.21 | 1 | 8 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 90°F | 58°F | 74.3°F | 0.07 | <1 | 18 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 97°F | 64°F | 80.3°F | 0.18 | 1 | 28 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 98°F | 65°F | 81.3°F | 0.06 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 93°F | 61°F | 77.2°F | 0.17 | 1 | 23 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 83°F | 54°F | 68.5°F | 0.51 | 2 | 11 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 73°F | 46°F | 59.6°F | 0.59 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 65°F | 40°F | 52.6°F | 2.01 | 5 | <1 | 4 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 80°F | 52°F | 66.0°F | 11.65 | 32 | 123 | 9 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 75 mm |
| February | 19°C | 6°C | 12.7°C | 72 mm |
| March | 22°C | 8°C | 14.8°C | 38 mm |
| April | 25°C | 9°C | 17.0°C | 14 mm |
| May | 28°C | 12°C | 19.9°C | 5 mm |
| June | 32°C | 15°C | 23.5°C | 2 mm |
| July | 36°C | 18°C | 26.8°C | 5 mm |
| August | 37°C | 18°C | 27.4°C | 2 mm |
| September | 34°C | 16°C | 25.1°C | 4 mm |
| October | 28°C | 12°C | 20.3°C | 13 mm |
| November | 23°C | 8°C | 15.3°C | 15 mm |
| December | 18°C | 5°C | 11.4°C | 51 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042805; 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 Lake Elsinore?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, April, May, October, November and December. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00042805.
When is the last frost in Lake Elsinore?
In Lake Elsinore, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 28 in half of years and after February 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 18 in half of years and before December 1 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 91% of years here (NOAA).
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 281 year in 10 after February 27; 9 in 10 after December 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 181 year in 10 before December 1; 9 in 10 before January 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 329 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 1 in half of springs and before December 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lake Elsinore in zones 9b to 10a across its 2 ZIP code areas (10a in 92530, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lake Elsinore's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (15 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00042805; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Lake Elsinore ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Lake Elsinore's 2 ZIP code areas run from zone 9b to 10a: 1 in 10a and 1 in 9b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Lake Elsinore?
In a normal year in Lake Elsinore, 123 days a year reach 90°F (42 of them 100°F or more), 9 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 32 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 123a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 42a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 9a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 32a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 118°F, on August 12, 1933; the lowest is 15°F, on January 14, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1905, with 24.55 in; the snowiest season is 2000–01, with 3.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00042805; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00042805. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Lake Elsinore?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lake Elsinore, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (92%) and February the cloudiest (83%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 58th (with 22 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.3 |
| February | 83% | 4.1 |
| March | 85% | 5.4 |
| April | 86% | 6.5 |
| May | 83% | 6.9 |
| June | 85% | 7.3 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 92% | 7.0 |
| September | 91% | 6.0 |
| October | 88% | 4.6 |
| November | 87% | 3.6 |
| December | 83% | 2.9 |
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 Lake Elsinore need?
A normal year in Lake Elsinore brings 1,610 heating degree days, 70% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,987 cooling degree days, 2.2 times the median (908). Two months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,940 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 349 | 2 |
| February | 286 | 3 |
| March | 208 | 12 |
| April | 115 | 43 |
| May | 42 | 132 |
| June | 4 | 282 |
| July | 0 | 474 |
| August | 0 | 505 |
| September | 2 | 367 |
| October | 35 | 143 |
| November | 187 | 23 |
| December | 383 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 1,610 | 1,987 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00042805. 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 Lake Elsinore been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 66.6°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 66.0°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66.3°F | +0.3°F | 7.81 |
| 2022 | 67.0°F | +1.0°F | 5.38 |
| 2023 | 64.3°F | −1.7°F | 15.49 |
| 2024 | 66.1°F | +0.1°F | 10.84 |
| 2025 | 66.6°F | +0.6°F | 10.75 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00042805. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lake Elsinore's climate compare?
Lake Elsinore is warmer than 195 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 53. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 66.0°F is warmer than 90%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lake Elsinore is BSh: hot 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 Lake Elsinore share this climate record?
10 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.
- Menifee, CAalso near: San Jacinto (14 mi, 65.0°F a year); Hemet (17 mi, 66.3°F a year)117,041 people · 9 mi E
- Perris, CAalso near: San Jacinto (14 mi, 65.0°F a year); Riverside (17 mi, 66.2°F a year)83,032 people · 10 mi NE
- Wildomar, CA37,736 people · 7 mi SE
- Temescal Valley, CA28,560 people · 9 mi NW
- Mead Valley, CA19,588 people · 11 mi N
- Lakeland Village, CA11,587 people · 3 mi SW
- Canyon Lake, CA11,161 people · 5 mi E
- Good Hope, CA8,315 people · 7 mi NE
- Meadowbrook, CA3,368 people · 4 mi NE
- Warm Springs, CA1,502 people · 2 mi NE
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 Lake Elsinore's climate
What is the coldest month in Lake Elsinore?
December, with a normal high of 65°F and a normal low of 40°F. The warmest is August (98°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Lake Elsinore?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.2 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Lake Elsinore?
January, with 2.97 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.06 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lake Elsinore in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lake Elsinore in zones 9b to 10a across its 2 ZIP code areas (10a in 92530, the largest). By the same method at Lake Elsinore's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Lake Elsinore?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 28; in one year in ten it comes after February 27. Waiting until February 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Riverside, CA19 miles from this station, 66.2°F a year
- Fallbrook, CA19 miles from this station, 65.1°F a year
- Irvine, CA22 miles from this station, 66.7°F a year
- San Jacinto, CA22 miles from this station, 65.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made