Lee Vining, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Lee Vining's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 15.1 inches of precipitation and 70 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.2°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 29°C, 384 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationLee Vining
- Station IDUSC00044881
- Location37.96°N 119.12°W
- Elevation6,797 ft (2,072 m)
- Population (census place)557
On October 23, the normal high in Lee Vining is 63°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 10%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Lee Vining.
- Jan 41° 21°
- Feb 44° 23°
- Mar 51° 28°
- Apr 58° 33°
- May 66° 40°
- Jun 77° 47°
- Jul 84° 54°
- Aug 83° 52°
- Sep 76° 46°
- Oct 65° 36°
- Nov 53° 28°
- Dec 42° 22°
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 Lee Vining each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in February (2.71 in), the least in September (0.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 21°F | 30.8°F | 2.66 | 19.0 | 7 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 44°F | 23°F | 33.4°F | 2.71 | 16.1 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 51°F | 28°F | 39.3°F | 1.82 | 11.6 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 58°F | 33°F | 45.2°F | 0.70 | 3.3 | 3 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 66°F | 40°F | 52.9°F | 0.73 | 1.6 | 4 | <1 | 5 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 77°F | 47°F | 61.9°F | 0.41 | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 84°F | 54°F | 69.0°F | 0.51 | 0.0 | 3 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 52°F | 67.6°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 76°F | 46°F | 60.7°F | 0.31 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 65°F | 36°F | 50.5°F | 0.83 | 1.4 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 53°F | 28°F | 40.3°F | 1.44 | 4.7 | 4 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 42°F | 22°F | 32.0°F | 2.56 | 11.6 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 62°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 15.10 | 69.5 | 50 | 7 | 163 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.7°C | 68 mm | 48 cm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 0.8°C | 69 mm | 41 cm |
| March | 11°C | −2°C | 4.1°C | 46 mm | 29 cm |
| April | 14°C | 0°C | 7.3°C | 18 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19°C | 4°C | 11.6°C | 19 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 25°C | 8°C | 16.6°C | 10 mm | 1 cm |
| July | 29°C | 12°C | 20.6°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 11°C | 19.8°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 24°C | 8°C | 15.9°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 2°C | 10.3°C | 21 mm | 4 cm |
| November | 12°C | −2°C | 4.6°C | 37 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 6°C | −6°C | 0.0°C | 65 mm | 29 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044881; 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 Lee Vining?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00044881.
When is the last frost in Lee Vining?
In Lee Vining, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 23 in half of years and after June 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 9 in half of years and before September 27 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
- May 231 year in 10 after June 9; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 91 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 139 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 168 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 2 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lee Vining in zone 6b in ZIP code 93541, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Lee Vining's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°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 USC00044881; 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 Lee Vining?
In a normal year in Lee Vining, 7 days a year reach 90°F, 163 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 50 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 7a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 163a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 16high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 50a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 16a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00044881.
How sunny is Lee Vining?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Lee Vining, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (96%) and December the cloudiest (73%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 73% | 3.4 |
| March | 75% | 4.7 |
| April | 78% | 6.0 |
| May | 84% | 7.2 |
| June | 93% | 8.4 |
| July | 94% | 8.2 |
| August | 96% | 7.5 |
| September | 94% | 6.1 |
| October | 89% | 4.5 |
| November | 81% | 3.0 |
| December | 73% | 2.3 |
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 Lee Vining need?
A normal year in Lee Vining brings 6,236 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 299 cooling degree days, 67% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,133 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,062 | 0 |
| February | 885 | 0 |
| March | 797 | 0 |
| April | 594 | 0 |
| May | 378 | 3 |
| June | 131 | 40 |
| July | 14 | 138 |
| August | 20 | 102 |
| September | 144 | 17 |
| October | 450 | 0 |
| November | 740 | 0 |
| December | 1,023 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,236 | 299 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00044881. 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 Lee Vining been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.6°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.6°F. 3 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.8°F | +1.2°F | 16.13 | 111.2 |
| 2023 | 45.9°F | −2.7°F | 24.83 | 199.5 |
| 2024 | 50.1°F | +1.5°F | 13.82 | 86.1 |
| 2025 | 50.6°F | +2.0°F | 19.25 | 83.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00044881. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Lee Vining's climate compare?
Lee Vining is warmer than 12 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 104. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.6°F is warmer than 34%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Lee Vining is Dsb: continental, dry-summer, warm summer. 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 Lee Vining share this climate record?
2 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.
- Mono City, CA332 people · 5 mi N
- Virginia Lakes, CA0 people · 10 mi NW
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 Lee Vining's climate
What is the coldest month in Lee Vining?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Lee Vining?
Yes: 70 inches in a normal year, falling on 23 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (19.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Lee Vining?
February, with 2.71 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 0.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Lee Vining in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Lee Vining in zone 6b in ZIP code 93541, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Lee Vining's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 6°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Lee Vining?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 23; in one year in ten it comes after June 9. Waiting until June 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Station, CA14 miles from this station, 38.4°F a year
- Bodie California St Historic P, CA19 miles from this station, 38.7°F a year
- Bridgeport, CA22 miles from this station, 44.4°F a year
- Mammoth Lakes, CA23 miles from this station, 43.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made