Mcnary Dam, WA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Mcnary Dam's primary NOAA station, MCNARY DAM.
The climate verdict for Mcnary Dam
Dryness leads the climate profile for Mcnary Dam, Washington, with 7.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 54°F. At 45/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 16% of scores.
- 54°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 45/100
- comfort score, above 16% of station-mapped location scores
- 7.8"
- precipitation, annual total
- 222 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Mcnary Dam: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00455231 · Mcnary Dam, WA 54°F mean · 7.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 54°F
- RANK-MID #3,979
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ RD Bailey Lake
- PRCP-ARID 7.8"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-LOW 45/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,774 HDD
- STN-1 USC00455231
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: RD Bailey Lake, WV (+ 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 WA station list.
- Mcnary Dam (this station) 54°F
- Cold Ice Harbor Dam, WA 54°F
- Hot Mosquero, NM 54°F
- Near RD Bailey Lake, WV 54°F
- Near Tazewell, TN 54°F
Climate Living Index · Mcnary Dam
Mcnary Dam: 55/100 · grade C
Mcnary Dam publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Mcnary Dam, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 45/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 222 days/year | 78/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 108 calendar days | 72/100 · B |
| Annual temperature balance | 54.2°F · 13.3° from 67.5°F | 57/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 7.8 in · 27.2 from 35 in | 7/100 · F |
Mcnary Dam · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Mcnary Dam's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 75.3°F
- Coldest month
- 35.4°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 Mcnary Dam sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Mcnary Dam's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 58th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 97%
- Mcnary Dam's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 35th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Mcnary Dam compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Mcnary Dam's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
45 16th percentile score exceeds 16% 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F (5°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 1.0" | 17.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 47°F (8°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 0.8" | 15.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 56°F (13°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 0.8" | 5.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 64°F (18°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 0.6" | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 73°F (23°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.8" | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| June | 80°F (26°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 4.0 |
| July | 89°F (32°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 14.9 |
| August | 88°F (31°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 0.2" | 0.0 | 12.2 |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| October | 64°F (18°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 0.7" | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 51°F (10°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 1.1" | 8.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 42°F (5°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 0.9" | 17.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Mcnary Dam works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 92°F by July 28 and hold at or above 90°F on 25 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 83 dates, bottoming at 29°F around January 1.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 17 through August 10, covering 25 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 7 to October 5.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 25, then returns to freezing around December 5, covering 83 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 January 2, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 25 at 7%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 81 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 21 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 28°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Mcnary Dam.
Where Mcnary Dam Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 8 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Mcnary Dam earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
12.2 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
7.8 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
4.5 days with precipitation
1.9 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
Mcnary Dam's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 35% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 11%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows a 39.9°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- November, 1.1"
- Driest month
- July, 0.1"
- Wettest three months
- November, January, December (39% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
Mcnary Dam is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 81 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 22% of the calendar, and they carry 7.8" between them. At roughly 0.10 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is January at about 12 wet days; the driest is July at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 27
50% probability date
Growing Season
222 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,774
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
853
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WA closest to Mcnary Dam 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 (54°F here).
- Atchison, KS 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Boston, VA 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Glennville, CA 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Kim, CO 54°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (7.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Rachel, NV 7.8" · 0.0" off
- Searchlight, NV 7.8" · 0.0" off
- Gerlach, NV 7.8" · 0.0" off
- Farson, WY 7.8" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Mcnary Dam's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Mcnary Dam's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,774 annual heating degree days against 853 for cooling. Its 39.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Mcnary Dam's frost-free season lasts about 222 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Mcnary Dam's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 39.9°F. The annual average is 54°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Mcnary Dam's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 7.8 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Mcnary Dam wettest normal
November
November concentrates the scarce annual total (7.8 inches).
Mcnary Dam driest normal
July
July is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Mcnary Dam's climate
How dry is Mcnary Dam? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Mcnary Dam get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Mcnary Dam? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Mcnary Dam's primary station: MCNARY DAM (USC00455231). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Mcnary Dam; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Mcnary Dam 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.