Merced Muni, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Merced Muni's primary NOAA station, MERCED MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for Merced Muni
Dryness leads the climate profile for Merced Muni, California, with 11.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 62°F. It scores 85/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 85% of them.
- 62°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 85/100
- comfort score, above 85% of station-mapped location scores
- 11.8"
- annual precipitation
- 272 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Merced Muni: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023257 · Merced Muni, CA 62°F mean · 11.8" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 62°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,557
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Atlanta Fulton…
- PRCP-ARID 11.8"
- SWING-MID 33°F
- COMF-TOP 85/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USW00023257
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Atlanta Fulton County, GA (+ 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 CA station list.
- Merced (this station) 62°F
- Hot Douglas Bisbee…, AZ 62°F
- Near Atlanta Fulton…, GA 62°F
- Near Camp Pendleton…, CA 62°F
- Near Chickasha, OK 62°F
Climate Living Index · Merced Muni
Merced Muni: 70/100 · grade B
Merced Muni publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Merced Muni, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 85/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 272 days/year | 95/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 62.3°F · 5.2° from 67.5°F | 84/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 97 calendar days | 77/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 11.8 in · 23.2 from 35 in | 18/100 · F |
Merced Muni · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Merced Muni'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
- 79.0°F
- Coldest month
- 46.0°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 · balanced station
Where Merced Muni sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Merced Muni's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 19% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Merced Muni sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 90%
- Merced Muni's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 86%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Merced Muni is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Merced Muni compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Merced Muni's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
85 Top 15% score exceeds 85% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Merced Muni's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 92 complete annual observations from 1875 to 2025, MERCED MUNI AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.05°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Merced Muni primary station fitted change +0.05 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F (13°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 2.4" | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 62°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.2" | 4.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 68°F (20°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.8" | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 74°F (23°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 1.1" | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| May | 83°F (28°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 6.7 |
| June | 91°F (33°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 18.7 |
| July | 96°F (36°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 27.4 |
| August | 95°F (35°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 25.6 |
| September | 91°F (33°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 17.3 |
| October | 80°F (26°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.0" | 2.8 | 0.0 |
| December | 56°F (13°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 1.9" | 11.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Merced Muni runs from a mild 36°F around December 16 to 97°F at the peak near July 14, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 14 through September 18, covering 97 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 31 to November 7.
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.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 36°F around December 16.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 15, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 29 at 0%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 56 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 8 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 35°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Merced Muni.
Where Merced Muni Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 97 days a year the normal daily high itself reaches 90°F — a count fewer than one station in ten exceeds.
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 12 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Merced Muni earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
9.6 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
8.2 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.1 days with precipitation
0.0 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
7.3 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
Merced Muni's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 55% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 1%. 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 33°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 2.4"
- Driest month
- August, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (55% 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.
How Merced Muni's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 56 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 11.8" between them, or roughly 0.21 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 26
50% probability date
Growing Season
272 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,551
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,583
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Merced Muni 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 (62°F here).
- Dunn, NC 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Elizabeth City, NC 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Houston, MS 62°F · 0.0°F off
- Oneonta, AL 62°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (11.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ovando, MT 11.8" · 0.0" off
- Benson, AZ 11.8" · 0.0" off
- St Marie, MT 11.8" · 0.0" off
- Delta Junction, AK 11.8" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Merced Muni's limited precipitation lands
mixed demand · dry · mid swing
Local precipitation is sparse in this otherwise mixed profile. The station reports 11.8 inches annually, within PlainClimate's dry band. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The monthly distribution matters because the total alone does not reveal the timing.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Merced Muni's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 33.0°F. The annual average is 62°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Merced Muni's normal, at 2,551 and 1,583 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
Merced Muni has a long frost-free window of roughly 272 days, but the dry annual profile is a separate constraint. Growing-season length says when freezes are unlikely, not whether rainfall is sufficient.
Merced Muni wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (11.8 inches).
Merced Muni driest normal
July
July is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Merced Muni's climate
How dry is Merced Muni? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Merced Muni get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Merced Muni? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Merced Muni's primary station: MERCED MUNI AP (USW00023257). 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 Merced Muni; 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 Merced Muni 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.