Milton Freewater, OR Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Milton Freewater's primary NOAA station, MILTON FREEWATER.
The climate verdict for Milton Freewater
Dryness leads the climate profile for Milton Freewater, Oregon, with 16.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 56°F. Its climate comfort score of 68/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 56% of station-mapped location scores.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 68/100
- comfort score, above 56% of station-mapped location scores
- 16.1"
- annual precipitation · 7" snow
- 218 days
- frost-free growing season
Milton Freewater: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00355593 · Milton Freewater, OR 56°F mean · 16.1" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,254
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chatham
- PRCP-DRY 16.1"
- SWING-MID 40°F
- COMF-MID 68/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,472 HDD
- STN-1 USC00355593
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Chatham, VA (+ 0.1 °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 OR station list.
- Milton Freewater (this station) 56°F
- Hot Petrified Fores…, AZ 56°F
- Near Chatham, VA 56°F
- Cold Manchester, KY 55°F
- Near Twin Arrows, AZ 55°F
Climate Living Index · Milton Freewater
Milton Freewater: 62/100 · grade C
Milton Freewater publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Milton Freewater, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 68/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 218 days/year | 76/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 103 calendar days | 74/100 · B |
| Snowfall burden | 7.2 inches/year | 67/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.5°F · 12.0° from 67.5°F | 61/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 16.1 in · 18.9 from 35 in | 33/100 · F |
Milton Freewater · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Milton Freewater is a temperate Köppen climate: Csa
Coldest-month mean 36.8°F and warmest-month mean 76.7°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, hot summer climates (Csa). Class Csa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Csa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 76.7°F
- Coldest month
- 36.8°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 Milton Freewater sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Milton Freewater's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 62nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 80%
- Milton Freewater'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 Milton Freewater compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Milton Freewater's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
68 Top 44% score exceeds 56% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Milton Freewater's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 86 complete annual observations from 1918 to 2025, MILTON FREEWATER warmed at a fitted rate of 0.12°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Milton Freewater primary station fitted change +0.11 °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 | 44°F (7°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.8" | 2.4" | 19.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 49°F (9°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 1.5" | 1.3" | 14.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 58°F (14°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 1.7" | 0.1" | 5.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 65°F (18°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.6" | 0.0" | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 1.8" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| June | 81°F (27°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 1.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| July | 90°F (32°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 16.7 |
| August | 89°F (32°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 14.5 |
| September | 80°F (26°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| October | 66°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.2" | 0.0" | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 52°F (11°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 1.9" | 0.3" | 11.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 44°F (6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 2.1" | 3.1" | 20.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Milton Freewater works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 27 and hold at or above 90°F on 33 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 70 dates, bottoming at 29°F around December 27.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 13 through August 14, covering 33 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 4 to October 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.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 9, then returns to freezing around December 2, covering 70 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 November 24, when 34% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 2 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 84 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 Milton Freewater.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 2.4"
10.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.3"
9.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
9.6 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
7.5 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
1.7 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
3.0 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 3.1"
10.2 days with precipitation
Milton Freewater spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 12% of the annual total and December through February 33%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Milton Freewater has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 39.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: December averages 2.1" and July 0.3". The three wettest months together take 36% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Milton Freewater is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 83 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 23% of the calendar, and they carry 16.1" between them. At roughly 0.19 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 10 wet days; the driest is August 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.
Snow reaches Milton Freewater, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 7.2 inches of snow a year here, most likely in December. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 3 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 29
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
March 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
218 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,472
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,027
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside OR closest to Milton Freewater 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 (56°F here).
- Allardt, TN 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Castle Valley, UT 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Hayesville, NC 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Hillsboro, IL 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (16.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Upton, WY 16.2" · 0.0" off
- Ridgway, CO 16.1" · 0.0" off
- Genoa, CO 16.2" · 0.0" off
- Edgemont, SD 16.1" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Milton Freewater's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · mid swing
Milton Freewater's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,472 annual heating degree days against 1,027 for cooling. Its 39.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Milton Freewater's frost-free season lasts about 218 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Milton Freewater's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 39.9°F. The annual average is 56°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Milton Freewater's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 16.1 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 7.2 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Milton Freewater's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Milton Freewater, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Milton Freewater's climate
How much rain does Milton Freewater get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Milton Freewater get? ▼
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Milton Freewater's primary station: MILTON FREEWATER (USC00355593). 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 an incorporated place (GEOID 4148600). Match rule for Milton Freewater: 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 Milton Freewater 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.