Ocotillo Wells, CA 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 Ocotillo Wells's primary NOAA station, OCOTILLO WELLS 2W.
The climate verdict for Ocotillo Wells
Ocotillo Wells, California is cooling-led and dry. Its 4.0 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 77°F. July is the warmest month at 96°F and December the coldest at 58°F.
- 77°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 4.0"
- precipitation, annual total
Ocotillo Wells: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00046386 · Ocotillo Wells, CA 77°F mean · 4.0" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-UNK · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 77°F
- RANK-WARM #6,792
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Yuma Mcas
- PRCP-ARID 4.0"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-COOL 4,928 CDD
- STN-1 USC00046386
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Yuma Mcas, AZ ( -0.7 °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.
- Ocotillo Wells (this station) 77°F
- Hot Mcallen Miller, TX 77°F
- Cold Palm Springs Rg…, CA 76°F
- Near Yuma Mcas, AZ 76°F
- Near Indio Fire, CA 76°F
Climate Living Index · Ocotillo Wells
Ocotillo Wells: 40/100 · grade D
Ocotillo Wells publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Ocotillo Wells, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 76.6°F · 9.1° from 67.5°F | 71/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 169 calendar days | 33/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 4.0 in · 31.0 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Ocotillo Wells · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Ocotillo Wells's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWh
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as hot desert (BWh). Class BWh is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically hot desert.
- Köppen code
- BWh
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 95.7°F
- Coldest month
- 57.6°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 · cooling-led station
Where Ocotillo Wells sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Ocotillo Wells's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 1% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Ocotillo Wells sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 100%
- Ocotillo Wells's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Ocotillo Wells is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69°F (20°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.7" | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 73°F (23°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 0.8" | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| March | 80°F (26°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 69°F (20°C) | 0.5" | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| April | 86°F (30°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 11.6 |
| May | 94°F (34°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 22.4 |
| June | 102°F (39°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 89°F (32°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 29.2 |
| July | 108°F (42°C) | 83°F (29°C) | 96°F (35°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 30.9 |
| August | 108°F (42°C) | 84°F (29°C) | 96°F (35°C) | 0.4" | 0.0 | 30.9 |
| September | 102°F (39°C) | 78°F (26°C) | 90°F (32°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 28.2 |
| October | 91°F (33°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 19.9 |
| November | 79°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.2" | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| December | 68°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 0.5" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Ocotillo Wells runs from a mild 46°F around December 18 to 109°F at the peak near July 23, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from May 3 through October 18, covering 169 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs January 27 to December 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.
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 46°F around December 18.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 19, when 8% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 2 at 0%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 13 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 19 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 27°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Ocotillo Wells.
Where Ocotillo Wells Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 169 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 4 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Ocotillo Wells earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
2.2 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
1.1 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.1 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
0.4 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
Ocotillo Wells's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 49% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 16%. 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 38.1°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 0.8"
- Driest month
- June, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- February, January, March (50% 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 Ocotillo Wells's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 13 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 4.0" between them, or roughly 0.32 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
January 4
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 7
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
674
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
4,928
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Ocotillo Wells 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 (77°F here).
- Hialeah, FL 77°F · 0.0°F off
- Lihue, HI 76°F · 0.3°F off
- Brownsville, TX 76°F · 0.4°F off
- Coral Springs, FL 76°F · 0.4°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (4.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Ehrenberg, AZ 4.0" · 0.0" off
- Yuma, AZ 4.0" · 0.0" off
- Hawthorne, NV 4.2" · 0.1" off
- Lake Havasu City, AZ 4.2" · 0.1" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Ocotillo Wells's limited precipitation lands
cooling led · dry · mid swing
Air-conditioning demand is the clearest thermal signal here. Ocotillo Wells accumulates 4,928 cooling degree days, more than twice its 674 heating total; the monthly table shows when that imbalance builds rather than treating it as a year-round condition.
Heat demand sits beside limited local precipitation: Ocotillo Wells receives 4.0 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Month-level precipitation is the useful check on when that small annual total arrives.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Ocotillo Wells's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.1°F. The annual average is 77°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Ocotillo Wells. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
Ocotillo Wells wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (4.0 inches).
Ocotillo Wells driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Ocotillo Wells's climate
How dry is Ocotillo Wells? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Ocotillo Wells get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Ocotillo Wells? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Ocotillo Wells's primary station: OCOTILLO WELLS 2W (USC00046386). 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 Ocotillo Wells; 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 Ocotillo Wells 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.