Packwood, Washington climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Packwood's normal year runs from 31°F December nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 58.4 inches of precipitation and 32 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, December lows of −1°C, July highs of 26°C, 1,482 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPackwood
- Station IDUSC00456262
- Location46.61°N 121.67°W
- Elevation1,060 ft (323 m)
- Population (census place)118
On October 23, the normal high in Packwood is 58°F and the normal low 39°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 53%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Packwood.
- Jan 44° 31°
- Feb 49° 31°
- Mar 53° 34°
- Apr 59° 38°
- May 67° 44°
- Jun 71° 49°
- Jul 79° 53°
- Aug 80° 52°
- Sep 74° 47°
- Oct 61° 40°
- Nov 49° 35°
- Dec 43° 31°
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 Packwood each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in November (9.42 in), the least in July (0.70 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44°F | 31°F | 37.4°F | 8.86 | 13.4 | 20 | <1 | 16 | 9 h |
| February | 49°F | 31°F | 40.0°F | 6.03 | 2.6 | 16 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 53°F | 34°F | 43.5°F | 6.09 | 3.3 | 20 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 38°F | 48.3°F | 3.95 | 0.4 | 18 | <1 | 4 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 67°F | 44°F | 55.1°F | 2.87 | 0.0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 15 h |
| June | 71°F | 49°F | 59.8°F | 2.05 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 79°F | 53°F | 65.9°F | 0.70 | 0.0 | 4 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 80°F | 52°F | 65.8°F | 0.85 | 0.0 | 4 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 74°F | 47°F | 60.3°F | 2.31 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 61°F | 40°F | 50.6°F | 6.02 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | 5 | 11 h |
| November | 49°F | 35°F | 42.1°F | 9.42 | 2.5 | 20 | <1 | 10 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 43°F | 31°F | 36.8°F | 9.20 | 9.3 | 19 | <1 | 17 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 40°F | 50.5°F | 58.35 | 31.5 | 168 | 11 | 82 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7°C | −1°C | 3.0°C | 225 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 9°C | 0°C | 4.4°C | 153 mm | 7 cm |
| March | 12°C | 1°C | 6.4°C | 155 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 100 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 19°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 22°C | 9°C | 15.4°C | 52 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 11°C | 18.8°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 8°C | 15.7°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 5°C | 10.3°C | 153 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | 2°C | 5.6°C | 239 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 6°C | −1°C | 2.7°C | 234 mm | 24 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00456262; 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 Packwood?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00456262.
When is the last frost in Packwood?
In Packwood, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 21 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
- April 301 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 21; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 162 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 205 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 6 in half of springs and before October 29 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Packwood in zone 7a in ZIP code 98361, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Packwood's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (29 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 Washington · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00456262; 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 Packwood?
In a normal year in Packwood, 11 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 82 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 168 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 11a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 82a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 168a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1924) is 108°F, on July 15, 1941; the lowest is −9°F, on January 26, 1957.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 80.97 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 87.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00456262; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00456262. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Packwood?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Packwood, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (90%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 1.3 |
| February | 67% | 2.3 |
| March | 67% | 3.4 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 79% | 6.8 |
| July | 90% | 7.5 |
| August | 89% | 6.3 |
| September | 84% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 2.8 |
| November | 63% | 1.5 |
| December | 56% | 1.0 |
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 Packwood need?
A normal year in Packwood brings 5,482 heating degree days, 2% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 200 cooling degree days, 78% 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 1,916 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 857 | 0 |
| February | 700 | 0 |
| March | 665 | 0 |
| April | 501 | 0 |
| May | 313 | 6 |
| June | 176 | 18 |
| July | 53 | 81 |
| August | 49 | 74 |
| September | 161 | 20 |
| October | 447 | 0 |
| November | 686 | 0 |
| December | 874 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,482 | 200 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00456262. 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 Packwood been warmer than normal lately?
Over 37 complete years from 1957 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.9°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Packwood's climate compare?
Packwood is warmer than 46 of the other 95 places with their own NOAA record in Washington, and wetter than 73. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.5°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Packwood is Csb: temperate, 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.
Questions about Packwood's climate
What is the coldest month in Packwood?
December, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Packwood?
Yes: 32 inches in a normal year, falling on 11 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Packwood?
November, with 9.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.70 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Packwood in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Packwood in zone 7a in ZIP code 98361, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Packwood's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 13°F (29 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Packwood?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Washington climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Longmire Rainier NPS, WA12 miles from this station, 44.3°F a year
- Rainier Paradise Ranger Station, WA12 miles from this station, 38.4°F a year
- Glenoma, WA23 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Mud Mountain Dam, WA39 miles from this station, 49.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made