Palm Springs, 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 Palm Springs's primary NOAA station, PALM SPRINGS.
The climate verdict for Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California is cooling-led and dry. Its 5.1 inches of annual precipitation pairs with an annual average of 75°F. Its climate comfort score of 70/100 (good) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 66% of station-mapped location scores.
- 75°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 70/100
- comfort score, above 66% of station-mapped location scores
- 5.1"
- annual precipitation
- 364 days
- frost-free growing season
Palm Springs: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00046635 · Palm Springs, CA 75°F mean · 5.1" precip
TEMP-HOT · RANK-WARM · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-COOL · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-HOT 75°F
- RANK-WARM #6,792
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Yuma Proving Gr…
- PRCP-ARID 5.1"
- SWING-MID 36°F
- COMF-MID 70/100
- LOAD-COOL 4,462 CDD
- STN-1 USC00046635
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Yuma Proving Ground, AZ ( -0.3 °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.
- Hot Palm Springs Rg…, CA 76°F
- Near Mcallen, TX 76°F
- Palm Springs (this station) 75°F
- Cold Mecca Fire, CA 75°F
- Near Yuma Proving Gr…, AZ 75°F
Climate Living Index · Palm Springs
Palm Springs: 53/100 · grade D
Palm Springs publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Palm Springs, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 70/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 364 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Snowfall burden | 0.0 inches/year | 90/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 75.1°F · 7.6° from 67.5°F | 76/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 175 calendar days | 29/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 5.1 in · 29.9 from 35 in | 1/100 · F |
Palm Springs · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Palm Springs'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
- 93.2°F
- Coldest month
- 56.9°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 Palm Springs sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Palm Springs'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, Palm Springs sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 99%
- Palm Springs's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 79%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Palm Springs is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Palm Springs compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Palm Springs's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
70 Top 34% score exceeds 66% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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 | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71°F (21°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 1.4" | 0.0" | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| February | 73°F (23°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| March | 80°F (27°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.6" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| April | 88°F (31°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 0.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 12.3 |
| May | 94°F (35°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 80°F (26°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 24.6 |
| June | 103°F (40°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 88°F (31°C) | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 28.3 |
| July | 108°F (42°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 93°F (34°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 31.0 |
| August | 108°F (42°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 93°F (34°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 31.0 |
| September | 102°F (39°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 88°F (31°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 28.9 |
| October | 91°F (33°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 78°F (25°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 19.5 |
| November | 78°F (26°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| December | 69°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.8" | 0.0" | 0.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The year in Palm Springs runs from a mild 45°F around December 17 to 108°F at the peak near July 17, and the normal low never reaches freezing on any date in the record.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from April 28 through October 19, covering 175 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs January 10 to December 4.
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 45°F around December 17.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 10, when 10% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is May 28 at 0%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 14 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 13 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Palm Springs.
Where Palm Springs Stands Nationally
Summers here run among the most heat-heavy normals calendars in the country: on about 175 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 5 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Palm Springs earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
3.1 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
1.6 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.0 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
0.7 days with precipitation
0.8 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.8 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
Palm Springs's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 66% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 8%. 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 36.3°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 1.4"
- Driest month
- June, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (66% 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.
When it rains in Palm Springs, it arrives in quantity
5.1" of precipitation falls across only about 14 wet days here, averaging 0.36 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 14 a year, 4% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.36 inches
- Most wet days
- January, about 3
- Fewest wet days
- June, about 0
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Palm Springs's record shows no measurable snowfall
This station measured snowfall across the 1991-2020 period and recorded none: the annual normal is 0.0 inches. That is a measured zero rather than missing data, which is a meaningful distinction here , most stations in the database simply do not report snow at all, and those pages say nothing about it.
A thirty-year normal of zero describes the typical year at this station. It is not a claim that snow has never fallen in the area.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 31
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
364 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
733
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
4,462
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Palm Springs 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 (75°F here).
- Weslaco, TX 75°F · 0.1°F off
- Edinburg, TX 75°F · 0.2°F off
- Marco Island, FL 75°F · 0.2°F off
- Stuart, FL 75°F · 0.2°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (5.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Pahrump, NV 5.0" · 0.1" off
- Laughlin, NV 5.3" · 0.2" off
- Dyer, NV 5.4" · 0.3" off
- Bullhead City, AZ 5.4" · 0.3" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Palm Springs's limited precipitation lands
cooling led · dry · mid swing
Air-conditioning demand is the clearest thermal signal here. Palm Springs accumulates 4,462 cooling degree days, more than twice its 733 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: Palm Springs receives 5.1 inches in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's dry range. Recorded annual snowfall is negligible. 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 Palm Springs's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 36.3°F. The annual average is 75°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
With about 364 frost-free days, the calendar is constrained more by sustained heat than by freeze timing. This does not measure crop suitability or soil moisture; it only reports the NOAA-derived frost-free window for Palm Springs.
Palm Springs wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (5.1 inches).
Palm Springs driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Palm Springs's climate
How dry is Palm Springs? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Palm Springs get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Palm Springs? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Palm Springs's primary station: PALM SPRINGS (USC00046635). 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 0655254). Match rule for Palm Springs: 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 Palm Springs 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.