Palmdale, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Palmdale's normal year runs from 32°F December nights to 98°F July afternoons, with 5.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.0°C, December lows of 0°C, July highs of 36°C, 150 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPalmdale Airport
- Station IDUSW00023182
- Location34.63°N 118.08°W
- Elevation2,524 ft (769 m)
- Population162,536
On October 14, the normal high in Palmdale is 80°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 4%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Palmdale.
- Jan 59° 33°
- Feb 62° 36°
- Mar 68° 40°
- Apr 73° 45°
- May 82° 53°
- Jun 91° 60°
- Jul 98° 67°
- Aug 98° 66°
- Sep 92° 59°
- Oct 80° 49°
- Nov 67° 38°
- Dec 58° 32°
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 Palmdale each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 98°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 32°F. The most precipitation falls in February (1.49 in), the least in June (0.02 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 33°F | 45.9°F | 0.98 | 4 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| February | 62°F | 36°F | 48.9°F | 1.49 | 5 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 40°F | 53.8°F | 0.87 | 4 | <1 | 4 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 45°F | 59.3°F | 0.26 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 53°F | 67.4°F | 0.13 | 1 | 8 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 91°F | 60°F | 75.4°F | 0.02 | <1 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 98°F | 67°F | 82.5°F | 0.11 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 98°F | 66°F | 81.8°F | 0.03 | 1 | 29 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 92°F | 59°F | 75.2°F | 0.16 | 1 | 21 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 80°F | 49°F | 64.1°F | 0.47 | 1 | 4 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 38°F | 52.5°F | 0.36 | 2 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 58°F | 32°F | 44.7°F | 1.02 | 4 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 48°F | 62.6°F | 5.90 | 27 | 113 | 54 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 25 mm |
| February | 17°C | 2°C | 9.4°C | 38 mm |
| March | 20°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 22 mm |
| April | 23°C | 7°C | 15.2°C | 7 mm |
| May | 28°C | 12°C | 19.7°C | 3 mm |
| June | 33°C | 16°C | 24.1°C | 1 mm |
| July | 36°C | 20°C | 28.1°C | 3 mm |
| August | 37°C | 19°C | 27.7°C | 1 mm |
| September | 33°C | 15°C | 24.0°C | 4 mm |
| October | 27°C | 9°C | 17.8°C | 12 mm |
| November | 20°C | 3°C | 11.4°C | 9 mm |
| December | 14°C | 0°C | 7.1°C | 26 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Palmdale's own co-op station Palmdale station does: 0 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023182; 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 Palmdale?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USW00023182.
When is the last frost in Palmdale?
In Palmdale, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 18 in half of years and after April 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 15 in half of years and before October 30 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
- March 181 year in 10 after April 11; 9 in 10 after February 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 151 year in 10 before October 30; 9 in 10 before November 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 241 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 281 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 19 in half of springs and before November 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Palmdale in zones 8b to 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 93551, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Palmdale's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 19°F (22 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 California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00023182; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Palmdale ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Palmdale's 4 ZIP code areas run from zone 8b to 9a: 2 in 8b and 2 in 9a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Palmdale?
In a normal year in Palmdale, 113 days a year reach 90°F (36 of them 100°F or more), 54 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 27 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 113a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 36a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 54a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 27a normal year
The highest temperature in Palmdale's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1931) is 118°F, on August 5, 1990; the lowest is 3°F, on January 13, 1963.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 18.42 in; the snowiest season is 1948–49, with 24.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00023182; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record PMDthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Palmdale?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Palmdale, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (97%) and February the cloudiest (82%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 21st (with 17 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.2 |
| February | 82% | 4.0 |
| March | 85% | 5.4 |
| April | 87% | 6.7 |
| May | 89% | 7.5 |
| June | 93% | 8.1 |
| July | 95% | 7.9 |
| August | 97% | 7.5 |
| September | 95% | 6.3 |
| October | 91% | 4.8 |
| November | 88% | 3.6 |
| December | 83% | 2.9 |
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 Palmdale need?
A normal year in Palmdale brings 2,778 heating degree days, 48% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,944 cooling degree days, 2.1 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,158 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 594 | 0 |
| February | 449 | 0 |
| March | 348 | 2 |
| April | 198 | 27 |
| May | 67 | 141 |
| June | 9 | 322 |
| July | 0 | 542 |
| August | 0 | 522 |
| September | 8 | 314 |
| October | 99 | 72 |
| November | 377 | 2 |
| December | 631 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,778 | 1,944 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023182. 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 Palmdale been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 63.9°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.6°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64.4°F | +1.8°F | 3.51 |
| 2022 | 64.1°F | +1.5°F | 2.89 |
| 2023 | 61.2°F | −1.4°F | 9.52 |
| 2024 | 64.8°F | +2.2°F | 6.31 |
| 2025 | 63.9°F | +1.3°F | 7.84 |
Over 60 complete years from 1934 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00023182; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Palmdale's climate compare?
Palmdale is warmer than 137 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 18. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.6°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Palmdale is BWk: cold desert. 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.
Which places near Palmdale share this climate record?
2 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Acton, CA7,721 people · 11 mi SW
- Desert View Highlands, CA3,389 people · 5 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Palmdale's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Palmdale. This page uses Palmdale Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmdale station USC00046624 | 3 mi S | 2,612 ft | 63.6°F | 35°F | 98°F | 7.3 | 0 | March 10 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Palmdale's climate
What is the coldest month in Palmdale?
December, with a normal high of 58°F and a normal low of 32°F. The warmest is July (98°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Palmdale?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Palmdale's NOAA station; Palmdale's own co-op station Palmdale station records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Palmdale?
February, with 1.49 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Palmdale in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Palmdale in zones 8b to 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 93551, the largest). By the same method at Palmdale's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 19°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Palmdale?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 18; in one year in ten it comes after April 11. Waiting until April 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Palmdale in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lancaster, CA11 miles from this station, 62.1°F a year
- Pearblossom, CA14 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Fairmont, CA21 miles from this station, 62.0°F a year
- El Mirage, CA26 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made