Paradise, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Paradise's normal year runs from 40°F December nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 56.3 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.1 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.4°C, December lows of 4°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,431 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationParadise
- Station IDUSC00046685
- Location39.75°N 121.62°W
- Elevation1,750 ft (533 m)
- Population9,114
On October 23, the normal high in Paradise is 71°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 17%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Paradise.
- Jan 54° 41°
- Feb 56° 42°
- Mar 61° 45°
- Apr 66° 48°
- May 75° 54°
- Jun 84° 61°
- Jul 91° 67°
- Aug 90° 66°
- Sep 86° 62°
- Oct 74° 54°
- Nov 61° 45°
- Dec 54° 40°
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 Paradise each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 40°F. The most precipitation falls in December (11.19 in), the least in July (0.03 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 41°F | 47.4°F | 10.16 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 56°F | 42°F | 49.1°F | 10.13 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 61°F | 45°F | 52.5°F | 8.27 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 48°F | 56.8°F | 4.58 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 54°F | 64.3°F | 2.35 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 61°F | 72.5°F | 0.81 | 3 | 10 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 67°F | 79.2°F | 0.03 | <1 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 66°F | 77.8°F | 0.16 | 1 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 86°F | 62°F | 73.7°F | 0.41 | 1 | 12 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 54°F | 64.4°F | 2.77 | 5 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 61°F | 45°F | 53.0°F | 5.48 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 10 h |
| December | 54°F | 40°F | 46.7°F | 11.19 | 12 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 52°F | 61.5°F | 56.34 | 78 | 66 | 7 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 5°C | 8.6°C | 258 mm |
| February | 13°C | 6°C | 9.5°C | 257 mm |
| March | 16°C | 7°C | 11.4°C | 210 mm |
| April | 19°C | 9°C | 13.8°C | 116 mm |
| May | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 60 mm |
| June | 29°C | 16°C | 22.5°C | 21 mm |
| July | 33°C | 19°C | 26.2°C | 1 mm |
| August | 32°C | 19°C | 25.4°C | 4 mm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.2°C | 10 mm |
| October | 24°C | 12°C | 18.0°C | 70 mm |
| November | 16°C | 7°C | 11.7°C | 139 mm |
| December | 12°C | 4°C | 8.2°C | 284 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00046685; 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 Paradise?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June and October. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00046685.
When is the last frost in Paradise?
In Paradise, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 7 in half of years and after April 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 18 in half of years and before November 26 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 92% of years here (NOAA).
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- February 71 year in 10 after April 1; 9 in 10 after December 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 181 year in 10 before November 26; 9 in 10 before January 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 313 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 5 in half of springs and before December 31 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Paradise in zone 9b in ZIP code 95969. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Paradise's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (22 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00046685; 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 Paradise?
In a normal year in Paradise, 66 days a year reach 90°F (9 of them 100°F or more), 7 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 78 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 7a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 78a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1957) is 113°F, on August 5, 1998; the lowest is 14°F, on December 9, 1972.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1995, with 100.03 in; the snowiest season is 1972–73, with 21.3 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00046685; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00046685. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Paradise?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Paradise, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (98%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.1 |
| February | 74% | 3.1 |
| March | 76% | 4.3 |
| April | 81% | 5.9 |
| May | 88% | 7.3 |
| June | 94% | 8.3 |
| July | 98% | 8.3 |
| August | 97% | 7.4 |
| September | 95% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 4.1 |
| November | 78% | 2.6 |
| December | 69% | 1.9 |
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 Paradise need?
A normal year in Paradise brings 2,842 heating degree days, 47% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,574 cooling degree days, 73% more than 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 4,682 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 546 | 0 |
| February | 444 | 0 |
| March | 391 | 3 |
| April | 265 | 19 |
| May | 120 | 97 |
| June | 26 | 253 |
| July | 1 | 439 |
| August | 1 | 399 |
| September | 13 | 272 |
| October | 107 | 87 |
| November | 363 | 5 |
| December | 566 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,842 | 1,574 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00046685. 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 Paradise been warmer than normal lately?
Over 45 complete years from 1961 to 2016, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.6°F per century (+0.26°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 Paradise's climate compare?
Paradise is warmer than 111 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 206. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 61.5°F is warmer than 78%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Paradise is Csa: temperate, dry-summer, hot 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.
Which places near Paradise share this climate record?
6 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.
- Butte Valley, CA870 people · 6 mi S
- Berry Creek, CA793 people · 14 mi SE
- Butte Creek Canyon, CA783 people · 4 mi W
- Yankee Hill, CA384 people · 7 mi SE
- Concow, CA174 people · 6 mi E
- Cherokee, CA139 people · 9 mi SE
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Paradise's climate
What is the coldest month in Paradise?
December, with a normal high of 54°F and a normal low of 40°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 67°F at night).
Does it snow in Paradise?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.1 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Paradise?
December, with 11.19 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.03 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Paradise in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Paradise in zone 9b in ZIP code 95969. By the same method at Paradise's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 28°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Paradise?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 1. Waiting until April 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- De Sabla, CA8 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Chico, CA11 miles from this station, 61.6°F a year
- Oroville, CA18 miles from this station, 63.2°F a year
- Strawberry Valley, CA30 miles from this station, 52.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made