Pelton Dam, Oregon climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Pelton Dam's normal year runs from 27°F December nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 10.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.2°C, December lows of −3°C, July highs of 33°C, 266 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPelton Dam
- Station IDUSC00356532
- Location44.73°N 121.25°W
- Elevation1,410 ft (430 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Pelton Dam is 63°F and the normal low 35°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 25%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pelton Dam.
- Jan 43° 27°
- Feb 49° 28°
- Mar 57° 31°
- Apr 64° 35°
- May 73° 43°
- Jun 81° 48°
- Jul 92° 53°
- Aug 91° 53°
- Sep 82° 46°
- Oct 67° 37°
- Nov 51° 31°
- Dec 42° 27°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Pelton Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 27°F. The most precipitation falls in December (1.62 in), the least in July (0.28 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 27°F | 35.1°F | 1.46 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 49°F | 28°F | 38.4°F | 1.14 | 10 | <1 | 21 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 57°F | 31°F | 44.1°F | 0.79 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 64°F | 35°F | 49.5°F | 0.83 | 9 | <1 | 11 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 73°F | 43°F | 58.0°F | 1.05 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 81°F | 48°F | 64.4°F | 0.80 | 6 | 8 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 92°F | 53°F | 72.5°F | 0.28 | 2 | 22 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 91°F | 53°F | 71.8°F | 0.29 | 2 | 21 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 82°F | 46°F | 63.9°F | 0.30 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 67°F | 37°F | 52.0°F | 0.73 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 11 h |
| November | 51°F | 31°F | 41.1°F | 1.20 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 42°F | 27°F | 34.3°F | 1.62 | 12 | <1 | 24 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 38°F | 52.1°F | 10.49 | 87 | 66 | 130 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −3°C | 1.7°C | 37 mm |
| February | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 29 mm |
| March | 14°C | 0°C | 6.7°C | 20 mm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 9.7°C | 21 mm |
| May | 23°C | 6°C | 14.4°C | 27 mm |
| June | 27°C | 9°C | 18.0°C | 20 mm |
| July | 33°C | 12°C | 22.5°C | 7 mm |
| August | 33°C | 11°C | 22.1°C | 7 mm |
| September | 28°C | 8°C | 17.7°C | 8 mm |
| October | 20°C | 3°C | 11.1°C | 19 mm |
| November | 11°C | −1°C | 5.1°C | 30 mm |
| December | 6°C | −3°C | 1.3°C | 41 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Madras (7 miles away), gets 14 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00356532; 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.
Which months are mildest at Pelton Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00356532.
When is the last frost at Pelton Dam?
In Pelton Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 24 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
- May 51 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 24; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 154 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 182 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 20 in half of springs and before October 20 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pelton Dam in zone 7a in ZIP code 97761, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 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 Oregon · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00356532; 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 at Pelton Dam?
In a normal year in Pelton Dam, 66 days a year reach 90°F (21 of them 100°F or more), 130 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 66a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 130a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1958) is 119°F, on June 30, 2021; the lowest is −15°F, on December 8, 1972.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1996, with 20.05 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 25.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00356532; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00356532. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Pelton Dam?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Pelton Dam, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (60%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 62% | 1.5 |
| February | 67% | 2.5 |
| March | 67% | 3.6 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 75% | 6.2 |
| June | 82% | 7.1 |
| July | 92% | 7.7 |
| August | 91% | 6.6 |
| September | 86% | 4.9 |
| October | 76% | 3.1 |
| November | 65% | 1.8 |
| December | 60% | 1.3 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Pelton Dam record?
A normal year at Pelton Dam brings 5,325 heating degree days, 1% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 649 cooling degree days, 28% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,721 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 925 | 0 |
| February | 745 | 0 |
| March | 646 | 0 |
| April | 466 | 1 |
| May | 241 | 24 |
| June | 95 | 78 |
| July | 14 | 246 |
| August | 13 | 224 |
| September | 103 | 72 |
| October | 408 | 3 |
| November | 719 | 0 |
| December | 950 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,325 | 649 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00356532. 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.
Have recent years at Pelton Dam been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 54.3°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.1°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 52.6°F | +0.5°F | 9.58 |
| 2024 | 52.8°F | +0.6°F | 13.51 |
| 2025 | 54.3°F | +2.2°F | 10.28 |
Over 49 complete years from 1959 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.3°F per century (+0.24°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00356532; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pelton Dam's climate compare?
Pelton Dam is warmer than 54 of the 105 places with their own NOAA record in Oregon, and wetter than 11. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.1°F is warmer than 50%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pelton Dam is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Pelton Dam share this climate record?
Warm Springs has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Warm Springs, OR2,446 people · 4 mi N
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 Pelton Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Pelton Dam?
December, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 27°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow at Pelton Dam?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for the station; the nearest record that keeps one, Madras (7 miles away), records 14 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month at Pelton Dam?
December, with 1.62 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.28 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pelton Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pelton Dam in zone 7a in ZIP code 97761, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come at Pelton Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 29. Waiting until May 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oregon climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Madras, OR7 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Grizzly, OR21 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Antelope, OR25 miles from this station, 49.3°F a year
- Redmond, OR33 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made