Pierce, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pierce's normal year runs from 19°F December nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 43.1 inches of precipitation and 114 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.4°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,094 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPierce
- Station IDUSC00107046
- Location46.49°N 115.80°W
- Elevation3,080 ft (939 m)
- Population520
On October 23, the normal high in Pierce is 54°F and the normal low 28°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 41%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pierce.
- Jan 35° 19°
- Feb 39° 20°
- Mar 47° 24°
- Apr 54° 29°
- May 64° 36°
- Jun 71° 42°
- Jul 83° 45°
- Aug 83° 43°
- Sep 73° 36°
- Oct 58° 30°
- Nov 42° 24°
- Dec 34° 19°
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 Pierce each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 19°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.70 in), the least in August (1.01 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 19°F | 26.7°F | 5.50 | 32.2 | 16 | <1 | 31 | 9 h |
| February | 39°F | 20°F | 29.5°F | 4.09 | 23.4 | 14 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 47°F | 24°F | 35.2°F | 4.35 | 10.8 | 15 | <1 | 30 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 54°F | 29°F | 41.8°F | 4.03 | 4.5 | 14 | <1 | 24 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 64°F | 36°F | 50.1°F | 3.83 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 15 h |
| June | 71°F | 42°F | 56.5°F | 3.34 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 83°F | 45°F | 63.9°F | 1.27 | 0.0 | 5 | 7 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 43°F | 62.7°F | 1.01 | 0.0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 73°F | 36°F | 54.4°F | 1.61 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 58°F | 30°F | 43.6°F | 3.42 | 0.4 | 12 | <1 | 22 | 11 h |
| November | 42°F | 24°F | 33.2°F | 4.91 | 10.7 | 15 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 34°F | 19°F | 26.0°F | 5.70 | 31.6 | 18 | <1 | 31 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 30°F | 43.6°F | 43.06 | 113.6 | 144 | 17 | 216 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −7°C | −2.9°C | 140 mm | 82 cm |
| February | 4°C | −7°C | −1.4°C | 104 mm | 59 cm |
| March | 8°C | −5°C | 1.8°C | 110 mm | 27 cm |
| April | 12°C | −2°C | 5.4°C | 102 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 18°C | 2°C | 10.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 22°C | 5°C | 13.6°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 7°C | 17.7°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 6°C | 17.1°C | 26 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 2°C | 12.4°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14°C | −1°C | 6.4°C | 87 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6°C | −4°C | 0.7°C | 125 mm | 27 cm |
| December | 1°C | −7°C | −3.3°C | 145 mm | 80 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107046; 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 Pierce?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00107046.
When is the last frost in Pierce?
In Pierce, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 3 in half of years and after June 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 7 in half of years and before August 22 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
- June 31 year in 10 after June 29; 9 in 10 after May 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 71 year in 10 before August 22; 9 in 10 before September 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 93 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 136 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 10 in half of springs and before September 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pierce in zone 6a in ZIP code 83546, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pierce's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Idaho · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00107046; 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 Pierce?
In a normal year in Pierce, 17 days a year reach 90°F, 216 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 144 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 216a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 25high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 144a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 35a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1963) is 105°F, on August 11, 2018; the lowest is −29°F, on January 2, 1979.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1964, with 55.97 in; the snowiest season is 1971–72, with 260.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00107046; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00107046. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Pierce?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pierce, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and December the cloudiest (52%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 56% | 1.3 |
| February | 58% | 2.0 |
| March | 59% | 3.1 |
| April | 64% | 4.4 |
| May | 68% | 5.6 |
| June | 73% | 6.4 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 86% | 6.2 |
| September | 79% | 4.4 |
| October | 67% | 2.6 |
| November | 56% | 1.4 |
| December | 52% | 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 Pierce need?
A normal year in Pierce brings 7,888 heating degree days, 47% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 120 cooling degree days, 87% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,333 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,186 | 0 |
| February | 993 | 0 |
| March | 924 | 0 |
| April | 696 | 0 |
| May | 464 | 2 |
| June | 267 | 11 |
| July | 95 | 61 |
| August | 115 | 42 |
| September | 323 | 5 |
| October | 663 | 0 |
| November | 954 | 0 |
| December | 1,209 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,888 | 120 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107046. 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 Pierce been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 44.7°F, 1.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.6°F. 2 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.2°F | +0.6°F | 38.07 | 134.4 |
| 2022 | 42.8°F | −0.8°F | 42.08 | 130.2 |
| 2024 | 44.7°F | +1.1°F | 38.86 | 75.3 |
Over 34 complete years from 1964 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.1°F per century (+0.01°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00107046; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pierce's climate compare?
Pierce is warmer than 18 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 78. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.6°F is warmer than 14%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pierce is Dsb: continental, 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.
Which places near Pierce share this climate record?
Weippe 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.
- Weippe, ID414 people · 10 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.
Questions about Pierce's climate
What is the coldest month in Pierce?
December, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 19°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 45°F at night).
Does it snow in Pierce?
Yes: 114 inches in a normal year, falling on 45 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (32.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Pierce?
December, with 5.70 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 1.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pierce in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pierce in zone 6a in ZIP code 83546, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Pierce's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Pierce?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 3; in one year in ten it comes after June 29. Waiting until June 29 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Headquarters, ID9 miles from this station, 42.6°F a year
- Kamiah, ID21 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Dworshak Fish Hatchery, ID25 miles from this station, 51.7°F a year
- Lowell Three Rivers, ID26 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made