Potlatch, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Potlatch's normal year runs from 25°F December nights to 84°F August afternoons, with 24.5 inches of precipitation and 41 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, December lows of −4°C, August highs of 29°C, 622 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPotlatch (3 mi NNE)
- Station IDUSC00107301
- Location46.96°N 116.86°W
- Elevation2,760 ft (841 m)
- Population810
On October 22, the normal high in Potlatch is 56°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 28%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Potlatch.
- Jan 37° 26°
- Feb 41° 26°
- Mar 48° 30°
- Apr 56° 34°
- May 65° 40°
- Jun 71° 45°
- Jul 82° 49°
- Aug 84° 48°
- Sep 74° 42°
- Oct 59° 35°
- Nov 44° 30°
- Dec 36° 25°
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 Potlatch each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in December (2.90 in), the least in August (0.75 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 26°F | 31.4°F | 2.76 | 13.1 | 10 | <1 | 25 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 41°F | 26°F | 33.6°F | 2.08 | 7.6 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 48°F | 30°F | 38.9°F | 2.80 | 3.1 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 34°F | 44.9°F | 2.33 | 1.3 | 9 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 65°F | 40°F | 52.5°F | 2.48 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 15 h |
| June | 71°F | 45°F | 57.8°F | 1.60 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 82°F | 49°F | 65.4°F | 0.84 | 0.0 | 4 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 84°F | 48°F | 65.8°F | 0.75 | 0.0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 74°F | 42°F | 57.9°F | 0.95 | 0.0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 59°F | 35°F | 46.8°F | 2.16 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 44°F | 30°F | 37.1°F | 2.85 | 5.2 | 11 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 36°F | 25°F | 30.6°F | 2.90 | 10.6 | 10 | <1 | 26 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 36°F | 46.9°F | 24.50 | 41.3 | 93 | 17 | 153 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −4°C | −0.3°C | 70 mm | 33 cm |
| February | 5°C | −3°C | 0.9°C | 53 mm | 19 cm |
| March | 9°C | −1°C | 3.8°C | 71 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 7.2°C | 59 mm | 3 cm |
| May | 18°C | 4°C | 11.4°C | 63 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 21°C | 7°C | 14.3°C | 41 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 9°C | 18.6°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 9°C | 18.8°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23°C | 5°C | 14.4°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 55 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7°C | −1°C | 2.8°C | 72 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 2°C | −4°C | −0.8°C | 74 mm | 27 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107301; 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 Potlatch?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August 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 USC00107301.
When is the last frost in Potlatch?
In Potlatch, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 15 in half of years and after June 2 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 21 in half of years and before August 31 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 151 year in 10 after June 2; 9 in 10 after April 30
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 211 year in 10 before August 31; 9 in 10 before October 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 126 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 162 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 28 in half of springs and before October 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Potlatch in zone 6b in ZIP code 83857, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Potlatch's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (21 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 USC00107301; 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 Potlatch?
In a normal year in Potlatch, 17 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 153 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 93 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 17a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 153a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 26high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 93a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1915) is 110°F, on August 4, 1961; the lowest is −30°F, on January 31, 1950.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1948, with 34.10 in; the snowiest season is 1916–17, with 89.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00107301; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00107301. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Potlatch?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Potlatch, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (91%) and December the cloudiest (55%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 1.3 |
| February | 64% | 2.2 |
| March | 64% | 3.3 |
| April | 70% | 4.8 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 78% | 6.8 |
| July | 91% | 7.5 |
| August | 88% | 6.2 |
| September | 83% | 4.5 |
| October | 73% | 2.8 |
| November | 61% | 1.5 |
| December | 55% | 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 Potlatch need?
A normal year in Potlatch brings 6,804 heating degree days, 27% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 222 cooling degree days, 76% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,676 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,042 | 0 |
| February | 881 | 0 |
| March | 809 | 0 |
| April | 605 | 0 |
| May | 388 | 2 |
| June | 231 | 15 |
| July | 75 | 89 |
| August | 71 | 94 |
| September | 236 | 22 |
| October | 564 | 0 |
| November | 837 | 0 |
| December | 1,066 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,804 | 222 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107301. 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 Potlatch been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.2°F, 2.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.9°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.1°F | +1.2°F | 20.36 | – |
| 2022 | 46.8°F | −0.1°F | 28.00 | 54.3 |
| 2023 | 48.4°F | +1.5°F | 15.29 | 38.3 |
| 2024 | 48.1°F | +1.2°F | 21.85 | – |
| 2025 | 49.2°F | +2.3°F | – | 35.2 |
Over 72 complete years from 1916 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00107301; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Potlatch's climate compare?
Potlatch is warmer than 46 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 66. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.9°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Potlatch 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 Potlatch share this climate record?
5 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.
- Palouse, WA1,029 people · 11 mi W
- Garfield, WA543 people · 14 mi W
- Onaway, ID220 people · 3 mi SW
- Farmington, WA134 people · 13 mi NW
- Princeton, ID29 people · 3 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 Potlatch's climate
What is the coldest month in Potlatch?
December, with a normal high of 36°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is August (84°F by day, 48°F at night).
Does it snow in Potlatch?
Yes: 41 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (13.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Potlatch?
December, with 2.90 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.75 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Potlatch in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Potlatch in zone 6b in ZIP code 83857, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Potlatch's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −1°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Potlatch?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 15; in one year in ten it comes after June 2. Waiting until June 2 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Moscow, ID17 miles from this station, 46.4°F a year
- Pullman, WA19 miles from this station, 48.6°F a year
- Plummer, ID25 miles from this station, 46.5°F a year
- St. Maries, ID28 miles from this station, 47.9°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made