Preston, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Preston's normal year runs from 15°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 17.3 inches of precipitation and 52 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 32°C, 439 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPreston
- Station IDUSC00107346
- Location42.09°N 111.88°W
- Elevation4,719 ft (1,438 m)
- Population6,160
On October 22, the normal high in Preston is 60°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Preston.
- Jan 32° 15°
- Feb 38° 18°
- Mar 50° 27°
- Apr 59° 33°
- May 69° 40°
- Jun 79° 47°
- Jul 89° 54°
- Aug 87° 52°
- Sep 77° 43°
- Oct 63° 33°
- Nov 47° 24°
- Dec 34° 17°
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 Preston each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 15°F. The most precipitation falls in May (2.24 in), the least in July (0.74 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32°F | 15°F | 23.8°F | 1.66 | 13.5 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 18°F | 28.0°F | 1.40 | 10.8 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 50°F | 27°F | 38.8°F | 1.50 | 5.1 | 9 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 33°F | 46.0°F | 1.89 | 3.0 | 10 | <1 | 15 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 40°F | 54.8°F | 2.24 | 0.2 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 79°F | 47°F | 63.1°F | 1.24 | 0.0 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 89°F | 54°F | 71.4°F | 0.74 | 0.0 | 5 | 17 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 87°F | 52°F | 69.9°F | 0.81 | 0.0 | 5 | 12 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 77°F | 43°F | 59.9°F | 1.48 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 33°F | 48.0°F | 1.59 | 0.8 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 24°F | 35.3°F | 1.18 | 4.9 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 34°F | 17°F | 25.0°F | 1.57 | 14.1 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 34°F | 47.0°F | 17.30 | 52.4 | 94 | 34 | 175 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0°C | −9°C | −4.6°C | 42 mm | 34 cm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.2°C | 36 mm | 27 cm |
| March | 10°C | −3°C | 3.8°C | 38 mm | 13 cm |
| April | 15°C | 0°C | 7.8°C | 48 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 21°C | 5°C | 12.7°C | 57 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 26°C | 8°C | 17.3°C | 31 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 12°C | 21.9°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 11°C | 21.1°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 6°C | 15.5°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 40 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 8°C | −4°C | 1.8°C | 30 mm | 12 cm |
| December | 1°C | −9°C | −3.9°C | 40 mm | 36 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107346; 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 Preston?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00107346.
When is the last frost in Preston?
In Preston, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after June 4 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 28 in half of years and before September 14 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 161 year in 10 after June 4; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 281 year in 10 before September 14; 9 in 10 before October 14
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 133 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 164 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Preston in zone 6a in ZIP code 83232, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Preston's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (17 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 USC00107346; 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 Preston?
In a normal year in Preston, 34 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 175 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 94 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 34a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 175a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 94a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 20a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1964) is 110°F, on July 23, 2000; the lowest is −31°F, on February 6, 1982.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2005, with 24.93 in; the snowiest season is 2022–23, with 107.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00107346; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00107346. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Preston?
Over a year 78% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Preston, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (89%) and December the cloudiest (61%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 1.9 |
| February | 66% | 2.8 |
| March | 71% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.4 |
| May | 74% | 6.3 |
| June | 83% | 7.5 |
| July | 89% | 7.6 |
| August | 88% | 6.6 |
| September | 84% | 5.2 |
| October | 76% | 3.4 |
| November | 68% | 2.1 |
| December | 61% | 1.5 |
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 Preston need?
A normal year in Preston brings 6,994 heating degree days, 30% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 461 cooling degree days, 49% 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 2,280 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,277 | 0 |
| February | 1,036 | 0 |
| March | 814 | 0 |
| April | 570 | 0 |
| May | 323 | 5 |
| June | 111 | 54 |
| July | 12 | 208 |
| August | 18 | 170 |
| September | 175 | 23 |
| October | 527 | 0 |
| November | 891 | 0 |
| December | 1,240 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,994 | 461 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00107346. 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 Preston been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.7°F, 2.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.0°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.8°F | +1.8°F | 16.63 | – |
| 2022 | 46.0°F | −1.0°F | 12.98 | 32.1 |
| 2023 | 45.7°F | −1.3°F | 18.99 | 100.7 |
| 2024 | 48.8°F | +1.8°F | 14.37 | 40.0 |
| 2025 | 49.7°F | +2.7°F | 14.64 | 30.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00107346. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Preston's climate compare?
Preston is warmer than 48 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 45. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.0°F is warmer than 28%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Preston is Dfb: continental, no dry season, 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 Preston 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.
- Lewiston, UT1,971 people · 9 mi S
- Clarkston, UT764 people · 15 mi SW
- Clifton, ID461 people · 9 mi NW
- Cove, UT412 people · 10 mi SE
- Cornish, UT287 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 Preston's climate
What is the coldest month in Preston?
January, with a normal high of 32°F and a normal low of 15°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Preston?
Yes: 52 inches in a normal year, falling on 31 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (14.1 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Preston?
May, with 2.24 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.74 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Preston in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Preston in zone 6a in ZIP code 83232, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Preston's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Preston?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after June 4. Waiting until June 4 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Trenton, UT12 miles from this station, 45.9°F a year
- Richmond, UT14 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Cutler Dam, UT20 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Malad City, ID21 miles from this station, 46.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made