Priest Valley, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Priest Valley's normal year runs from 30°F December nights to 96°F August afternoons, with 20.8 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.1°C, December lows of −1°C, August highs of 36°C, 528 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPriest Valley
- Station IDUSC00047150
- Location36.19°N 120.70°W
- Elevation2,300 ft (701 m)
On October 24, the normal high in Priest Valley is 76°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Priest Valley.
- Jan 59° 30°
- Feb 60° 33°
- Mar 65° 34°
- Apr 71° 35°
- May 79° 41°
- Jun 89° 46°
- Jul 96° 51°
- Aug 96° 51°
- Sep 91° 47°
- Oct 79° 39°
- Nov 66° 32°
- Dec 58° 30°
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 Priest Valley each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 96°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 30°F. The most precipitation falls in January (4.94 in), the least in August (0.02 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 30°F | 44.7°F | 4.94 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 60°F | 33°F | 46.7°F | 4.19 | 11 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 34°F | 49.4°F | 3.69 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 35°F | 52.9°F | 1.34 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 41°F | 59.7°F | 0.67 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 46°F | 67.3°F | 0.06 | 1 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 96°F | 51°F | 73.4°F | 0.09 | <1 | 25 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 96°F | 51°F | 73.6°F | 0.02 | <1 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 91°F | 47°F | 68.8°F | 0.05 | 1 | 17 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 79°F | 39°F | 58.9°F | 0.88 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 66°F | 32°F | 49.3°F | 1.42 | 5 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 58°F | 30°F | 44.0°F | 3.45 | 9 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 76°F | 39°F | 57.4°F | 20.80 | 54 | 92 | 104 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | −1°C | 7.1°C | 125 mm |
| February | 16°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 106 mm |
| March | 18°C | 1°C | 9.7°C | 94 mm |
| April | 21°C | 2°C | 11.6°C | 34 mm |
| May | 26°C | 5°C | 15.4°C | 17 mm |
| June | 31°C | 8°C | 19.6°C | 2 mm |
| July | 35°C | 11°C | 23.0°C | 2 mm |
| August | 36°C | 11°C | 23.1°C | 1 mm |
| September | 33°C | 8°C | 20.4°C | 1 mm |
| October | 26°C | 4°C | 14.9°C | 22 mm |
| November | 19°C | 0°C | 9.6°C | 36 mm |
| December | 15°C | −1°C | 6.7°C | 88 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047150; 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 Priest Valley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, October and November. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00047150.
When is the last frost at Priest Valley?
In Priest Valley, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 29 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 22 in half of years and before October 1 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 81 year in 10 after May 29; 9 in 10 after April 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 221 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before November 8
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 165 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 203 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 15 in half of springs and before November 5 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Priest Valley in zone 9a in ZIP code 93450, 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 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (19 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 California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00047150; 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 Priest Valley?
In a normal year in Priest Valley, 92 days a year reach 90°F (22 of them 100°F or more), 104 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 54 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 92a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 22a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 104a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 54a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1933) is 113°F, on July 14, 1972; the lowest is 2°F, on December 22, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 39.53 in; the snowiest season is 1973–74, with 17.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00047150; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00047150. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Priest Valley?
Over a year 91% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Priest Valley, 5.5 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (98%) and January the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 80% | 3.7 |
| March | 84% | 5.1 |
| April | 87% | 6.5 |
| May | 93% | 7.7 |
| June | 97% | 8.5 |
| July | 98% | 8.2 |
| August | 98% | 7.5 |
| September | 97% | 6.2 |
| October | 93% | 4.6 |
| November | 85% | 3.1 |
| December | 76% | 2.4 |
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 Priest Valley record?
A normal year at Priest Valley brings 3,603 heating degree days, 33% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 845 cooling degree days, 7% fewer than the median (908). Six months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,412 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 631 | 0 |
| February | 514 | 0 |
| March | 485 | 0 |
| April | 364 | 1 |
| May | 190 | 26 |
| June | 48 | 117 |
| July | 4 | 265 |
| August | 3 | 269 |
| September | 33 | 146 |
| October | 209 | 21 |
| November | 473 | 0 |
| December | 651 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,603 | 845 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047150. 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.
How does Priest Valley's climate compare?
Priest Valley is warmer than 53 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 141. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.4°F is warmer than 68%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Priest Valley 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 Priest Valley share this climate record?
San Ardo 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.
- San Ardo, CA481 people · 16 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 Priest Valley's climate
What is the coldest month at Priest Valley?
December, with a normal high of 58°F and a normal low of 30°F. The warmest is August (96°F by day, 51°F at night).
Does it snow at Priest Valley?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month at Priest Valley?
January, with 4.94 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Priest Valley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Priest Valley in zone 9a in ZIP code 93450, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 16°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come at Priest Valley?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; 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
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Coalinga, CA19 miles from this station, 65.9°F a year
- King City, CA25 miles from this station, 60.3°F a year
- Five Points (5 mi SSW), CA32 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Pinnacles National Monument, CA34 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made