Prineville, Oregon climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Prineville's normal year runs from 24°F December nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 10.3 inches of precipitation and 9 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.7°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 31°C, 262 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPrineville
- Station IDUSC00356883
- Location44.30°N 120.84°W
- Elevation2,876 ft (877 m)
- Population11,917
On October 23, the normal high in Prineville is 62°F and the normal low 33°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 21%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Prineville.
- Jan 43° 25°
- Feb 48° 26°
- Mar 55° 29°
- Apr 60° 33°
- May 69° 40°
- Jun 76° 45°
- Jul 87° 49°
- Aug 86° 48°
- Sep 79° 42°
- Oct 65° 34°
- Nov 51° 29°
- Dec 42° 24°
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 Prineville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 24°F. The most precipitation falls in May (1.38 in), the least in September (0.31 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 25°F | 34.1°F | 1.06 | 1.8 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 10 min |
| February | 48°F | 26°F | 37.0°F | 0.80 | 3.2 | 7 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 55°F | 29°F | 41.9°F | 0.91 | 0.9 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 33°F | 46.7°F | 0.76 | 0.3 | 8 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 40°F | 54.5°F | 1.38 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 14 h 40 min |
| June | 76°F | 45°F | 60.5°F | 0.85 | 0.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 h 30 min |
| July | 87°F | 49°F | 68.0°F | 0.40 | 0.0 | 2 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 10 min |
| August | 86°F | 48°F | 67.1°F | 0.36 | 0.0 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 79°F | 42°F | 60.5°F | 0.31 | 0.0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 65°F | 34°F | 49.7°F | 0.95 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 16 | 11 h |
| November | 51°F | 29°F | 40.0°F | 1.22 | 1.1 | 8 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 40 min |
| December | 42°F | 24°F | 32.9°F | 1.33 | 1.5 | 8 | <1 | 26 | 8 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 35°F | 49.4°F | 10.33 | 8.8 | 73 | 31 | 166 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −4°C | 1.2°C | 27 mm | 5 cm |
| February | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 20 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 13°C | −2°C | 5.5°C | 23 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 16°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 19 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 21°C | 4°C | 12.5°C | 35 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 7°C | 15.8°C | 22 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 10°C | 20.0°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 9°C | 19.5°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 5°C | 15.8°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 18°C | 1°C | 9.8°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.4°C | 31 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 5°C | −5°C | 0.5°C | 34 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00356883; 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 Prineville?
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 USC00356883.
When is the last frost in Prineville?
In Prineville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 1 in half of years and after June 22 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 22 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
- June 11 year in 10 after June 22; 9 in 10 after May 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 221 year in 10 before August 31; 9 in 10 before October 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 113 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 153 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 5 in half of springs and before October 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Prineville in zone 6b in ZIP code 97753, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Prineville's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (15 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Oregon · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00356883; 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 Prineville?
In a normal year in Prineville, 31 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 166 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 73 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 31a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 166a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 73a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 109°F, on June 30, 2021; the lowest is −35°F, on January 21, 1930.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1953, with 15.27 in; the snowiest season is 1949–50, with 37.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00356883; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00356883. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Prineville?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Prineville, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (93%) and December the cloudiest (62%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 64% | 1.6 |
| February | 68% | 2.5 |
| March | 69% | 3.7 |
| April | 73% | 5.2 |
| May | 76% | 6.3 |
| June | 83% | 7.3 |
| July | 93% | 7.8 |
| August | 91% | 6.6 |
| September | 87% | 5.0 |
| October | 78% | 3.2 |
| November | 67% | 1.9 |
| December | 62% | 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 much heating and cooling does Prineville need?
A normal year in Prineville brings 5,992 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 323 cooling degree days, 64% 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 2,063 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 956 | 0 |
| February | 784 | 0 |
| March | 715 | 0 |
| April | 551 | 0 |
| May | 336 | 9 |
| June | 170 | 34 |
| July | 39 | 132 |
| August | 48 | 113 |
| September | 172 | 35 |
| October | 476 | 2 |
| November | 752 | 0 |
| December | 995 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,992 | 323 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00356883. 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 Prineville been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 49.8°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.4°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.9°F | +1.5°F | 8.57 | 16.9 |
| 2022 | 49.7°F | +0.3°F | 8.56 | 15.3 |
| 2023 | 49.8°F | +0.4°F | – | – |
Over 47 complete years from 1949 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.2°F per century (+0.18°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00356883; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Prineville's climate compare?
Prineville is warmer than 30 of the other 104 places with their own NOAA record in Oregon, and wetter than 9. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.4°F is warmer than 38%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Prineville 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 Prineville share this climate record?
2 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.
- Juniper Canyon, OR3,133 people · 8 mi SE
- Prineville Lake Acres, OR1,589 people · 10 mi S
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 Prineville's climate
What is the coldest month in Prineville?
December, with a normal high of 42°F and a normal low of 24°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 49°F at night).
Does it snow in Prineville?
Yes: 9 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (3.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Prineville?
May, with 1.38 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 0.31 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Prineville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Prineville in zone 6b in ZIP code 97753, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Prineville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 0°F (15 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Prineville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 1; in one year in ten it comes after June 22. Waiting until June 22 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Oregon climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Redmond, OR15 miles from this station, 48.9°F a year
- Grizzly, OR16 miles from this station, 45.4°F a year
- Bend, OR28 miles from this station, 47.6°F a year
- Madras, OR29 miles from this station, 49.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made