Reno, NV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Reno's primary NOAA station, RENO WFO.
The climate verdict for Reno
Dryness leads the climate profile for Reno, Nevada, with 8.1 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 54°F. At 43/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 54°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 43/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 8.1"
- annual precipitation · 30" snow
- 182 days
- frost-free growing season
Reno: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00266791 · Reno, NV 54°F mean · 8.1" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 54°F
- RANK-MID #3,979
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Mt Holly S Jers…
- PRCP-ARID 8.1"
- SWING-MID 41°F
- COMF-LOW 43/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,870 HDD
- STN-1 USC00266791
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Mt Holly S Jersey, NJ (+ 0.1 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every NV station list.
- Hot Estell Manor, NJ 55°F
- Near Mt Holly S Jers…, NJ 55°F
- Reno (this station) 54°F
- Cold Bedford, IN 54°F
- Near Saint Albans, WV 54°F
Climate Living Index · Reno
Reno: 42/100 · grade D
Reno publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Reno, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 43/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 54.4°F · 13.1° from 67.5°F | 57/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 182 days/year | 51/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 154 calendar days | 44/100 · D |
| Snowfall burden | 29.7 inches/year | 39/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 8.1 in · 26.9 from 35 in | 7/100 · F |
Reno · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Reno's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 77.0°F
- Coldest month
- 35.8°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Reno sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Reno's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 58th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 97%
- Reno's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 41st percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Reno compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Reno's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
43 10th percentile score exceeds 10% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46°F (8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.3" | 7.0" | 22.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-1°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.0" | 7.0" | 18.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.9" | 4.4" | 12.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 63°F (17°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 0.5" | 1.8" | 7.6 | 0.0 |
| May | 72°F (22°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.6" | 0.1" | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| June | 83°F (28°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 8.5 |
| July | 93°F (34°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 23.4 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 75°F (24°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.0 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 6.0 |
| October | 68°F (20°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 0.6" | 0.1" | 2.6 | 0.2 |
| November | 54°F (12°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 0.7" | 1.9" | 13.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 45°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.2" | 7.4" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Reno works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 94°F by July 22 and hold at or above 90°F on 49 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 105 dates, bottoming at 26°F around December 17.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 3 through August 20, covering 49 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 9 to October 11.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 2, then returns to freezing around November 19, covering 105 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 12, when 23% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 27 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 52 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Reno.
Where Reno Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 8 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Reno earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 7.0"
6.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.0"
6.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 4.4"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.8"
4.6 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
4.7 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
3.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.9"
4.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.4"
6.9 days with precipitation
Reno's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 43% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 13%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows a 41.2°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 1.3"
- Driest month
- August, 0.2"
- Wettest three months
- January, December, February (43% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
Reno is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 52 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 14% of the calendar, and they carry 8.1" between them. At roughly 0.15 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is February at about 7 wet days; the driest is August at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Winter brings real snow to Reno
Reno averages 29.7 inches of snowfall a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 17 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 29.7 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 17 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 37% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 27
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 28
50% probability date
Growing Season
182 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,870
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,054
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NV closest to Reno on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (54°F here).
- Arlington, OR 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Bent Creek, NC 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Bloomfield, NM 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Charleston, WV 54°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (8.1" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Holbrook, AZ 8.1" · 0.0" off
- Sanders, AZ 8.2" · 0.1" off
- Castle Dale, UT 8.0" · 0.1" off
- Delta, UT 8.0" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Reno
heating led · dry · mid swing
Reno's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,870 annual heating degree days against 1,054 for cooling. Its 41.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Reno's frost-free season lasts about 182 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Reno coldest normal
December
The monthly mean of 36°F (2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Reno typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Reno snow peak
December
Reno averages 29.7 inches of snow a year, with December the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Reno's climate
How much snow does Reno get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Reno get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Reno? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Reno's primary station: RENO WFO (USC00266791). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3260600). Match rule for Reno: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Reno comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.