Ritzville, Washington climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ritzville's normal year runs from 23°F December nights to 87°F July afternoons, with 12.8 inches of precipitation and 16 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.3°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 30°C, 324 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRitzville (1 mi SSE)
- Station IDUSC00457059
- Location47.12°N 118.37°W
- Elevation1,864 ft (568 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,709
On October 23, the normal high in Ritzville is 57°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ritzville.
- Jan 36° 24°
- Feb 42° 26°
- Mar 51° 30°
- Apr 60° 34°
- May 69° 41°
- Jun 76° 47°
- Jul 87° 53°
- Aug 86° 53°
- Sep 77° 46°
- Oct 62° 36°
- Nov 45° 29°
- Dec 35° 23°
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 Ritzville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 87°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in December (1.80 in), the least in August (0.32 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36°F | 24°F | 29.8°F | 1.64 | 5.9 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 8 h 50 min |
| February | 42°F | 26°F | 33.9°F | 1.12 | 1.9 | 9 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 51°F | 30°F | 40.4°F | 1.33 | 1.2 | 9 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 34°F | 46.7°F | 0.96 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 69°F | 41°F | 55.2°F | 1.19 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 15 h |
| June | 76°F | 47°F | 61.5°F | 0.89 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 87°F | 53°F | 70.1°F | 0.41 | 0.0 | 3 | 12 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 86°F | 53°F | 69.7°F | 0.32 | 0.0 | 3 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 77°F | 46°F | 61.4°F | 0.43 | 0.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 62°F | 36°F | 49.0°F | 1.08 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 9 | 11 h |
| November | 45°F | 29°F | 36.9°F | 1.58 | 2.4 | 11 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 35°F | 23°F | 29.3°F | 1.80 | 4.2 | 12 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 37°F | 48.7°F | 12.75 | 15.7 | 91 | 29 | 148 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −5°C | −1.2°C | 42 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 5°C | −3°C | 1.1°C | 28 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 11°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 34 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 8.2°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 21°C | 5°C | 12.9°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 8°C | 16.4°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 12°C | 21.2°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 12°C | 20.9°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 25°C | 8°C | 16.3°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 9.4°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 7°C | −2°C | 2.7°C | 40 mm | 6 cm |
| December | 2°C | −5°C | −1.5°C | 46 mm | 11 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00457059; 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 Ritzville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00457059.
When is the last frost in Ritzville?
In Ritzville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 7 in half of years and after May 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 27 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 71 year in 10 after May 27; 9 in 10 after April 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 27; 9 in 10 before October 25
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 179 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 25 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ritzville in zone 6b in ZIP code 99169, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Ritzville's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (30 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 Washington · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00457059; 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 Ritzville?
In a normal year in Ritzville, 29 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 148 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 91 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 29a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 148a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 91a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 7a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1916) is 112°F, on August 5, 1961; the lowest is −24°F, on February 1, 1950.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1995, with 16.84 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 46.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00457059; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00457059. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ritzville?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ritzville, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (53%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | 1.1 |
| February | 69% | 2.3 |
| March | 71% | 3.5 |
| April | 78% | 5.2 |
| May | 80% | 6.4 |
| June | 81% | 7.0 |
| July | 92% | 7.5 |
| August | 91% | 6.3 |
| September | 86% | 4.6 |
| October | 78% | 2.9 |
| November | 64% | 1.5 |
| December | 53% | 0.9 |
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 Ritzville need?
A normal year in Ritzville brings 6,408 heating degree days, 19% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 474 cooling degree days, 48% 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 2,247 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,090 | 0 |
| February | 872 | 0 |
| March | 763 | 0 |
| April | 548 | 0 |
| May | 316 | 12 |
| June | 151 | 46 |
| July | 32 | 188 |
| August | 32 | 177 |
| September | 159 | 50 |
| October | 499 | 1 |
| November | 842 | 0 |
| December | 1,107 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,408 | 474 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00457059. 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 Ritzville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.6°F, 2.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 48.7°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.0°F | +1.3°F | 8.26 | – |
| 2022 | 47.7°F | −1.0°F | 11.94 | 23.6 |
| 2023 | 50.1°F | +1.4°F | 11.89 | 11.8 |
| 2024 | 50.4°F | +1.7°F | 11.91 | 8.8 |
| 2025 | 51.6°F | +2.9°F | 11.76 | 8.6 |
Over 92 complete years from 1917 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.1°F per century (+0.17°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00457059; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ritzville's climate compare?
Ritzville is warmer than 21 of the other 95 places with their own NOAA record in Washington, and wetter than 24. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 48.7°F is warmer than 35%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ritzville 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.
Questions about Ritzville's climate
What is the coldest month in Ritzville?
December, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (87°F by day, 53°F at night).
Does it snow in Ritzville?
Yes: 16 inches in a normal year, falling on 15 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Ritzville?
December, with 1.80 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.32 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ritzville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ritzville in zone 6b in ZIP code 99169, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Ritzville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 1°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Ritzville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 7; in one year in ten it comes after May 27. Waiting until May 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Washington climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lind, WA12 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Odessa, WA21 miles from this station, 48.8°F a year
- Harrington, WA26 miles from this station, 47.2°F a year
- Hatton, WA30 miles from this station, 51.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made