Rye Patch Dam, Nevada climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Rye Patch Dam's normal year runs from 18°F December nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 8.3 inches of precipitation and 3 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.6°C, December lows of −8°C, July highs of 35°C, 211 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRye Patch Dam
- Station IDUSC00267192
- Location40.47°N 118.30°W
- Elevation4,135 ft (1,260 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Rye Patch Dam is 66°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rye Patch Dam.
- Jan 43° 20°
- Feb 50° 24°
- Mar 59° 28°
- Apr 65° 32°
- May 74° 40°
- Jun 85° 47°
- Jul 95° 54°
- Aug 93° 51°
- Sep 84° 42°
- Oct 69° 32°
- Nov 54° 24°
- Dec 43° 18°
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 Rye Patch Dam each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in May (1.20 in), the least in July (0.21 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 20°F | 31.7°F | 1.00 | 0.8 | 6 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 50°F | 24°F | 36.6°F | 0.73 | 0.2 | 5 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 59°F | 28°F | 43.4°F | 0.84 | 0.1 | 6 | <1 | 24 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 32°F | 48.4°F | 0.87 | 0.3 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 40°F | 57.3°F | 1.20 | 0.0 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 85°F | 47°F | 66.2°F | 0.70 | 0.0 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 15 h |
| July | 95°F | 54°F | 74.6°F | 0.21 | 0.0 | 2 | 27 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 93°F | 51°F | 71.7°F | 0.29 | 0.0 | 2 | 25 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 84°F | 42°F | 62.9°F | 0.30 | 0.0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 69°F | 32°F | 50.5°F | 0.63 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 18 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 54°F | 24°F | 39.2°F | 0.69 | 0.3 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 18°F | 30.4°F | 0.86 | 1.6 | 5 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 34°F | 51.1°F | 8.32 | 3.3 | 51 | 78 | 177 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −7°C | −0.2°C | 25 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 10°C | −5°C | 2.6°C | 19 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 15°C | −2°C | 6.3°C | 21 mm | 0 cm |
| April | 18°C | 0°C | 9.1°C | 22 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 24°C | 5°C | 14.1°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 8°C | 19.0°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 35°C | 12°C | 23.7°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 10°C | 22.1°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 6°C | 17.2°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 0°C | 10.3°C | 16 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 12°C | −4°C | 4.0°C | 18 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 6°C | −8°C | −0.9°C | 22 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267192; 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 Rye Patch Dam?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00267192.
When is the last frost at Rye Patch Dam?
In Rye Patch Dam, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 19 in half of years and after June 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 24 in half of years and before September 9 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 191 year in 10 after June 9; 9 in 10 after May 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 241 year in 10 before September 9; 9 in 10 before October 7
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 125 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 151 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 4 in half of springs and before October 4 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Rye Patch Dam in zone 6b in ZIP code 89419, 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 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (18 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 Nevada · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00267192; 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 Rye Patch Dam?
In a normal year in Rye Patch Dam, 78 days a year reach 90°F (16 of them 100°F or more), 177 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 51 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 78a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 16a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 177a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 51a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1935) is 111°F, on July 11, 2002; the lowest is −29°F, on January 20, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 16.23 in; the snowiest season is 1948–49, with 36.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00267192; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00267192. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Rye Patch Dam?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Rye Patch Dam, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.2 |
| February | 76% | 3.3 |
| March | 77% | 4.5 |
| April | 81% | 6.0 |
| May | 83% | 7.1 |
| June | 90% | 8.1 |
| July | 94% | 8.0 |
| August | 93% | 7.1 |
| September | 92% | 5.8 |
| October | 87% | 4.1 |
| November | 79% | 2.6 |
| December | 68% | 1.8 |
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 Rye Patch Dam record?
A normal year at Rye Patch Dam brings 5,748 heating degree days, 7% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 691 cooling degree days, 24% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,745 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,034 | 0 |
| February | 795 | 0 |
| March | 668 | 0 |
| April | 498 | 0 |
| May | 258 | 19 |
| June | 71 | 105 |
| July | 4 | 300 |
| August | 10 | 216 |
| September | 113 | 50 |
| October | 452 | 1 |
| November | 776 | 0 |
| December | 1,071 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,748 | 691 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267192. 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.
Have recent years at Rye Patch Dam been warmer than normal?
2022 averaged 51.4°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 51.1°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 51.4°F | +0.3°F | 6.27 | 2.0 |
Over 58 complete years from 1936 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.4°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00267192; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rye Patch Dam's climate compare?
Rye Patch Dam is warmer than 24 of the 55 places with their own NOAA record in Nevada, and wetter than 25. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.1°F is warmer than 45%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rye Patch Dam 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 Rye Patch Dam 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.
- Humboldt River Ranch, NV162 people · 3 mi SE
- Unionville, NV0 people · 10 mi E
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 Rye Patch Dam's climate
What is the coldest month at Rye Patch Dam?
December, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow at Rye Patch Dam?
Yes: 3 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in December (1.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Rye Patch Dam?
May, with 1.20 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rye Patch Dam in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rye Patch Dam in zone 6b in ZIP code 89419, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −6°F (18 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come at Rye Patch Dam?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 19; in one year in ten it comes after June 9. Waiting until June 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nevada climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Imlay, NV15 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Lovelock, NV31 miles from this station, 51.6°F a year
- Winnemucca, NV40 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Golconda, NV55 miles from this station, 50.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made