Sandpoint, Idaho climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sandpoint's normal year runs from 23°F December nights to 82°F July afternoons, with 34.0 inches of precipitation and 62 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 7.8°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 28°C, 864 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSandpoint Experiment Station
- Station IDUSC00108137
- Location48.29°N 116.56°W
- Elevation2,126 ft (648 m)
- Population10,444
On October 14, the normal high in Sandpoint is 57°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 36%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sandpoint.
- Jan 34° 23°
- Feb 38° 24°
- Mar 46° 29°
- Apr 56° 35°
- May 66° 42°
- Jun 72° 48°
- Jul 82° 52°
- Aug 82° 50°
- Sep 72° 42°
- Oct 56° 34°
- Nov 42° 29°
- Dec 34° 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 Sandpoint each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in November (4.72 in), the least in August (0.80 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 23°F | 28.3°F | 4.33 | 20.9 | 16 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 40 min |
| February | 38°F | 24°F | 31.1°F | 2.91 | 8.4 | 12 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 10 min |
| March | 46°F | 29°F | 37.5°F | 3.58 | 6.5 | 14 | <1 | 23 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 56°F | 35°F | 45.0°F | 2.37 | 0.5 | 12 | <1 | 12 | 13 h 40 min |
| May | 66°F | 42°F | 53.8°F | 2.72 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 15 h 10 min |
| June | 72°F | 48°F | 59.6°F | 2.44 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | <1 | 16 h |
| July | 82°F | 52°F | 66.7°F | 1.17 | 0.0 | 6 | 6 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| August | 82°F | 50°F | 65.9°F | 0.80 | 0.0 | 5 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 72°F | 42°F | 57.0°F | 1.41 | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 56°F | 34°F | 45.2°F | 2.95 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 13 | 11 h |
| November | 42°F | 29°F | 35.3°F | 4.72 | 6.4 | 14 | <1 | 21 | 9 h 20 min |
| December | 34°F | 23°F | 28.1°F | 4.61 | 19.3 | 15 | <1 | 28 | 8 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 57°F | 36°F | 46.1°F | 34.01 | 62.0 | 134 | 14 | 156 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −5°C | −2.1°C | 110 mm | 53 cm |
| February | 4°C | −5°C | −0.5°C | 74 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 8°C | −2°C | 3.1°C | 91 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13°C | 1°C | 7.2°C | 60 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 19°C | 5°C | 12.1°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 22°C | 9°C | 15.3°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28°C | 11°C | 19.3°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28°C | 10°C | 18.8°C | 20 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 6°C | 13.9°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13°C | 1°C | 7.3°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 5°C | −2°C | 1.8°C | 120 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 1°C | −5°C | −2.2°C | 117 mm | 49 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00108137; 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 Sandpoint?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (5).
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 USC00108137.
When is the last frost in Sandpoint?
In Sandpoint, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 8 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 28 in half of years and before September 11 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 25; 9 in 10 after April 23
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 281 year in 10 before September 11; 9 in 10 before October 11
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 141 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 172 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 21 in half of springs and before October 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sandpoint in zone 6b in ZIP code 83852, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sandpoint'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 Idaho · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00108137; 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 Sandpoint?
In a normal year in Sandpoint, 14 days a year reach 90°F, 156 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 134 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 14a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 156a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 28high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 134a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 18a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1910) is 106°F, on June 30, 2021; the lowest is −37°F, on December 30, 1968.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2012, with 47.25 in; the snowiest season is 1996–97, with 149.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00108137; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00108137. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Sandpoint?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sandpoint, 3.6 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (87%) and December the cloudiest (48%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 50% | 1.0 |
| February | 60% | 1.9 |
| March | 59% | 2.9 |
| April | 65% | 4.4 |
| May | 71% | 5.7 |
| June | 70% | 6.0 |
| July | 87% | 7.2 |
| August | 86% | 5.9 |
| September | 79% | 4.2 |
| October | 68% | 2.4 |
| November | 53% | 1.2 |
| December | 48% | 0.8 |
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 much heating and cooling does Sandpoint need?
A normal year in Sandpoint brings 7,087 heating degree days, 32% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 233 cooling degree days, 74% 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 1,745 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,139 | 0 |
| February | 951 | 0 |
| March | 853 | 0 |
| April | 599 | 0 |
| May | 351 | 4 |
| June | 186 | 25 |
| July | 56 | 108 |
| August | 59 | 86 |
| September | 248 | 10 |
| October | 614 | 0 |
| November | 890 | 0 |
| December | 1,142 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,087 | 233 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00108137. 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 Sandpoint been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.4°F, 1.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.1°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 47.4°F | +1.3°F | – | – |
Over 84 complete years from 1911 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.7°F per century (+0.04°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00108137; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sandpoint's climate compare?
Sandpoint is warmer than 37 of the other 84 places with their own NOAA record in Idaho, and wetter than 76. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.1°F is warmer than 24%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sandpoint is Dsb: continental, dry-summer, warm 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 Sandpoint share this climate record?
3 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.
- Ponderay, ID2,011 people · 1 mi NE
- Dover, ID1,137 people · 3 mi SW
- Kootenai, ID1,083 people · 2 mi NE
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 Sandpoint's climate
What is the coldest month in Sandpoint?
December, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (82°F by day, 52°F at night).
Does it snow in Sandpoint?
Yes: 62 inches in a normal year, falling on 31 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (20.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Sandpoint?
November, with 4.72 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.80 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sandpoint in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sandpoint in zone 6b in ZIP code 83852, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Sandpoint'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 Sandpoint?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 8; in one year in ten it comes after May 25. Waiting until May 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Sandpoint in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Idaho climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Priest River Experiment Station, ID13 miles from this station, 44.7°F a year
- Bayview Model Basin, ID22 miles from this station, 45.0°F a year
- Newport, WA24 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Cabinet Gorge, ID27 miles from this station, 46.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made