Searchlight, Nevada climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Searchlight's normal year runs from 37°F December nights to 97°F July afternoons, with 7.8 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.5 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.8°C, December lows of 3°C, July highs of 36°C, 198 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSearchlight
- Station IDUSC00267369
- Location35.47°N 114.92°W
- Elevation3,540 ft (1,079 m)
- Population (census place)329
On October 23, the normal high in Searchlight is 74°F and the normal low 52°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 5%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Searchlight.
- Jan 54° 38°
- Feb 58° 39°
- Mar 65° 44°
- Apr 73° 49°
- May 82° 57°
- Jun 93° 66°
- Jul 97° 72°
- Aug 96° 71°
- Sep 89° 66°
- Oct 77° 55°
- Nov 63° 44°
- Dec 53° 37°
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 Searchlight each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 97°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 37°F. The most precipitation falls in February (1.50 in), the least in June (0.04 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54°F | 38°F | 46.0°F | 1.18 | 3 | <1 | 6 | 10 h |
| February | 58°F | 39°F | 48.2°F | 1.50 | 4 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 44°F | 54.2°F | 0.73 | 3 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 49°F | 60.6°F | 0.36 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 57°F | 69.2°F | 0.15 | 1 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 93°F | 66°F | 79.4°F | 0.04 | 1 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 97°F | 72°F | 84.8°F | 0.81 | 3 | 29 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 96°F | 71°F | 83.5°F | 0.80 | 3 | 28 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 89°F | 66°F | 77.3°F | 0.49 | 2 | 17 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 77°F | 55°F | 65.9°F | 0.52 | 2 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 44°F | 53.5°F | 0.32 | 1 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 53°F | 37°F | 44.8°F | 0.90 | 3 | <1 | 8 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 75°F | 53°F | 64.0°F | 7.80 | 25 | 105 | 23 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | 3°C | 7.8°C | 30 mm |
| February | 14°C | 4°C | 9.0°C | 38 mm |
| March | 18°C | 6°C | 12.3°C | 19 mm |
| April | 23°C | 9°C | 15.9°C | 9 mm |
| May | 28°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 4 mm |
| June | 34°C | 19°C | 26.3°C | 1 mm |
| July | 36°C | 22°C | 29.3°C | 21 mm |
| August | 36°C | 22°C | 28.6°C | 20 mm |
| September | 32°C | 19°C | 25.2°C | 12 mm |
| October | 25°C | 13°C | 18.8°C | 13 mm |
| November | 17°C | 7°C | 11.9°C | 8 mm |
| December | 12°C | 3°C | 7.1°C | 23 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267369; 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 Searchlight?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May and October. Of those, May has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00267369.
When is the last frost in Searchlight?
In Searchlight, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 7 in half of years and after April 10 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 29 in half of years and before November 7 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
- March 71 year in 10 after April 10; 9 in 10 after February 8
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 291 year in 10 before November 7; 9 in 10 before December 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 266 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 312 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 11 in half of springs and before December 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Searchlight in zone 9b in ZIP code 89046, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Searchlight's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (27 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 USC00267369; 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 Searchlight?
In a normal year in Searchlight, 105 days a year reach 90°F (25 of them 100°F or more), 23 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 25 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 105a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 25a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 23a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 25a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1913) is 112°F, on July 12, 2021; the lowest is 7°F, on January 22, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1978, with 18.65 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 10.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00267369; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00267369. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Searchlight?
Over a year 91% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Searchlight, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (96%) and December the cloudiest (83%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 3.2 |
| February | 86% | 4.2 |
| March | 89% | 5.7 |
| April | 91% | 7.1 |
| May | 94% | 8.0 |
| June | 96% | 8.6 |
| July | 91% | 7.6 |
| August | 93% | 7.1 |
| September | 95% | 6.2 |
| October | 92% | 4.8 |
| November | 90% | 3.6 |
| December | 83% | 2.8 |
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 Searchlight need?
A normal year in Searchlight brings 2,704 heating degree days, 50% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,359 cooling degree days, 2.6 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,694 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 589 | 0 |
| February | 469 | 0 |
| March | 339 | 6 |
| April | 175 | 41 |
| May | 58 | 188 |
| June | 3 | 435 |
| July | 0 | 615 |
| August | 0 | 575 |
| September | 4 | 375 |
| October | 86 | 116 |
| November | 354 | 7 |
| December | 626 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,704 | 2,359 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267369. 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 Searchlight been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 66.2°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 64.0°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 66.4°F | +2.4°F | 2.86 |
| 2025 | 66.2°F | +2.2°F | 7.83 |
Over 65 complete years from 1914 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.8°F per century (+0.16°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00267369; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Searchlight's climate compare?
Searchlight is warmer than 49 of the other 54 places with their own NOAA record in Nevada, and wetter than 21. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 64.0°F is warmer than 85%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Searchlight is BWk: cold desert. 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 Searchlight's climate
What is the coldest month in Searchlight?
December, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 37°F. The warmest is July (97°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Searchlight?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.5 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Searchlight?
February, with 1.50 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.04 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Searchlight in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Searchlight in zone 9b in ZIP code 89046, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Searchlight's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Searchlight?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 7; in one year in ten it comes after April 10. Waiting until April 10 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nevada climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Laughlin, NV28 miles from this station, 74.1°F a year
- Bullhead City, AZ30 miles from this station, 74.2°F a year
- Willow Beach, AZ32 miles from this station, 74.4°F a year
- Alan Bible Visitor Center, NV39 miles from this station, 71.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made