Selah, Washington climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Selah's normal year runs from 21°F December nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 8.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 9.6°C, December lows of −6°C, July highs of 31°C, 214 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSelah (2 mi NE)
- Station IDUSC00457522
- Location46.67°N 120.50°W
- Elevation1,120 ft (341 m)
- Population8,653
On October 23, the normal high in Selah is 60°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Selah.
- Jan 37° 22°
- Feb 45° 24°
- Mar 54° 28°
- Apr 62° 34°
- May 72° 43°
- Jun 79° 48°
- Jul 88° 54°
- Aug 87° 52°
- Sep 78° 44°
- Oct 64° 34°
- Nov 48° 26°
- Dec 37° 21°
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 Selah each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in December (1.36 in), the least in August (0.16 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F | 22°F | 29.5°F | 1.07 | 10 | <1 | 30 | 9 h |
| February | 45°F | 24°F | 34.5°F | 0.72 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 54°F | 28°F | 41.3°F | 0.68 | 7 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 34°F | 48.2°F | 0.65 | 6 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 72°F | 43°F | 57.2°F | 0.85 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 15 h |
| June | 79°F | 48°F | 63.5°F | 0.78 | 6 | 4 | <1 | 15 h 50 min |
| July | 88°F | 54°F | 70.9°F | 0.23 | 2 | 16 | <1 | 15 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 52°F | 69.7°F | 0.16 | 2 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| September | 78°F | 44°F | 61.0°F | 0.28 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 64°F | 34°F | 48.9°F | 0.73 | 8 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| November | 48°F | 26°F | 37.1°F | 0.92 | 10 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 37°F | 21°F | 28.8°F | 1.36 | 12 | <1 | 30 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 36°F | 49.2°F | 8.43 | 80 | 39 | 168 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3°C | −6°C | −1.4°C | 27 mm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 1.4°C | 18 mm |
| March | 12°C | −2°C | 5.2°C | 17 mm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 9.0°C | 17 mm |
| May | 22°C | 6°C | 14.0°C | 22 mm |
| June | 26°C | 9°C | 17.5°C | 20 mm |
| July | 31°C | 12°C | 21.6°C | 6 mm |
| August | 31°C | 11°C | 20.9°C | 4 mm |
| September | 26°C | 7°C | 16.1°C | 7 mm |
| October | 18°C | 1°C | 9.4°C | 19 mm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 2.8°C | 23 mm |
| December | 3°C | −6°C | −1.8°C | 35 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Yakima (7 miles away), gets 20 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00457522; 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 Selah?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00457522.
When is the last frost in Selah?
In Selah, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 5 in half of years and after May 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 4 in half of years and before September 23 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 51 year in 10 after May 23; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 41 year in 10 before September 23; 9 in 10 before October 18
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 149 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 177 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Selah in zone 7a in ZIP code 98902, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Selah's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (19 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Washington · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00457522; 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 Selah?
In a normal year in Selah, 39 days a year reach 90°F (4 of them 100°F or more), 168 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 80 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 4a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 168a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 18high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 80a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00457522.
How sunny is Selah?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Selah, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (90%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59% | 1.3 |
| February | 67% | 2.3 |
| March | 67% | 3.4 |
| April | 73% | 5.0 |
| May | 75% | 6.0 |
| June | 79% | 6.8 |
| July | 90% | 7.5 |
| August | 89% | 6.3 |
| September | 84% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 2.8 |
| November | 63% | 1.5 |
| December | 56% | 1.0 |
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 Selah need?
A normal year in Selah brings 6,209 heating degree days, 16% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 485 cooling degree days, 47% 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 2,371 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,100 | 0 |
| February | 853 | 0 |
| March | 735 | 0 |
| April | 503 | 0 |
| May | 259 | 18 |
| June | 107 | 60 |
| July | 18 | 201 |
| August | 22 | 169 |
| September | 155 | 35 |
| October | 498 | 0 |
| November | 837 | 0 |
| December | 1,122 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,209 | 485 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00457522. 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 Selah been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.6°F, 2.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 49.2°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2024 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 50.5°F | +1.3°F | 5.75 |
| 2025 | 51.6°F | +2.4°F | 5.87 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00457522. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Selah's climate compare?
Selah is warmer than 28 of the other 95 places with their own NOAA record in Washington, and wetter than 10. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 49.2°F is warmer than 37%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Selah 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 Selah share this climate record?
6 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.
- Gleed, WA3,130 people · 5 mi W
- Tieton, WA1,610 people · 12 mi W
- Naches, WA1,090 people · 10 mi W
- Cowiche, WA449 people · 10 mi W
- Nile, WA247 people · 24 mi NW
- Eschbach, WA235 people · 6 mi W
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 Selah's climate
What is the coldest month in Selah?
December, with a normal high of 37°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Selah?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Selah's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Yakima (7 miles away), records 20 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Selah?
December, with 1.36 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.16 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Selah in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Selah in zone 7a in ZIP code 98902, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Selah's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (19 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Selah?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 5; in one year in ten it comes after May 23. Waiting until May 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Washington climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Yakima, WA7 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Wapato, WA17 miles from this station, 52.3°F a year
- Moxee City (10 mi E), WA19 miles from this station, 50.2°F a year
- Ellensburg, WA25 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made