Sparks, NV Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Sparks's primary NOAA station, SPARKS.
The climate verdict for Sparks
Dryness leads the climate profile for Sparks, Nevada, with 8.4 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 54°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 54°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 8.4"
- annual precipitation · 7" snow
- 162 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Sparks: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00267697 · Sparks, NV 54°F mean · 8.4" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 54°F
- RANK-MID #3,774
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Snowflake
- PRCP-ARID 8.4"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,878 HDD
- STN-1 USC00267697
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Snowflake, AZ (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every NV station list.
- Sparks (this station) 54°F
- Hot The Dalles, OR 54°F
- Near Snowflake, AZ 54°F
- Cold Diamond M Rch, AZ 53°F
- Near Richlands, VA 53°F
Climate Living Index · Sparks
Sparks: 36/100 · grade F
Sparks publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Sparks, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Snowfall burden | 6.8 inches/year | 68/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 53.5°F · 14.0° from 67.5°F | 54/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 162 days/year | 35/100 · F |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 185 calendar days | 22/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 8.4 in · 26.6 from 35 in | 8/100 · F |
Sparks · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Sparks's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 73.7°F
- Coldest month
- 35.8°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Sparks sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Sparks's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 55th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 96%
- Sparks's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 73%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Sparks is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Sparks compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Sparks's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48°F (9°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 1.3" | 2.2" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 53°F (12°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 1.0" | 1.0" | 22.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 60°F (15°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 0.8" | 1.0" | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| April | 65°F (18°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 0.5" | 0.1" | 10.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 2.2 | 1.1 |
| June | 84°F (29°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 9.2 |
| July | 92°F (33°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 21.9 |
| August | 91°F (33°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 20.2 |
| September | 84°F (29°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.2" | 0.0" | 0.5 | 6.7 |
| October | 72°F (22°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 0.9" | 0.0" | 11.5 | 0.4 |
| November | 57°F (14°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 0.7" | 0.8" | 22.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 47°F (8°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 1.1" | 1.7" | 26.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Sparks works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 21 and hold at or above 90°F on 50 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 135 dates, bottoming at 24°F around December 23.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from July 4 through August 22, covering 50 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 4 to October 19.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 15, then returns to freezing around November 2, covering 135 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is January 18, when 20% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 30 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 45 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 30 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 38°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Sparks.
Where Sparks Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 8 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Day-to-night contrast is extreme by national standards — the widest normal daily swing reaches about 38°F, sharper than nine in ten ranked stations see.
Sparks earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 2.2"
6.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
5.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
5.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
3.4 days with precipitation
4.3 days with precipitation
2.5 days with precipitation
1.9 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
1.5 days with precipitation
3.1 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.8"
4.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.7"
5.4 days with precipitation
Sparks's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 40% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 13%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows a 37.9°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 1.3"
- Driest month
- September, 0.2"
- Wettest three months
- January, December, February (40% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
Sparks is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 45 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 12% of the calendar, and they carry 8.4" between them. At roughly 0.19 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is January at about 6 wet days; the driest is September at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Snow reaches Sparks, but rarely amounts to much
The normals record 6.8 inches of snow a year here, most likely in January. That is a real but marginal amount: enough that snow is part of the local record, not enough to define the winter.
A figure in this range usually reflects a handful of events that melt quickly rather than a season of accumulation; about 4 days a year record any measurable snow at all.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. An average across thirty years can smooth away a single heavy winter, so a small annual figure does not mean a significant snowfall is impossible.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 10
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
162 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,878
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
706
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NV closest to Sparks on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (54°F here).
- Bison, KS 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Bodega, CA 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Brookville, IN 54°F · 0.0°F off
- Brownell, KS 54°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (8.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Torrey, UT 8.4" · 0.0" off
- Saguache, CO 8.4" · 0.0" off
- Loa, UT 8.4" · 0.0" off
- Youngtown, AZ 8.3" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Sparks's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Sparks's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,878 annual heating degree days against 706 for cooling. Its 37.9°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Sparks's frost-free season lasts about 162 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Sparks's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 37.9°F. The annual average is 54°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Sparks's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 8.4 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Annual snowfall totals 6.8 inches. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Sparks wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (8.4 inches).
Sparks driest normal
September
September is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Sparks's climate
How dry is Sparks? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Sparks get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Sparks? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Sparks's primary station: SPARKS (USC00267697). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 3268400). Match rule for Sparks: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Sparks comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.