Sparks, Nevada climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sparks's normal year runs from 25°F December nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 8.4 inches of precipitation and 7 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.9°C, December lows of −4°C, July highs of 33°C, 213 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSparks
- Station IDUSC00267697
- Location39.56°N 119.73°W
- Elevation4,357 ft (1,328 m)
- Population111,520
On October 23, the normal high in Sparks is 69°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 10%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sparks.
- Jan 48° 25°
- Feb 53° 27°
- Mar 60° 32°
- Apr 65° 36°
- May 74° 43°
- Jun 84° 49°
- Jul 92° 55°
- Aug 91° 53°
- Sep 84° 46°
- Oct 72° 37°
- Nov 57° 29°
- Dec 47° 25°
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 Sparks each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 25°F. The most precipitation falls in January (1.28 in), the least in September (0.24 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 | 48°F | 25°F | 36.5°F | 1.28 | 2.2 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 53°F | 27°F | 40.2°F | 1.00 | 1.0 | 6 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 60°F | 32°F | 45.8°F | 0.85 | 1.0 | 5 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 65°F | 36°F | 50.7°F | 0.51 | 0.1 | 3 | <1 | 10 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 74°F | 43°F | 58.5°F | 0.69 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 49°F | 66.7°F | 0.39 | 0.0 | 3 | 9 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 92°F | 55°F | 73.7°F | 0.42 | 0.0 | 2 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 91°F | 53°F | 72.0°F | 0.28 | 0.0 | 2 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 84°F | 46°F | 64.9°F | 0.24 | 0.0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 72°F | 37°F | 54.0°F | 0.91 | 0.0 | 3 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 57°F | 29°F | 43.2°F | 0.70 | 0.8 | 4 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 47°F | 25°F | 35.8°F | 1.11 | 1.7 | 5 | <1 | 26 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 38°F | 53.5°F | 8.38 | 6.8 | 45 | 59 | 141 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −4°C | 2.5°C | 33 mm | 6 cm |
| February | 12°C | −3°C | 4.6°C | 25 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 22 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 18°C | 2°C | 10.4°C | 13 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 23°C | 6°C | 14.7°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 29°C | 10°C | 19.3°C | 10 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 13°C | 23.2°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 33°C | 12°C | 22.2°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 29°C | 8°C | 18.3°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 22°C | 3°C | 12.2°C | 23 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 18 mm | 2 cm |
| December | 8°C | −4°C | 2.1°C | 28 mm | 4 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267697; 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 Sparks?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, 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 USC00267697.
When is the last frost in Sparks?
In Sparks, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 1 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 10 in half of years and before September 29 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 11 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after April 17
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 101 year in 10 before September 29; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 160 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 186 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sparks in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 89436, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sparks's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°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 USC00267697; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Sparks ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Sparks's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Sparks?
In a normal year in Sparks, 59 days a year reach 90°F (3 of them 100°F or more), 141 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 45 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 59a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 141a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 45a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00267697.
How sunny is Sparks?
Over a year 86% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sparks, 5.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (71%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 81st (with 7 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.4 |
| February | 76% | 3.4 |
| March | 79% | 4.8 |
| April | 83% | 6.3 |
| May | 85% | 7.3 |
| June | 92% | 8.3 |
| July | 93% | 8.0 |
| August | 94% | 7.3 |
| September | 93% | 5.9 |
| October | 89% | 4.3 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 71% | 2.0 |
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 Sparks need?
A normal year in Sparks brings 4,878 heating degree days, 9% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 706 cooling degree days, 22% 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 2,956 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 885 | 0 |
| February | 696 | 0 |
| March | 594 | 0 |
| April | 432 | 1 |
| May | 223 | 22 |
| June | 61 | 111 |
| July | 4 | 275 |
| August | 6 | 224 |
| September | 75 | 70 |
| October | 343 | 4 |
| November | 654 | 0 |
| December | 907 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,878 | 706 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00267697. 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 Sparks been warmer than normal lately?
2021 averaged 55.1°F, 1.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.5°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.1°F | +1.6°F | 10.34 | 16.8 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00267697. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sparks's climate compare?
Sparks is warmer than 34 of the other 54 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 53.5°F is warmer than 55%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sparks 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.
Questions about Sparks's climate
What is the coldest month in Sparks?
December, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 25°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Sparks?
Yes: 7 inches in a normal year, falling on 4 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (2.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Sparks?
January, with 1.28 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is September with 0.24 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sparks in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sparks in zone 7a across its 2 ZIP code areas (7a in 89436, the largest). By the same method at Sparks's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 5°F (27 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Sparks?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 1; 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
- Sparks in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Nevada climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Reno, NV6 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Spanish Springs, NV6 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Stead, NV9 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Verdi, CA16 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made