Stockton, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Stockton's normal year runs from 38°F December nights to 95°F July afternoons, with 13.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.2°C, December lows of 4°C, July highs of 35°C, 342 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationStockton Metro Airport
- Station IDUSW00023237
- Location37.89°N 121.23°W
- Elevation26 ft (8 m)
- From the center8 miles
- Population324,975
On October 23, the normal high in Stockton is 77°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 12%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Stockton.
- Jan 57° 39°
- Feb 63° 41°
- Mar 69° 44°
- Apr 75° 47°
- May 83° 53°
- Jun 90° 58°
- Jul 95° 61°
- Aug 94° 60°
- Sep 90° 58°
- Oct 80° 51°
- Nov 67° 43°
- Dec 57° 38°
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 Stockton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 95°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 38°F. The most precipitation falls in January (2.67 in), the least in July (0.00 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. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57°F | 39°F | 48.0°F | 2.67 | 10 | <1 | 7 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 63°F | 41°F | 52.1°F | 2.50 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 69°F | 44°F | 56.4°F | 1.91 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 47°F | 60.9°F | 1.11 | 5 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 83°F | 53°F | 67.7°F | 0.57 | 3 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 90°F | 58°F | 74.0°F | 0.10 | 1 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 95°F | 61°F | 78.1°F | 0.00 | <1 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 94°F | 60°F | 77.3°F | 0.01 | <1 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 90°F | 58°F | 73.9°F | 0.08 | 1 | 16 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 80°F | 51°F | 65.5°F | 0.69 | 3 | 4 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 1.40 | 6 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 57°F | 38°F | 47.7°F | 2.41 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 49°F | 63.0°F | 13.45 | 57 | 88 | 19 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 14°C | 4°C | 8.9°C | 68 mm |
| February | 17°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 64 mm |
| March | 20°C | 7°C | 13.6°C | 49 mm |
| April | 24°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 28 mm |
| May | 28°C | 11°C | 19.8°C | 14 mm |
| June | 32°C | 14°C | 23.3°C | 3 mm |
| July | 35°C | 16°C | 25.6°C | 0 mm |
| August | 35°C | 16°C | 25.2°C | 0 mm |
| September | 32°C | 14°C | 23.3°C | 2 mm |
| October | 27°C | 10°C | 18.6°C | 18 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 36 mm |
| December | 14°C | 4°C | 8.7°C | 61 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023237; 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 Stockton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, October 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 USW00023237.
When is the last frost in Stockton?
In Stockton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 6 in half of years and after February 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 1 in half of years and before November 15 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
- February 61 year in 10 after February 28; 9 in 10 after December 31
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 11 year in 10 before November 15; 9 in 10 before December 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 304 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 346 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 10 in half of springs and before December 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Stockton in zone 9b across its 9 ZIP code areas (9b in 95206, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Stockton's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 26°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00023237; 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 Stockton ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Stockton's 9 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9b. 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 Stockton?
In a normal year in Stockton, 88 days a year reach 90°F (19 of them 100°F or more), 19 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 57 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 88a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 19a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 19a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 57a normal year
The highest temperature in Stockton's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1893) is 115°F, on July 23, 2006; the lowest is 16°F, on January 11, 1949.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 26.65 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00023237; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record SCKthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Stockton, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 53°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 53°F; the driest air comes in December (39°F). May is the windiest month (9.8 mph on average), and July has the most clear or nearly clear hours (98%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 80% | 59% | 6.4 mph | 63% | 24% |
| February | 43°F | 72% | 50% | 7.0 mph | 65% | 21% |
| March | 44°F | 64% | 41% | 8.1 mph | 74% | 13% |
| April | 46°F | 55% | 32% | 9.2 mph | 81% | 9% |
| May | 49°F | 52% | 29% | 9.8 mph | 88% | 4% |
| June | 52°F | 47% | 26% | 9.0 mph | 96% | 2% |
| July | 53°F | 48% | 26% | 8.4 mph | 98% | 0% |
| August | 52°F | 48% | 25% | 7.8 mph | 97% | 1% |
| September | 49°F | 51% | 27% | 6.7 mph | 94% | 2% |
| October | 44°F | 61% | 36% | 5.6 mph | 83% | 9% |
| November | 41°F | 75% | 53% | 6.1 mph | 68% | 20% |
| December | 39°F | 81% | 62% | 6.5 mph | 60% | 29% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00023237. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Stockton?
Over a year 89% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Stockton, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (97%) and January the cloudiest (74%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 39th (with 12 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.4 |
| February | 78% | 3.5 |
| March | 81% | 4.8 |
| April | 85% | 6.2 |
| May | 90% | 7.5 |
| June | 95% | 8.3 |
| July | 97% | 8.2 |
| August | 97% | 7.4 |
| September | 95% | 6.0 |
| October | 91% | 4.4 |
| November | 83% | 2.9 |
| December | 74% | 2.2 |
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 Stockton need?
A normal year in Stockton brings 2,260 heating degree days, 58% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,566 cooling degree days, 73% more than the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,040 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 525 | 0 |
| February | 361 | 0 |
| March | 270 | 1 |
| April | 146 | 24 |
| May | 41 | 125 |
| June | 4 | 274 |
| July | 0 | 408 |
| August | 0 | 383 |
| September | 3 | 271 |
| October | 64 | 78 |
| November | 311 | 2 |
| December | 535 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,260 | 1,566 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023237. 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 Stockton been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 62.9°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 63.0°F. 2 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.1°F | −0.9°F | 14.17 |
| 2022 | 63.6°F | +0.6°F | 11.40 |
| 2023 | 62.4°F | −0.6°F | 16.93 |
| 2024 | 64.7°F | +1.7°F | 15.19 |
| 2025 | 62.9°F | −0.1°F | 13.96 |
Over 68 complete years from 1942 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 4.4°F per century (+0.25°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00023237; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Stockton's climate compare?
Stockton is warmer than 148 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 84. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.0°F is warmer than 83%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Stockton 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 Stockton share this climate record?
12 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.
- Manteca, CAalso near: Tracy (10 mi, 61.0°F a year); Modesto (19 mi, 63.1°F a year)94,292 people · 7 mi S
- Lathrop, CA40,860 people · 8 mi SW
- Ripon, CA16,252 people · 11 mi SE
- Garden Acres, CA10,417 people · 5 mi N
- Country Club, CA10,017 people · 8 mi NW
- August, CA8,471 people · 7 mi N
- French Camp, CA3,482 people · 3 mi SW
- Kennedy, CA2,697 people · 3 mi N
- Linden, CA2,047 people · 11 mi NE
- Taft Mosswood, CA1,199 people · 3 mi NW
- Peters, CA702 people · 12 mi NE
- Farmington, CA94 people · 12 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Stockton's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Stockton. This page uses Stockton Metro Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton Fire Station 4 USC00048560 | 2 mi N | 12 ft | 63.9°F | 39°F | 95°F | 17.3 | 0 | February 5 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Stockton's climate
What is the coldest month in Stockton?
December, with a normal high of 57°F and a normal low of 38°F. The warmest is July (95°F by day, 61°F at night).
Does it snow in Stockton?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Stockton's NOAA station; Stockton's own co-op station Stockton Fire Station 4 records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Stockton?
January, with 2.67 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.00 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Stockton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Stockton in zone 9b across its 9 ZIP code areas (9b in 95206, the largest). By the same method at Stockton's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 26°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Stockton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 6; in one year in ten it comes after February 28. Waiting until February 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Stockton in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lodi, CA16 miles from this station, 62.2°F a year
- Tracy, CA16 miles from this station, 61.0°F a year
- Modesto, CA24 miles from this station, 63.1°F a year
- Antioch, CA29 miles from this station, 62.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made