Susanville, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Susanville's primary NOAA station, SUSANVILLE 2SW.
The climate verdict for Susanville
Dryness leads the climate profile for Susanville, California, with 13.0 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 50°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 50°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.0"
- precipitation, annual total
- 145 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Susanville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00048702 · Susanville, CA 50°F mean · 13.0" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-MID #2,813
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Vineyard Haven
- PRCP-DRY 13.0"
- SWING-MID 38°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,834 HDD
- STN-1 USC00048702
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Vineyard Haven, MA (+ 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 CA station list.
- Susanville (this station) 50°F
- Cold Grants Milan, NM 50°F
- Hot Hyannis, MA 50°F
- Near Vineyard Haven, MA 50°F
- Near Mt Nebo, WV 50°F
Climate Living Index · Susanville
Susanville: 35/100 · grade F
Susanville publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Susanville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 50.2°F · 17.3° from 67.5°F | 41/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 158 calendar days | 41/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 145 days/year | 22/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 13.0 in · 22.0 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
Susanville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Susanville is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 32.4°F and warmest-month mean 70.6°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Csb). Class Csb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Csb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 70.6°F
- Coldest month
- 32.4°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 Susanville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Susanville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 41st percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Susanville's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Susanville is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Susanville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Susanville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% 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%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Susanville's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 71 complete annual observations from 1893 to 2022, SUSANVILLE 2SW warmed at a fitted rate of 0.02°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Susanville primary station fitted change +0.02 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F (6°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 2.4" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 48°F (9°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 2.3" | 23.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 54°F (12°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 1.7" | 20.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 0.5" | 13.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 0.8" | 3.7 | 0.2 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.4" | 0.6 | 3.7 |
| July | 88°F (31°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 71°F (21°C) | 0.2" | 0.0 | 14.7 |
| August | 87°F (30°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.1" | 0.1 | 10.2 |
| September | 80°F (27°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.2" | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| October | 67°F (19°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 1.0" | 9.9 | 0.1 |
| November | 52°F (11°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 1.5" | 21.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 43°F (6°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.9" | 27.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 89°F around July 20, short of 90°F on every date, while 158 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 21°F near December 28.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 4, then returns to freezing around October 30, covering 158 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 24, when 19% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 21 at 2%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 39 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 14 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 35°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Susanville.
Where Susanville Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Daily temperature swings run wider than most of the country, peaking near 35°F between the normal high and low.
Susanville earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
5.8 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
3.4 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
0.9 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
1.0 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
5.7 days with precipitation
Susanville's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 51% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 5%. 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 38.2°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 2.4"
- Driest month
- August, 0.1"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (51% 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.
How Susanville's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 39 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.0" between them, or roughly 0.34 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 8
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 16
50% probability date
Growing Season
145 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,834
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
456
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Susanville 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 (50°F here).
- Ainsworth, NE 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Aurora, IL 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Blair, NE 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Bloomington, IL 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Sierra Vista, AZ 13.0" · 0.0" off
- Cedar City, UT 13.0" · 0.0" off
- White Sulphur Springs, MT 13.0" · 0.0" off
- Manti, UT 13.1" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Susanville's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Susanville's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,834 annual heating degree days against 456 for cooling. Its 38.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 145 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Susanville's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.2°F. The annual average is 50°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Susanville's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.0 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Susanville wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (13.0 inches).
Susanville driest normal
August
August is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Susanville's climate
How dry is Susanville? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Susanville get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Susanville? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Susanville's primary station: SUSANVILLE 2SW (USC00048702). 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 0677364). Match rule for Susanville: 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 Susanville 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.