Susanville, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Susanville's normal year runs from 22°F December nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 13.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, December lows of −5°C, July highs of 31°C, 331 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSusanville (2 mi SW)
- Station IDUSC00048702
- Location40.42°N 120.66°W
- Elevation4,212 ft (1,284 m)
- Population12,359
On October 23, the normal high in Susanville is 64°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 8%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Susanville.
- Jan 43° 22°
- Feb 48° 26°
- Mar 54° 30°
- Apr 61° 34°
- May 69° 40°
- Jun 79° 47°
- Jul 88° 53°
- Aug 87° 52°
- Sep 80° 45°
- Oct 67° 36°
- Nov 52° 28°
- Dec 43° 22°
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 Susanville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in January (2.44 in), the least in August (0.11 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 22°F | 32.5°F | 2.44 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 48°F | 26°F | 36.6°F | 2.31 | 5 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 30°F | 41.9°F | 1.67 | 5 | <1 | 20 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 34°F | 47.1°F | 0.49 | 4 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 69°F | 40°F | 54.8°F | 0.82 | 3 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 79°F | 47°F | 62.9°F | 0.37 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 h |
| July | 88°F | 53°F | 70.6°F | 0.21 | 1 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 87°F | 52°F | 69.3°F | 0.11 | 1 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 80°F | 45°F | 62.7°F | 0.24 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 36°F | 51.5°F | 0.97 | 2 | <1 | 10 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 52°F | 28°F | 40.0°F | 1.49 | 4 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| December | 43°F | 22°F | 32.4°F | 1.90 | 6 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 64°F | 36°F | 50.2°F | 13.02 | 39 | 31 | 149 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −5°C | 0.3°C | 62 mm |
| February | 9°C | −4°C | 2.6°C | 59 mm |
| March | 12°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 42 mm |
| April | 16°C | 1°C | 8.4°C | 12 mm |
| May | 21°C | 5°C | 12.7°C | 21 mm |
| June | 26°C | 8°C | 17.2°C | 9 mm |
| July | 31°C | 12°C | 21.4°C | 5 mm |
| August | 30°C | 11°C | 20.7°C | 3 mm |
| September | 27°C | 7°C | 17.1°C | 6 mm |
| October | 19°C | 2°C | 10.8°C | 25 mm |
| November | 11°C | −2°C | 4.4°C | 38 mm |
| December | 6°C | −5°C | 0.2°C | 48 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station, and no record within 25 miles keeps one, so snow is left out here rather than estimated.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00048702; 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 Susanville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USC00048702.
When is the last frost in Susanville?
In Susanville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 16 in half of years and after June 5 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 8 in half of years and before September 25 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 161 year in 10 after June 5; 9 in 10 after April 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 81 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 143 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 176 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 26 in half of springs and before October 21 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Susanville in zone 7a in ZIP code 96130, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00048702; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Susanville?
In a normal year in Susanville, 31 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 149 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 39 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 31a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 149a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 8high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 39a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1895) is 106°F, on July 25, 1928; the lowest is −23°F, on February 1, 1956.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1907, with 33.51 in; the snowiest season is 1936–37, with 114.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00048702; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00048702. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Susanville?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Susanville, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (94%) and December the cloudiest (68%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 72% | 2.2 |
| February | 73% | 3.1 |
| March | 75% | 4.4 |
| April | 78% | 5.8 |
| May | 82% | 7.0 |
| June | 89% | 8.1 |
| July | 94% | 8.1 |
| August | 94% | 7.2 |
| September | 92% | 5.8 |
| October | 86% | 4.1 |
| November | 76% | 2.6 |
| December | 68% | 1.8 |
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 Susanville need?
A normal year in Susanville brings 5,834 heating degree days, 9% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 456 cooling degree days, 50% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,376 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,008 | 0 |
| February | 795 | 0 |
| March | 716 | 0 |
| April | 535 | 0 |
| May | 326 | 8 |
| June | 120 | 58 |
| July | 17 | 188 |
| August | 20 | 153 |
| September | 117 | 47 |
| October | 422 | 2 |
| November | 750 | 0 |
| December | 1,009 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,834 | 456 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00048702. 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 Susanville been warmer than normal lately?
Over 71 complete years from 1893 to 2022, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.4°F per century (+0.02°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Susanville's climate compare?
Susanville is warmer than 19 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 79. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.2°F is warmer than 41%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Susanville is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm summer. 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 Susanville share this climate record?
5 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.
- Janesville, CA2,447 people · 12 mi SE
- Johnstonville, CA967 people · 5 mi SE
- Spaulding, CA393 people · 18 mi N
- Stones Landing, CA102 people · 19 mi N
- Litchfield, CA88 people · 15 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.
Questions about Susanville's climate
What is the coldest month in Susanville?
December, with a normal high of 43°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 53°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Susanville?
January, with 2.44 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.11 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Susanville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Susanville in zone 7a in ZIP code 96130, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Susanville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 16; in one year in ten it comes after June 5. Waiting until June 5 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Canyon Dam, CA28 miles from this station, 49.1°F a year
- Chester, CA32 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Quincy, CA37 miles from this station, 50.0°F a year
- Doyle, CA43 miles from this station, 50.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made