Tahoe City, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Tahoe City's normal year runs from 21°F January nights to 78°F July afternoons, with 33.3 inches of precipitation and 179 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 6.6°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 26°C, 845 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTahoe City
- Station IDUSC00048758
- Location39.17°N 120.14°W
- Elevation6,230 ft (1,899 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Tahoe City is 57°F and the normal low 31°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 16%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tahoe City.
- Jan 40° 21°
- Feb 41° 21°
- Mar 45° 24°
- Apr 50° 28°
- May 59° 34°
- Jun 69° 40°
- Jul 78° 46°
- Aug 77° 45°
- Sep 70° 41°
- Oct 59° 33°
- Nov 48° 26°
- Dec 40° 21°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Tahoe City each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 78°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 21°F. The most precipitation falls in January (6.21 in), the least in July (0.17 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 21°F | 30.1°F | 6.21 | 37.9 | 11 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 41°F | 21°F | 30.8°F | 5.72 | 41.3 | 10 | <1 | 27 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 45°F | 24°F | 34.3°F | 4.95 | 34.7 | 10 | <1 | 29 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 50°F | 28°F | 38.9°F | 2.23 | 14.0 | 8 | <1 | 24 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 59°F | 34°F | 46.6°F | 1.57 | 2.8 | 7 | <1 | 12 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 69°F | 40°F | 54.6°F | 0.61 | 0.2 | 3 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 78°F | 46°F | 62.0°F | 0.17 | 0.0 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 77°F | 45°F | 61.4°F | 0.30 | 0.0 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 70°F | 41°F | 55.4°F | 0.42 | 0.1 | 2 | <1 | 2 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 59°F | 33°F | 45.9°F | 1.89 | 2.4 | 4 | <1 | 15 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 48°F | 26°F | 36.8°F | 3.21 | 9.4 | 7 | <1 | 26 | 10 h |
| December | 40°F | 21°F | 30.2°F | 6.00 | 36.2 | 11 | <1 | 30 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 56°F | 32°F | 43.9°F | 33.28 | 179.0 | 77 | <1 | 198 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −6°C | −1.1°C | 158 mm | 96 cm |
| February | 5°C | −6°C | −0.7°C | 145 mm | 105 cm |
| March | 7°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 126 mm | 88 cm |
| April | 10°C | −2°C | 3.8°C | 57 mm | 36 cm |
| May | 15°C | 1°C | 8.1°C | 40 mm | 7 cm |
| June | 21°C | 4°C | 12.6°C | 15 mm | 1 cm |
| July | 26°C | 8°C | 16.7°C | 4 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 7°C | 16.3°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21°C | 5°C | 13.0°C | 11 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15°C | 0°C | 7.7°C | 48 mm | 6 cm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 2.7°C | 82 mm | 24 cm |
| December | 4°C | −6°C | −1.0°C | 152 mm | 92 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00048758; 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.
Which months are mildest at Tahoe City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August and September. Of those, July 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 USC00048758.
When is the last frost at Tahoe City?
In Tahoe City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 9 in half of years and after June 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 25 in half of years and before September 9 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
- June 91 year in 10 after June 25; 9 in 10 after May 26
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 251 year in 10 before September 9; 9 in 10 before October 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 108 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 143 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 24 in half of springs and before October 12 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tahoe City in zone 7a in ZIP code 96145, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (28 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 USC00048758; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get at Tahoe City?
In a normal year in Tahoe City, a 90°F day is rare, 198 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 77 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 198a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 12high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 77a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 33a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1909) is 94°F, on August 15, 1933; the lowest is −16°F, on December 11, 1972.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2017, with 59.78 in; the snowiest season is 1951–52, with 535.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00048758; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00048758. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Tahoe City?
Over a year 85% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Tahoe City, 5.1 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (95%) and December the cloudiest (69%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.4 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 73% | 4.4 |
| April | 77% | 5.8 |
| May | 82% | 7.1 |
| June | 92% | 8.3 |
| July | 95% | 8.3 |
| August | 95% | 7.4 |
| September | 93% | 5.9 |
| October | 87% | 4.2 |
| November | 77% | 2.7 |
| December | 69% | 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 many heating and cooling degree days does Tahoe City record?
A normal year at Tahoe City brings 7,697 heating degree days, 43% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 33 cooling degree days, 96% fewer than the median (908). Nine months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,167 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,082 | 0 |
| February | 958 | 0 |
| March | 950 | 0 |
| April | 785 | 0 |
| May | 572 | 0 |
| June | 312 | 2 |
| July | 112 | 19 |
| August | 123 | 11 |
| September | 287 | 1 |
| October | 592 | 0 |
| November | 846 | 0 |
| December | 1,079 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 7,697 | 33 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00048758. 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.
Have recent years at Tahoe City been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 44.9°F, 1.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 43.9°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45.4°F | +1.5°F | 34.14 | 204.0 |
| 2022 | 44.0°F | +0.1°F | 25.80 | 142.0 |
| 2023 | 42.0°F | −1.9°F | 35.09 | 238.3 |
| 2024 | 44.6°F | +0.7°F | 33.52 | 194.5 |
| 2025 | 44.9°F | +1.0°F | 37.49 | 103.6 |
Over 102 complete years from 1912 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00048758; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tahoe City's climate compare?
Tahoe City is warmer than 1 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 172. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 43.9°F is warmer than 15%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tahoe City is Dsb: continental, 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 Tahoe City share this climate record?
2 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.
- Sunnyside-Tahoe City, CA1,658 people · 2 mi SW
- Crystal Bay, NV148 people · 9 mi NE
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 Tahoe City's climate
What is the coldest month at Tahoe City?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 21°F. The warmest is July (78°F by day, 46°F at night).
Does it snow at Tahoe City?
Yes: 179 inches in a normal year, falling on 39 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (41.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Tahoe City?
January, with 6.21 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.17 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tahoe City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tahoe City in zone 7a in ZIP code 96145, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 3°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come at Tahoe City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 9; in one year in ten it comes after June 25. Waiting until June 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Tahoma, CA7 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Truckee, CA12 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Donner Mem State Park, CA12 miles from this station, 44.0°F a year
- Incline Village, NV12 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made