Tehachapi, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Tehachapi's primary NOAA station, TEHACHAPI 4 SE.
The climate verdict for Tehachapi
Dryness leads the climate profile for Tehachapi, California, with 12.7 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 55°F. Its climate comfort score of 56/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 36% of station-mapped location scores.
- 55°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 56/100
- comfort score, above 36% of station-mapped location scores
- 12.7"
- precipitation, annual total
- 181 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Tehachapi: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00048829 · Tehachapi, CA 55°F mean · 12.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 55°F
- RANK-MID #4,048
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lake Toxaway
- PRCP-DRY 12.7"
- SWING-MID 31°F
- COMF-MID 56/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,443 HDD
- STN-1 USC00048829
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Lake Toxaway, NC ( -0.2 °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.
- Tehachapi (this station) 55°F
- Cold Ruch, OR 54°F
- Near Lake Toxaway, NC 54°F
- Near Germany Valley, GA 54°F
- Near Caesars Head, SC 54°F
Climate Living Index · Tehachapi
Tehachapi: 59/100 · grade C
Tehachapi publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Tehachapi, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 56/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 70 calendar days | 85/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 54.5°F · 13.0° from 67.5°F | 58/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 181 days/year | 51/100 · D |
| Precipitation balance | 12.7 in · 22.3 from 35 in | 21/100 · F |
Tehachapi · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Tehachapi is a temperate Köppen climate: Csa
Coldest-month mean 40.8°F and warmest-month mean 72.0°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, hot summer climates (Csa). Class Csa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Csa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 72.0°F
- Coldest month
- 40.8°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 Tehachapi sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Tehachapi's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 59th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 88%
- Tehachapi's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 89%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Tehachapi is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Tehachapi compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Tehachapi's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
56 36th percentile score exceeds 36% 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52°F (11°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 2.4" | 16.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 53°F (11°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 3.0" | 15.9 | 0.0 |
| March | 57°F (14°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 2.0" | 12.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 61°F (16°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 0.8" | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.4" | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| July | 86°F (30°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 11.5 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 8.8 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| October | 71°F (21°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.5" | 1.8 | 0.1 |
| November | 59°F (15°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 0.9" | 8.1 | 0.0 |
| December | 51°F (10°C) | 31°F (-1°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 2.1" | 18.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 22, short of 90°F on every date, while 70 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 31°F near December 13.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 25, then returns to freezing around December 2, covering 70 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.
The widest day
September 3 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Tehachapi.
Where Tehachapi Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Tehachapi earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Tehachapi's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 59% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 4%. 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 31.2°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 3.0"
- Driest month
- August, 0.1"
- Wettest three months
- February, January, December (59% 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.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 26
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 28
50% probability date
Growing Season
181 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,443
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
631
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Tehachapi 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 (55°F here).
- Big Stone Gap, VA 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Chapman, KS 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Crossville, TN 55°F · 0.0°F off
- Estell Manor, NJ 55°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (12.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Moriarty, NM 12.7" · 0.0" off
- Ritzville, WA 12.8" · 0.0" off
- Tok, AK 12.7" · 0.0" off
- Rifle, CO 12.8" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Tehachapi's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Tehachapi's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,443 annual heating degree days against 631 for cooling. Its 31.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Tehachapi's frost-free season lasts about 181 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Tehachapi's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 31.2°F. The annual average is 55°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Tehachapi's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 12.7 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.
Tehachapi wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (12.7 inches).
Tehachapi driest normal
August
August is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Tehachapi's climate
How dry is Tehachapi? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Tehachapi? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Tehachapi's primary station: TEHACHAPI 4 SE (USC00048829). 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 0678092). Match rule for Tehachapi: 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 Tehachapi 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.