Thorne Bay, AK Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Thorne Bay's primary NOAA station, THORNE BAY.
The climate verdict for Thorne Bay
Water is the standout signal in Thorne Bay, Alaska: 85.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 44°F. At 28/100 (below average) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 0% of scores.
- 44°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 28/100
- comfort score, above 0% of station-mapped location scores
- 85.2"
- annual precipitation
- 165 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Thorne Bay: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00509148 · Thorne Bay, AK 44°F mean · 85.2" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-WET · SWING-NARROW · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 44°F
- RANK-COOL #1,098
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ South Lake Tahoe
- PRCP-WET 85.2"
- SWING-NARROW 25°F
- COMF-LOW 28/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,564 HDD
- STN-1 USC00509148
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: South Lake Tahoe, CA (+ 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 AK station list.
- Thorne Bay (this station) 44°F
- Cold Little Port Wal…, AK 44°F
- Hot Bellemont, AZ 44°F
- Near South Lake Tahoe, CA 44°F
- Near Lake Maloya, NM 44°F
Thorne Bay sits in Alaska, the #1 coldest U.S. state at 33.5°F statewide annual average - see all 50 coldest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Thorne Bay
Thorne Bay: 28/100 · grade F
Thorne Bay publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Thorne Bay, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 28/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 140 calendar days | 53/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 165 days/year | 38/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.2°F · 23.3° from 67.5°F | 17/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 85.2 in · 50.2 from 35 in | 0/100 · F |
Thorne Bay · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Thorne Bay is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfb
Coldest-month mean 33.2°F and warmest-month mean 58.1°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, warm summer climates (Cfb). Class Cfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 58.1°F
- Coldest month
- 33.2°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 Thorne Bay sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Thorne Bay's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 84%
- Among 6,861 stations, Thorne Bay sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 1% wettest
- Thorne Bay's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 95%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Thorne Bay is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Thorne Bay compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Thorne Bay's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
28 0th percentile score exceeds 0% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Above this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Above this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 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 | 38°F (3°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 8.2" | 17.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 40°F (4°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 5.5" | 21.4 | 0.0 |
| March | 43°F (6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 6.3" | 21.8 | 0.0 |
| April | 50°F (10°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 5.1" | 12.7 | 0.0 |
| May | 57°F (14°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.5" | 1.6 | 0.0 |
| June | 63°F (17°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 4.1" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| July | 66°F (19°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 5.3" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| August | 65°F (19°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 7.0" | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| September | 59°F (15°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 8.6" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 51°F (10°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 12.1" | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 42°F (5°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 10.5" | 15.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 9.1" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 67°F around August 1, short of 90°F on every date, while 140 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 28°F near January 9.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 3, then returns to freezing around November 16, covering 140 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
May 18 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 17°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Thorne Bay.
Where Thorne Bay Stands Nationally
This is one of the wettest normals climates ranked: about 85 inches of precipitation in a normal year, a total fewer than one station in ten surpasses.
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 17°F.
Thorne Bay earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Thorne Bay spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 19% of the annual total and December through February 27%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Thorne Bay has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry an unusually narrow 24.9°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 12.1" and May 3.5". The three wettest months together take 37% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 1
50% probability date
Growing Season
165 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,564
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
11
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside AK closest to Thorne Bay 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 (44°F here).
- Andover, SD 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Greer, AZ 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Jordan, MT 44°F · 0.0°F off
- Jordan, MN 44°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (85.2" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Aberdeen, WA 84.9" · 0.2" off
- Mapleton, OR 84.0" · 1.2" off
- Raymond, WA 83.7" · 1.5" off
- Darrington, WA 83.0" · 2.2" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Thorne Bay's climate pattern fits together
heating led · wet · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Thorne Bay, at 7,564 degree days versus 11 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 24.9°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Thorne Bay's frost-free season lasts about 165 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
Thorne Bay's 24.9°F seasonal spread is compact even though precipitation is abundant. July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar. The annual average is 44°F. Temperature is relatively steady; the monthly rows show how rain and snow observations vary across the calendar.
Alongside its heating load, Thorne Bay carries 85.2 inches of precipitation in a normal year, inside PlainClimate's wet range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. That distinction matters because a wet annual total can arrive as rain, snow, or a mixture at different times.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Thorne Bay's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Thorne Bay, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Thorne Bay's climate
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Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Thorne Bay's primary station: THORNE BAY (USC00509148). 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 0277140). Match rule for Thorne Bay: 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 Thorne Bay 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.