Tonopah, NV 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 Tonopah's primary NOAA station, TONOPAH - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Tonopah
Dryness leads the climate profile for Tonopah, Nevada, with 4.8 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 53°F. At 40/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 6% of scores.
- 53°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 40/100
- comfort score, above 6% of station-mapped location scores
- 4.8"
- precipitation, annual total
- 171 days
- frost-free growing season
Tonopah: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023153 · Tonopah, NV 53°F mean · 4.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 53°F
- RANK-MID #3,636
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Sharpsburg
- PRCP-ARID 4.8"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-LOW 40/100
- LOAD-HEAT 5,268 HDD
- STN-MULTI USW00023153
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Sharpsburg, MD (+ 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 NV station list.
- Tonopah (this station) 53°F
- Hot Zanesville, OH 53°F
- Near Sharpsburg, MD 53°F
- Near Tiverton, RI 53°F
- Near Trinidad Perry…, CO 53°F
Climate Living Index · Tonopah
Tonopah: 24/100 · grade F
Tonopah publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Tonopah, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 40/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 52.9°F · 14.6° from 67.5°F | 52/100 · D |
| Frost-free season | 171 days/year | 43/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 198 calendar days | 15/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 4.8 in · 30.2 from 35 in | 1/100 · F |
| Summer moisture balance | 30.3°F mean dew point | 0/100 · F |
Tonopah · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Tonopah's normals sit in a dry climate class: BWk
Annual precipitation falls well below the aridity threshold for this temperature regime, so the normals classify as cold desert (BWk). Class BWk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold desert.
- Köppen code
- BWk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 75.7°F
- Coldest month
- 32.5°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 Tonopah sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Tonopah's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 53rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 99%
- Tonopah's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 50th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Tonopah compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Tonopah's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
40 6th percentile score exceeds 6% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 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
Tonopah's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 69 complete annual observations from 1955 to 2025, TONOPAH warmed at a fitted rate of 0.27°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Tonopah primary station fitted change +0.27 °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 | 46°F (8°C) | 22°F (-6°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 0.5" | 29.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 49°F (10°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.5" | 25.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 58°F (14°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 0.5" | 21.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 64°F (18°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 0.3" | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.5" | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| June | 85°F (30°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.2" | 0.1 | 11.7 |
| July | 92°F (34°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 0.5" | 0.0 | 23.2 |
| August | 90°F (32°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 74°F (23°C) | 0.4" | 0.0 | 19.9 |
| September | 82°F (28°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.5" | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| October | 68°F (20°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 0.4" | 5.9 | 0.0 |
| November | 55°F (13°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 0.3" | 23.9 | 0.0 |
| December | 45°F (7°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 0.3" | 30.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Tonopah works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 93°F by July 19 and hold at or above 90°F on 51 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 147 dates, bottoming at 20°F around December 17.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 30 through August 19, covering 51 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs May 6 to October 12.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 28, then returns to freezing around November 3, covering 147 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 February 25, when 15% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is October 12 at 6%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 37 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 34°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Tonopah.
Where Tonopah Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 5 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Daily temperature swings run wider than most of the country, peaking near 34°F between the normal high and low.
Tonopah earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
4.0 days with precipitation
4.2 days with precipitation
4.1 days with precipitation
3.2 days with precipitation
3.9 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
2.9 days with precipitation
Tonopah spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 23% of the annual total and December through February 26%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Tonopah has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: February averages 0.5" and June 0.2". The three wettest months together take 33% 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.
Tonopah is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 37 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 10% of the calendar, and they carry 4.8" between them. At roughly 0.13 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is February at about 4 wet days; the driest is June at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 18
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 30
50% probability date
Growing Season
171 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
5,268
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
894
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | 9.5 | 62% | 17% |
| February | 49% | 10.2 | 60% | 16% |
| March | 36% | 11.3 | 65% | 12% |
| April | 29% | 11.5 | 64% | 10% |
| May | 25% | 10.8 | 68% | 7% |
| June | 18% | 9.8 | 82% | 3% |
| July | 23% | 9.0 | 72% | 3% |
| August | 23% | 8.8 | 78% | 3% |
| September | 28% | 9.3 | 79% | 3% |
| October | 36% | 9.3 | 73% | 7% |
| November | 48% | 8.9 | 70% | 10% |
| December | 56% | 8.6 | 63% | 18% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside NV closest to Tonopah 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 (53°F here).
- Chambersburg, PA 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Concordia, KS 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Harrisville, WV 53°F · 0.0°F off
- Langlois, OR 53°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (4.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Bishop, CA 4.8" · 0.0" off
- Barstow, CA 5.0" · 0.2" off
- Quartzsite, AZ 4.6" · 0.2" off
- Parker, AZ 4.6" · 0.2" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Tonopah's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Tonopah's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 5,268 annual heating degree days against 894 for cooling. Its 43.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Tonopah's frost-free season lasts about 171 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 Tonopah's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 43.2°F. The annual average is 53°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Tonopah's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 4.8 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.
Tonopah wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (4.8 inches).
Tonopah driest normal
June
June is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Tonopah's climate
How dry is Tonopah? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Tonopah get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Tonopah? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Tonopah's primary station: TONOPAH (USW00023153). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Tonopah area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 a census-designated place (GEOID 3273600), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Tonopah: 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 Tonopah 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.