Topaz Lake, Nevada climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Topaz Lake's normal year runs from 22°F December nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 5.9 inches of precipitation and 18 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.1°C, December lows of −6°C, July highs of 33°C, 150 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTopaz Lake
- Station IDUSC00268186
- Location38.74°N 119.52°W
- Elevation5,292 ft (1,613 m)
- Population (census place)306
On October 23, the normal high in Topaz Lake is 68°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 4%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Topaz Lake.
- Jan 47° 22°
- Feb 51° 25°
- Mar 58° 29°
- Apr 63° 33°
- May 72° 41°
- Jun 82° 48°
- Jul 92° 55°
- Aug 90° 53°
- Sep 82° 46°
- Oct 70° 36°
- Nov 56° 28°
- Dec 46° 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 Topaz Lake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in March (1.13 in), the least in June (0.11 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 22°F | 34.7°F | 0.59 | 5.8 | 3 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 51°F | 25°F | 37.6°F | 0.44 | 3.0 | 2 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 58°F | 29°F | 43.2°F | 1.13 | 3.1 | 3 | <1 | 22 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 33°F | 48.1°F | 0.35 | 0.3 | 2 | <1 | 13 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 41°F | 56.4°F | 0.60 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 82°F | 48°F | 65.0°F | 0.11 | 0.0 | 1 | 8 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 55°F | 73.4°F | 0.33 | 0.0 | 2 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 90°F | 53°F | 71.9°F | 0.26 | 0.0 | 2 | 20 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 46°F | 63.9°F | 0.19 | 0.0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 36°F | 52.8°F | 0.25 | 0.0 | 1 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 56°F | 28°F | 41.8°F | 0.67 | 1.5 | 2 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 46°F | 22°F | 34.1°F | 1.00 | 4.6 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 67°F | 37°F | 51.9°F | 5.92 | 18.3 | 28 | 57 | 154 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | −5°C | 1.5°C | 15 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 10°C | −4°C | 3.1°C | 11 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 14°C | −2°C | 6.2°C | 29 mm | 8 cm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 9 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 22°C | 5°C | 13.6°C | 15 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 9°C | 18.3°C | 3 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 33°C | 13°C | 23.0°C | 8 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 32°C | 12°C | 22.2°C | 7 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 8°C | 17.7°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 2°C | 11.6°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −2°C | 5.4°C | 17 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 8°C | −6°C | 1.2°C | 25 mm | 12 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00268186; 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 Topaz Lake?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, June 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 USC00268186.
When is the last frost in Topaz Lake?
In Topaz Lake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 12 in half of years and after June 7 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 6 in half of years and before September 20 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 121 year in 10 after June 7; 9 in 10 after April 24
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 61 year in 10 before September 20; 9 in 10 before October 24
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 145 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 174 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 24 in half of springs and before October 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Topaz Lake in zone 7a in ZIP code 96133, the nearest ZIP area.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Nevada · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00268186; 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 Topaz Lake?
In a normal year in Topaz Lake, 57 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 154 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 28 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 57a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 154a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 6high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 28a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 6a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1957) is 105°F, on June 15, 1985; the lowest is −17°F, on January 23, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1969, with 17.15 in; the snowiest season is 2020–21, with 69.6 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00268186; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00268186. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Topaz Lake?
Over a year 84% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Topaz Lake, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (93%) and March the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 2.6 |
| February | 74% | 3.5 |
| March | 74% | 4.6 |
| April | 78% | 6.0 |
| May | 82% | 7.1 |
| June | 91% | 8.3 |
| July | 91% | 8.0 |
| August | 93% | 7.3 |
| September | 92% | 6.0 |
| October | 88% | 4.5 |
| November | 81% | 3.0 |
| December | 74% | 2.3 |
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 Topaz Lake need?
A normal year in Topaz Lake brings 5,405 heating degree days, 1% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 663 cooling degree days, 27% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,776 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 939 | 0 |
| February | 767 | 0 |
| March | 676 | 0 |
| April | 509 | 0 |
| May | 278 | 13 |
| June | 89 | 89 |
| July | 3 | 263 |
| August | 8 | 222 |
| September | 101 | 70 |
| October | 383 | 6 |
| November | 696 | 0 |
| December | 956 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,405 | 663 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00268186. 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 Topaz Lake been warmer than normal lately?
2022 averaged 50.5°F, 1.4°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 51.9°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.3°F | +1.4°F | 15.48 | 84.6 |
| 2022 | 50.5°F | −1.4°F | 6.51 | 20.0 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00268186. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Topaz Lake's climate compare?
Topaz Lake is warmer than 27 of the other 54 places with their own NOAA record in Nevada, and wetter than 12. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 51.9°F is warmer than 49%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Topaz Lake is BWk: cold desert. 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 Topaz Lake share this climate record?
6 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.
- Topaz Ranch Estates, NV1,646 people · 1 mi E
- Coleville, CA346 people · 11 mi S
- Walker, CA336 people · 15 mi S
- Double Spring, NV243 people · 6 mi NW
- Topaz, CA221 people · 7 mi S
- Markleeville, CA178 people · 17 mi W
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 Topaz Lake's climate
What is the coldest month in Topaz Lake?
December, with a normal high of 46°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Topaz Lake?
Yes: 18 inches in a normal year, falling on 8 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (5.8 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Topaz Lake?
March, with 1.13 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is June with 0.11 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Topaz Lake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Topaz Lake in zone 7a in ZIP code 96133, the nearest ZIP area.
How late can frost come in Topaz Lake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 12; in one year in ten it comes after June 7. Waiting until June 7 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Nevada climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Smith (6 mi N), NV13 miles from this station, 51.1°F a year
- Minden, NV21 miles from this station, 50.1°F a year
- Dagget Pass, NV26 miles from this station, 43.3°F a year
- Yerington, NV27 miles from this station, 53.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made