Tulelake, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Tulelake's normal year runs from 20°F December nights to 86°F July afternoons, with 10.7 inches of precipitation and 23 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.6°C, December lows of −7°C, July highs of 30°C, 272 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationTulelake
- Station IDUSC00049053
- Location41.96°N 121.47°W
- Elevation4,038 ft (1,231 m)
- Population857
On October 23, the normal high in Tulelake is 62°F and the normal low 29°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Tulelake.
- Jan 42° 21°
- Feb 47° 23°
- Mar 53° 26°
- Apr 59° 30°
- May 69° 37°
- Jun 77° 42°
- Jul 86° 47°
- Aug 86° 44°
- Sep 79° 38°
- Oct 66° 30°
- Nov 50° 25°
- Dec 41° 20°
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 Tulelake each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 86°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 20°F. The most precipitation falls in December (1.45 in), the least in July (0.21 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42°F | 21°F | 31.9°F | 1.32 | 6.2 | 15 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 47°F | 23°F | 34.9°F | 1.14 | 4.0 | 11 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 30 min |
| March | 53°F | 26°F | 39.6°F | 1.20 | 2.8 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 30°F | 44.4°F | 0.99 | 1.6 | 11 | <1 | 20 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 69°F | 37°F | 53.0°F | 1.11 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 14 h 30 min |
| June | 77°F | 42°F | 59.5°F | 0.80 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 15 h 10 min |
| July | 86°F | 47°F | 66.8°F | 0.21 | 0.0 | 2 | 9 | <1 | 15 h |
| August | 86°F | 44°F | 65.0°F | 0.25 | 0.0 | 2 | 7 | <1 | 14 h |
| September | 79°F | 38°F | 58.4°F | 0.37 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 66°F | 30°F | 48.1°F | 0.72 | 0.1 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 25°F | 37.4°F | 1.14 | 3.0 | 12 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 50 min |
| December | 41°F | 20°F | 30.5°F | 1.45 | 5.0 | 13 | <1 | 28 | 9 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 32°F | 47.4°F | 10.70 | 22.8 | 102 | 20 | 182 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6°C | −6°C | −0.1°C | 34 mm | 16 cm |
| February | 8°C | −5°C | 1.6°C | 29 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 12°C | −3°C | 4.2°C | 30 mm | 7 cm |
| April | 15°C | −1°C | 6.9°C | 25 mm | 4 cm |
| May | 21°C | 3°C | 11.7°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25°C | 6°C | 15.3°C | 20 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 8°C | 19.3°C | 5 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 30°C | 7°C | 18.3°C | 6 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 3°C | 14.7°C | 9 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 19°C | −1°C | 8.9°C | 18 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 10°C | −4°C | 3.0°C | 29 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 5°C | −7°C | −0.8°C | 37 mm | 13 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00049053; 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 Tulelake?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, September and October. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (3).
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 USC00049053.
When is the last frost in Tulelake?
In Tulelake, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after June 6 in half of years and after June 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before September 14 in half of years and before August 30 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 61 year in 10 after June 23; 9 in 10 after May 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- September 141 year in 10 before August 30; 9 in 10 before September 26
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 97 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 131 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after May 16 in half of springs and before September 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Tulelake in zone 6b in ZIP code 97632, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Tulelake's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (30 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 USC00049053; 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 in Tulelake?
In a normal year in Tulelake, 20 days a year reach 90°F, 182 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 102 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 182a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 10high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 102a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 9a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1932) is 103°F, on June 29, 2021; the lowest is −28°F, on January 22, 1962.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1981, with 15.47 in; the snowiest season is 1947–48, with 44.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00049053; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00049053. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Tulelake?
Over a year 83% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Tulelake, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (95%) and December the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.0 |
| February | 72% | 3.0 |
| March | 71% | 4.1 |
| April | 76% | 5.6 |
| May | 81% | 6.9 |
| June | 89% | 8.0 |
| July | 95% | 8.2 |
| August | 94% | 7.2 |
| September | 92% | 5.7 |
| October | 85% | 3.9 |
| November | 72% | 2.3 |
| December | 65% | 1.6 |
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 Tulelake need?
A normal year in Tulelake brings 6,574 heating degree days, 22% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 193 cooling degree days, 79% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 1,779 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,026 | 0 |
| February | 844 | 0 |
| March | 787 | 0 |
| April | 618 | 0 |
| May | 375 | 3 |
| June | 187 | 23 |
| July | 43 | 97 |
| August | 61 | 60 |
| September | 209 | 11 |
| October | 526 | 0 |
| November | 828 | 0 |
| December | 1,069 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,574 | 193 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00049053. 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 Tulelake been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 47.7°F, 0.3°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.4°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.0°F | +1.6°F | 7.72 | 13.3 |
| 2022 | 47.8°F | +0.4°F | 8.35 | 15.0 |
| 2023 | 47.7°F | +0.3°F | 10.59 | 14.1 |
Over 48 complete years from 1932 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00049053; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Tulelake's climate compare?
Tulelake is warmer than 7 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 45. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.4°F is warmer than 29%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Tulelake is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Tulelake share this climate record?
4 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.
- Merrill, OR868 people · 8 mi NW
- Malin, OR740 people · 5 mi NE
- Newell, CA491 people · 8 mi SE
- Bonanza, OR415 people · 17 mi N
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 Tulelake's climate
What is the coldest month in Tulelake?
December, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 20°F. The warmest is July (86°F by day, 47°F at night).
Does it snow in Tulelake?
Yes: 23 inches in a normal year, falling on 17 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (6.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Tulelake?
December, with 1.45 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.21 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Tulelake in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Tulelake in zone 6b in ZIP code 97632, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Tulelake's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Tulelake?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after June 6; in one year in ten it comes after June 23. Waiting until June 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Lava Beds Nat Mon, CA18 miles from this station, 48.7°F a year
- Klamath Falls, OR18 miles from this station, 47.1°F a year
- Keno, OR24 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Gerber Dam, OR24 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made