Vancouver, Washington climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Vancouver's normal year runs from 34°F January nights to 82°F August afternoons, with 37.5 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.2°C, January lows of 1°C, August highs of 28°C, 952 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationVancouver Pearson Airport
- Station IDUSW00094298
- Location45.62°N 122.66°W
- Elevation30 ft (9 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population198,992
On October 23, the normal high in Vancouver is 61°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 54%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Vancouver.
- Jan 47° 34°
- Feb 51° 35°
- Mar 56° 38°
- Apr 61° 42°
- May 68° 48°
- Jun 74° 53°
- Jul 81° 57°
- Aug 82° 57°
- Sep 76° 52°
- Oct 64° 45°
- Nov 53° 39°
- Dec 47° 35°
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 Vancouver each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 82°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 34°F. The most precipitation falls in December (6.07 in), the least in July (0.42 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47°F | 34°F | 40.7°F | 5.34 | 20 | <1 | 11 | 9 h |
| February | 51°F | 35°F | 43.1°F | 3.77 | 17 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| March | 56°F | 38°F | 47.2°F | 3.95 | 19 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 42°F | 51.7°F | 2.93 | 16 | <1 | 1 | 13 h 30 min |
| May | 68°F | 48°F | 58.3°F | 2.51 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| June | 74°F | 53°F | 63.3°F | 1.61 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 15 h 40 min |
| July | 81°F | 57°F | 69.0°F | 0.42 | 4 | 5 | <1 | 15 h 20 min |
| August | 82°F | 57°F | 69.4°F | 0.52 | 4 | 5 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| September | 76°F | 52°F | 63.9°F | 1.43 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 40 min |
| October | 64°F | 45°F | 54.2°F | 3.41 | 16 | <1 | 1 | 11 h |
| November | 53°F | 39°F | 46.2°F | 5.51 | 19 | <1 | 6 | 9 h 30 min |
| December | 47°F | 35°F | 40.8°F | 6.07 | 20 | <1 | 11 | 8 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 63°F | 45°F | 54.0°F | 37.47 | 163 | 15 | 45 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8°C | 1°C | 4.8°C | 136 mm |
| February | 11°C | 2°C | 6.2°C | 96 mm |
| March | 13°C | 4°C | 8.4°C | 100 mm |
| April | 16°C | 6°C | 10.9°C | 74 mm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.6°C | 64 mm |
| June | 23°C | 12°C | 17.4°C | 41 mm |
| July | 27°C | 14°C | 20.6°C | 11 mm |
| August | 28°C | 14°C | 20.8°C | 13 mm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.7°C | 36 mm |
| October | 18°C | 7°C | 12.3°C | 87 mm |
| November | 12°C | 4°C | 7.9°C | 140 mm |
| December | 8°C | 2°C | 4.9°C | 154 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Portland (3 miles away), gets 4 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094298; 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 Vancouver?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USW00094298.
When is the last frost in Vancouver?
In Vancouver, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 18 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 9 in half of years and before October 22 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
- March 291 year in 10 after April 18; 9 in 10 after March 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 91 year in 10 before October 22; 9 in 10 before November 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 223 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 264 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 3 in half of springs and before November 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Vancouver in zone 8b across its 9 ZIP code areas (8b in 98660, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Vancouver's NOAA station is in zone 8b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Washington · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00094298; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Vancouver ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Vancouver's 9 ZIP code areas are all in zone 8b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Vancouver?
In a normal year in Vancouver, 15 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 45 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 163 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 15a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 45a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 163a normal year
The highest temperature in Vancouver's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1891) is 115°F, on June 28, 2021; the lowest is −10°F, on December 13, 1919.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 56.28 in; the snowiest season is 1979–80, with 44.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094298; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record VUOthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Vancouver?
Over a year 70% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Vancouver, 3.7 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (83%) and December the cloudiest (52%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 428th (with 16 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 54% | 1.2 |
| February | 60% | 2.1 |
| March | 59% | 3.0 |
| April | 63% | 4.3 |
| May | 68% | 5.4 |
| June | 70% | 6.0 |
| July | 83% | 6.8 |
| August | 83% | 5.8 |
| September | 78% | 4.3 |
| October | 67% | 2.6 |
| November | 56% | 1.4 |
| December | 52% | 1.0 |
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 Vancouver need?
A normal year in Vancouver brings 4,400 heating degree days, 18% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 400 cooling degree days, 56% 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 2,573 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 753 | 0 |
| February | 615 | 0 |
| March | 550 | 0 |
| April | 400 | 1 |
| May | 223 | 14 |
| June | 96 | 43 |
| July | 16 | 139 |
| August | 13 | 149 |
| September | 84 | 51 |
| October | 335 | 2 |
| November | 564 | 0 |
| December | 752 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 4,400 | 400 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094298. 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 Vancouver been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 55.2°F, 1.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 54.0°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55.3°F | +1.3°F | 36.44 |
| 2022 | 54.4°F | +0.4°F | 38.86 |
| 2023 | 55.2°F | +1.2°F | 34.23 |
| 2024 | 55.2°F | +1.2°F | 40.16 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094298. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Vancouver's climate compare?
Vancouver is warmer than 93 of the other 95 places with their own NOAA record in Washington, and wetter than 56. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 54.0°F is warmer than 57%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Vancouver is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm summer. 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 Vancouver share this climate record?
16 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.
- Lake Oswego, OR40,029 people · 14 mi S
- Bethany, OR31,700 people · 10 mi SW
- Happy Valley, OR28,969 people · 15 mi SE
- Milwaukie, OR21,620 people · 12 mi S
- Cedar Mill, OR19,482 people · 9 mi SW
- Oak Hills, OR11,464 people · 11 mi SW
- Damascus, OR10,888 people · 17 mi SE
- Rockcreek, OR9,463 people · 12 mi SW
- Cedar Hills, OR8,515 people · 11 mi SW
- West Haven-Sylvan, OR8,265 people · 9 mi SW
- West Slope, OR6,985 people · 10 mi SW
- Garden Home-Whitford, OR6,970 people · 12 mi SW
- Raleigh Hills, OR6,669 people · 11 mi SW
- Marlene Village, OR5,391 people · 11 mi SW
- Dunthorpe, OR1,984 people · 12 mi S
- Maywood Park, OR810 people · 7 mi SE
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 Vancouver's climate
What is the coldest month in Vancouver?
January, with a normal high of 47°F and a normal low of 34°F. The warmest is August (82°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Vancouver?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Vancouver's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Portland (3 miles away), records 4 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Vancouver?
December, with 6.07 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.42 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Vancouver in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Vancouver in zone 8b across its 9 ZIP code areas (8b in 98660, the largest). By the same method at Vancouver's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 18°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 8b.
How late can frost come in Vancouver?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; in one year in ten it comes after April 18. Waiting until April 18 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Vancouver in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Washington climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Portland, OR4 miles from this station, 55.1°F a year
- Hazel Dell, WA4 miles from this station, 51.0°F a year
- Battle Ground, WA12 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Nature Park-Beaverton, OR12 miles from this station, 55.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made