Vernal, Utah climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Vernal's normal year runs from 10°F January nights to 91°F July afternoons, with 8.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.8°C, January lows of −12°C, July highs of 33°C, 219 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationVernal Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00094030
- Location40.44°N 109.51°W
- Elevation5,260 ft (1,603 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population10,698
On October 23, the normal high in Vernal is 59°F and the normal low 32°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 18%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Vernal.
- Jan 30° 10°
- Feb 38° 17°
- Mar 53° 27°
- Apr 62° 34°
- May 72° 43°
- Jun 84° 51°
- Jul 91° 57°
- Aug 88° 56°
- Sep 77° 47°
- Oct 63° 35°
- Nov 47° 24°
- Dec 32° 13°
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 Vernal each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 10°F. The most precipitation falls in September (1.22 in), the least in November (0.43 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30°F | 10°F | 19.7°F | 0.59 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 30 min |
| February | 38°F | 17°F | 27.3°F | 0.56 | 5 | <1 | 28 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 53°F | 27°F | 40.2°F | 0.72 | 6 | <1 | 26 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 62°F | 34°F | 48.0°F | 0.74 | 7 | <1 | 14 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 72°F | 43°F | 57.5°F | 0.96 | 7 | <1 | 3 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 84°F | 51°F | 67.1°F | 0.50 | 4 | 9 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 91°F | 57°F | 74.0°F | 0.53 | 5 | 20 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 88°F | 56°F | 71.8°F | 0.76 | 6 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 77°F | 47°F | 62.0°F | 1.22 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 63°F | 35°F | 48.8°F | 1.07 | 6 | <1 | 13 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 47°F | 24°F | 35.0°F | 0.43 | 4 | <1 | 27 | 10 h |
| December | 32°F | 13°F | 22.2°F | 0.55 | 6 | <1 | 31 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 61°F | 34°F | 47.8°F | 8.63 | 68 | 42 | 173 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1°C | −12°C | −6.8°C | 15 mm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.6°C | 14 mm |
| March | 12°C | −3°C | 4.6°C | 18 mm |
| April | 17°C | 1°C | 8.9°C | 19 mm |
| May | 22°C | 6°C | 14.2°C | 24 mm |
| June | 29°C | 10°C | 19.5°C | 13 mm |
| July | 33°C | 14°C | 23.3°C | 13 mm |
| August | 31°C | 13°C | 22.1°C | 19 mm |
| September | 25°C | 8°C | 16.7°C | 31 mm |
| October | 17°C | 2°C | 9.3°C | 27 mm |
| November | 8°C | −5°C | 1.7°C | 11 mm |
| December | 0°C | −11°C | −5.4°C | 14 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. Vernal's own co-op station Vernal station does: 20 inches of snow in a normal year (see the other stations below).
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094030; 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 Vernal?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June and September. Of those, June 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 USW00094030.
When is the last frost in Vernal?
In Vernal, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 6 in half of years and after May 25 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 7 in half of years and before September 25 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 61 year in 10 after May 25; 9 in 10 after April 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 71 year in 10 before September 25; 9 in 10 before October 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 153 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 177 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 23 in half of springs and before October 19 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Vernal in zone 5b in ZIP code 84078, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Vernal's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Utah · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00094030; 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 Vernal?
In a normal year in Vernal, 42 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 173 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 68 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 42a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 173a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 48high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 68a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1998) is 104°F, on July 9, 2021; the lowest is −21°F, on January 15, 2007.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2016, with 13.03 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00094030; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00094030. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Vernal?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Vernal, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. September is the sunniest month (86%) and December the cloudiest (71%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.4 |
| February | 74% | 3.3 |
| March | 74% | 4.5 |
| April | 76% | 5.8 |
| May | 79% | 6.8 |
| June | 85% | 7.7 |
| July | 84% | 7.2 |
| August | 84% | 6.4 |
| September | 86% | 5.4 |
| October | 83% | 3.9 |
| November | 78% | 2.6 |
| December | 71% | 2.0 |
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 Vernal need?
A normal year in Vernal brings 6,910 heating degree days, 29% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 670 cooling degree days, 26% 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 2,693 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,406 | 0 |
| February | 1,055 | 0 |
| March | 769 | 0 |
| April | 512 | 0 |
| May | 248 | 15 |
| June | 56 | 119 |
| July | 1 | 281 |
| August | 7 | 216 |
| September | 129 | 39 |
| October | 503 | 0 |
| November | 899 | 0 |
| December | 1,327 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,910 | 670 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00094030. 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 Vernal been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 51.8°F, 4.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 47.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49.0°F | +1.2°F | 9.60 |
| 2022 | 47.9°F | +0.1°F | 5.74 |
| 2023 | 44.6°F | −3.2°F | 3.98 |
| 2024 | 50.9°F | +3.1°F | 4.23 |
| 2025 | 51.8°F | +4.0°F | 4.01 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00094030. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Vernal's climate compare?
Vernal is warmer than 39 of the other 96 places with their own NOAA record in Utah, and wetter than 19. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 47.8°F is warmer than 31%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Vernal 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 Vernal share this climate record?
Naples has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Naples, UT2,492 people · 1 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.
What do Vernal's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Vernal. This page uses Vernal Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernal station USC00429111 | 1 mi S | 5,345 ft | 46.9°F | 10°F | 89°F | 9.1 | 20 | May 7 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Vernal's climate
What is the coldest month in Vernal?
January, with a normal high of 30°F and a normal low of 10°F. The warmest is July (91°F by day, 57°F at night).
Does it snow in Vernal?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Vernal's NOAA station; Vernal's own co-op station Vernal station records 20 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Vernal?
September, with 1.22 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 0.43 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Vernal in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Vernal in zone 5b in ZIP code 84078, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Vernal's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Vernal?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 6; in one year in ten it comes after May 25. Waiting until May 25 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Utah climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Jensen, UT11 miles from this station, 46.0°F a year
- Dinosaur National Monument-Quarry Area, UT11 miles from this station, 49.2°F a year
- Maeser, UT11 miles from this station, 46.6°F a year
- Fort Duchesne, UT21 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made