Wasco, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Wasco's normal year runs from 38°F December nights to 100°F July afternoons, with 7.1 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.2 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 18.9°C, December lows of 3°C, July highs of 38°C, 181 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWasco
- Station IDUSC00049452
- Location35.59°N 119.35°W
- Elevation291 ft (89 m)
- Population27,409
On October 23, the normal high in Wasco is 79°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 6%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Wasco.
- Jan 59° 39°
- Feb 65° 42°
- Mar 71° 46°
- Apr 77° 50°
- May 86° 57°
- Jun 94° 63°
- Jul 100° 69°
- Aug 99° 66°
- Sep 94° 62°
- Oct 82° 53°
- Nov 69° 44°
- Dec 59° 38°
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 Wasco each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 100°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 38°F. The most precipitation falls in March (1.37 in), the least in July (0.01 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 39°F | 48.8°F | 1.29 | 7 | <1 | 8 | 10 h |
| February | 65°F | 42°F | 53.5°F | 1.16 | 6 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 71°F | 46°F | 58.8°F | 1.37 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 77°F | 50°F | 63.7°F | 0.63 | 3 | 3 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 86°F | 57°F | 71.6°F | 0.27 | 1 | 12 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 94°F | 63°F | 78.6°F | 0.13 | <1 | 22 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 100°F | 69°F | 84.4°F | 0.01 | <1 | 30 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 99°F | 66°F | 82.6°F | 0.02 | <1 | 30 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 94°F | 62°F | 77.6°F | 0.03 | <1 | 22 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 82°F | 53°F | 67.8°F | 0.51 | 2 | 6 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 69°F | 44°F | 56.1°F | 0.58 | 3 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 59°F | 38°F | 48.2°F | 1.11 | 5 | <1 | 11 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 80°F | 53°F | 66.0°F | 7.11 | 34 | 126 | 25 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 4°C | 9.3°C | 33 mm |
| February | 18°C | 6°C | 11.9°C | 29 mm |
| March | 22°C | 8°C | 14.9°C | 35 mm |
| April | 25°C | 10°C | 17.6°C | 16 mm |
| May | 30°C | 14°C | 22.0°C | 7 mm |
| June | 34°C | 17°C | 25.9°C | 3 mm |
| July | 38°C | 20°C | 29.1°C | 0 mm |
| August | 37°C | 19°C | 28.1°C | 1 mm |
| September | 34°C | 17°C | 25.3°C | 1 mm |
| October | 28°C | 12°C | 19.9°C | 13 mm |
| November | 20°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 15 mm |
| December | 15°C | 3°C | 9.0°C | 28 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00049452; 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 Wasco?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October and November. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USC00049452.
When is the last frost in Wasco?
In Wasco, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 31 in half of years and after February 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 5 in half of years and before November 21 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
- January 311 year in 10 after February 27; 9 in 10 after January 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 51 year in 10 before November 21; 9 in 10 before January 2
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 315 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 352 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 4 in half of springs and before December 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Wasco in zone 9a in ZIP code 93280, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Wasco's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (16 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 USC00049452; 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 Wasco?
In a normal year in Wasco, 126 days a year reach 90°F (50 of them 100°F or more), 25 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 34 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 126a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 50a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 25a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 34a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1901) is 116°F, on July 19, 1910; the lowest is 12°F, on January 12, 1921.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1978, with 14.23 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 3.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00049452; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00049452. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Wasco?
Over a year 91% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Wasco, 5.6 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (98%) and January the cloudiest (74%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.7 |
| February | 81% | 3.8 |
| March | 85% | 5.2 |
| April | 88% | 6.6 |
| May | 93% | 7.8 |
| June | 97% | 8.5 |
| July | 97% | 8.1 |
| August | 98% | 7.5 |
| September | 97% | 6.3 |
| October | 92% | 4.7 |
| November | 85% | 3.3 |
| December | 77% | 2.5 |
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 Wasco need?
A normal year in Wasco brings 1,995 heating degree days, 63% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,378 cooling degree days, 2.6 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,093 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 501 | 0 |
| February | 321 | 1 |
| March | 205 | 11 |
| April | 104 | 65 |
| May | 21 | 227 |
| June | 2 | 410 |
| July | 0 | 601 |
| August | 0 | 546 |
| September | 1 | 381 |
| October | 46 | 131 |
| November | 273 | 6 |
| December | 522 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 1,995 | 2,378 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00049452. 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 Wasco been warmer than normal lately?
Over 42 complete years from 1900 to 2018, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.4°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Wasco's climate compare?
Wasco is warmer than 195 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 26. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 66.0°F is warmer than 90%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Wasco is BWh: hot 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 Wasco share this climate record?
Lost Hills 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.
- Lost Hills, CA1,861 people · 19 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 Wasco's climate
What is the coldest month in Wasco?
December, with a normal high of 59°F and a normal low of 38°F. The warmest is July (100°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Wasco?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.2 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Wasco?
March, with 1.37 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Wasco in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Wasco in zone 9a in ZIP code 93280, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Wasco's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 25°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Wasco?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 31; in one year in ten it comes after February 27. Waiting until February 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Delano, CA14 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Shafter, CA14 miles from this station, 62.9°F a year
- Buttonwillow, CA14 miles from this station, 64.5°F a year
- Bakersfield, CA20 miles from this station, 66.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made