Waterville, WA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, plus PlainClimate's derived comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Waterville's primary NOAA station, WATERVILLE.
The climate verdict for Waterville
Dryness leads the climate profile for Waterville, Washington, with 11.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 45°F. At 52/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 24% of scores.
- 45°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 52/100
- comfort score, above 24% of station-mapped location scores
- 11.3"
- yearly precipitation total
- 140 days
- frost-free growing season
Waterville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00459012 · Waterville, WA 45°F mean · 11.3" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-ARID · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,372
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Grouse Creek
- PRCP-ARID 11.3"
- SWING-MID 45°F
- COMF-LOW 52/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,533 HDD
- STN-1 USC00459012
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Grouse Creek, UT (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WA station list.
- Waterville (this station) 45°F
- Hot Filion, MI 45°F
- Near Grouse Creek, UT 45°F
- Near Oil City, MI 45°F
- Near Freeville, NY 45°F
Climate Living Index · Waterville
Waterville: 21/100 · grade F
Waterville publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Waterville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 52/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 180 calendar days | 25/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 45.2°F · 22.3° from 67.5°F | 20/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 140 days/year | 18/100 · F |
| Precipitation balance | 11.3 in · 23.8 from 35 in | 16/100 · F |
Waterville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Waterville's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 68.1°F
- Coldest month
- 23.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Waterville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Waterville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 80%
- Among 6,861 stations, Waterville sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 91%
- Waterville's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 57th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Waterville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Waterville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
52 24th percentile score exceeds 24% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Waterville's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 73 complete annual observations from 1890 to 2017, WATERVILLE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.10°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Waterville primary station fitted change +0.10 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31°F (0°C) | 17°F (-8°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 1.5" | 29.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 36°F (2°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 0.9" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
| March | 48°F (9°C) | 26°F (-4°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 0.9" | 23.6 | 0.0 |
| April | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.7" | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| May | 67°F (19°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 1.1" | 2.9 | 0.3 |
| June | 74°F (23°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 1.0" | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.5" | 0.0 | 8.8 |
| August | 83°F (28°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.3" | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| October | 58°F (14°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 0.9" | 10.6 | 0.0 |
| November | 40°F (5°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 1.3" | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 31°F (-1°C) | 16°F (-9°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 2.0" | 29.9 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 86°F around July 26, short of 90°F on every date, while 180 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 15°F near December 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 14, then returns to freezing around October 18, covering 180 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is December 25, when 27% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 9 at 7%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 63 wet dates a year.
The widest day
July 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 32°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Waterville.
Where Waterville Stands Nationally
Aridity defines the water calendar: about 11 inches in a normal year lands this among the driest tenth of ranked stations.
Freezing is routine here by normals standards — the normal low reaches 32°F or colder on about 180 nights a year, more than most ranked stations.
Waterville earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
7.8 days with precipitation
5.6 days with precipitation
6.0 days with precipitation
4.3 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
4.9 days with precipitation
2.6 days with precipitation
2.3 days with precipitation
2.5 days with precipitation
5.5 days with precipitation
7.0 days with precipitation
8.3 days with precipitation
Waterville's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 39% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 15%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows a 44.8°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- December, 2.0"
- Driest month
- September, 0.3"
- Wettest three months
- December, January, November (42% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
Waterville is dry, and what does fall arrives gently
Only about 63 days a year record measurable precipitation here, 17% of the calendar, and they carry 11.3" between them. At roughly 0.18 inches on an average wet day, this is not the damp drizzle of a marine climate; it is an arid record in which precipitation is both uncommon and light when it appears.
The wettest month by count is December at about 8 wet days; the driest is August at about 2.
A low per-event average in a dry record is a statement about typical days only. Arid regions can still take a large share of a year's total from a single convective storm, which a normal cannot show.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, not the extremes within it.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 14
50% probability date
Growing Season
140 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,533
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
353
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside WA closest to Waterville on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (45°F here).
- Albert Lea, MN 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Brillion, WI 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Freeville, NY 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Gann Valley, SD 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (11.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Madera, CA 11.3" · 0.0" off
- Payette, ID 11.3" · 0.0" off
- Northway, AK 11.3" · 0.0" off
- Ordway, CO 11.2" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Waterville's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · mid swing
Waterville's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,533 annual heating degree days against 353 for cooling. Its 44.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 140 days are frost-free in a normal year. That short interval is consistent with the cold-season signal, but the measure does not predict the exact first or last freeze in any one year.
July and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Waterville's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 44.8°F. The annual average is 45°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Waterville's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 11.3 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
Waterville wettest normal
December
December concentrates the scarce annual total (11.3 inches).
Waterville driest normal
September
September is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Waterville's climate
How dry is Waterville? ▼
How cold does Waterville get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Waterville? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Waterville's primary station: WATERVILLE (USC00459012). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 5376510). Match rule for Waterville: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Waterville comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.