Winchester, ID Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Winchester's primary NOAA station, WINCHESTER.
The climate verdict for Winchester
Winchester, Idaho has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 45°F. At 44/100 (moderate) the climate comfort score falls in the bottom third of the station-mapped U.S. score corpus, exceeding only 10% of scores.
- 45°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 44/100
- comfort score, above 10% of station-mapped location scores
- 21.8"
- annual precipitation · 87" snow
- 125 days
- frost-free growing season
Winchester: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00109846 · Winchester, ID 45°F mean · 21.8" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-MID · COMF-LOW · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 45°F
- RANK-COOL #1,166
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Priest Rvr
- PRCP-DRY 21.8"
- SWING-MID 35°F
- COMF-LOW 44/100
- LOAD-HEAT 7,552 HDD
- STN-1 USC00109846
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Priest Rvr Exp Stn, ID (+ 0.1 °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 ID station list.
- Winchester (this station) 45°F
- Cold Loa, UT 45°F
- Hot El Vado Dam, NM 45°F
- Near Priest Rvr, ID 45°F
- Near Buena Vista, CO 45°F
Climate Living Index · Winchester
Winchester: 25/100 · grade F
Winchester publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Winchester, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 44/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 21.8 in · 13.2 from 35 in | 54/100 · D |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 172 calendar days | 31/100 · F |
| Annual temperature balance | 44.6°F · 22.9° from 67.5°F | 18/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 125 days/year | 9/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 86.5 inches/year | 4/100 · F |
Winchester · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Winchester is a continental Köppen climate: Dsb
Coldest-month mean 28.6°F and warmest-month mean 63.8°F place this station in continental, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Dsb). Class Dsb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dsb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 63.8°F
- Coldest month
- 28.6°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 Winchester sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Winchester's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Cooler than 83%
- Among 6,861 stations, Winchester sits in the cooler third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 70%
- Winchester's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 82%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Winchester is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Winchester compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Winchester's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
44 10th percentile score exceeds 10% 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%). This entry sits in this band.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Above this entry.
- 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
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37°F (3°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 1.8" | 17.9" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 39°F (4°C) | 23°F (-5°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 1.6" | 13.1" | 25.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.3" | 15.8" | 25.5 | 0.0 |
| April | 52°F (11°C) | 32°F (0°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 2.7" | 9.1" | 18.5 | 0.0 |
| May | 60°F (16°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 2.8" | 1.6" | 7.2 | 0.0 |
| June | 67°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.4" | 0.3" | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| July | 78°F (26°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.8" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| August | 79°F (26°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.7" | 0.0" | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| September | 70°F (21°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.1" | 0.0" | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| October | 56°F (13°C) | 35°F (1°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.8" | 1.1" | 12.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 43°F (6°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 2.1" | 13.1" | 22.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 35°F (2°C) | 22°F (-5°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 1.8" | 14.5" | 28.2 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 81°F around July 30, short of 90°F on every date, while 172 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 22°F near December 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 16, then returns to freezing around October 28, covering 172 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 April 7, when 54% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 9 at 17%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 144 wet dates a year.
The widest day
August 4 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 31°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Winchester.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 17.9"
14.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.1"
13.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 15.8"
15.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 9.1"
16.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.6"
14.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.3"
11.4 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
5.4 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.1"
11.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 13.1"
14.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 14.5"
14.8 days with precipitation
Winchester spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 18% of the annual total and December through February 23%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Winchester has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 35.2°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 2.8" and August 0.7". The three wettest months together take 36% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Rain reaches Winchester in small, frequent amounts
Winchester records about 143 days with measurable precipitation a year and 21.8" in total, which works out to roughly 0.15 inches on an average wet day. Precipitation on 39% of all days, arriving that lightly, is the damp many-grey-days pattern rather than the storm-driven one.
Places in this band read as wetter than their annual totals suggest, because what people notice is the number of overcast days, not the depth in the gauge.
- Most wet days: April, about 16 of them.
- Fewest: August, about 5.
- Average depth per wet day: 0.15 inches.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Winchester
Winchester averages 86.5 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 54 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 86.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 54 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 40% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
September 25
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 23
50% probability date
Growing Season
125 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
7,552
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
140
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside ID closest to Winchester 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).
- Bath, ME 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Corning, NY 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Darby, MT 45°F · 0.0°F off
- Great Falls, MT 45°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (21.8" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Snyder, TX 21.8" · 0.0" off
- Oberlin, KS 21.8" · 0.0" off
- Coupeville, WA 21.7" · 0.0" off
- Grand Forks, ND 21.7" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Winchester
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Winchester's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 7,552 annual heating degree days against 140 for cooling. Its 35.2°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Only about 125 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.
-
1. Winchester coldest normal
December
The monthly mean of 29°F (-2°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Winchester typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Winchester snow peak
January
Winchester averages 86.5 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Winchester's climate
How much snow does Winchester get? ▼
How cold does Winchester get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Winchester? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Winchester's primary station: WINCHESTER (USC00109846). 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 1687850). Match rule for Winchester: 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 Winchester 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.