California

Bass Lake, California Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 normals for N Fk RS, 11.4 km from Bass Lake

The warmest month is July, with an average high of 95°F; the coldest is January, with an average low of 32°F. A normal year brings 33.0 in of precipitation and 2.5 in of snow.

Temperature through the year

The normal daily high and low and the record for every date at Madera (MAE), since 1998. The line marks today.

Normal daily high and low temperature at Bass Lake through the year, in °F, with the record for each date.020406080100120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Normal low
  • Normal high
  • Record high
  • Record low

Normals for Sep 25

Normal high
87°F
Normal low
50°F
Record high
100°Fin 2015
Record low
46°Fin 2005
Daylight
12 h 01 min

Month by month

Averages for 1991-2020. Wet days have at least 0.01 inch of precipitation. Freeze nights have a low of 32°F or colder; degree days are on a 65°F base. Each month links to its own page.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRecord highRecord lowPrecipitationWet daysSnowfallFreeze nightsHeating DDCooling DD
January57°F32°F78°F (2024)20°F (2007)7.08 in0.2 in21.56480
February59°F32°F82°F (2020)24°F (2020)6.36 in0.6 in15.65450
March63°F35°F91°F (2015)29°F (2009)5.22 in1.4 in11.34980
April67°F38°F98°F (2009)31°F (1999)2.40 in0.0 in8.13762
May77°F45°F106°F (2009)37°F (2022)1.42 in0.0 in1.317543
June87°F51°F109°F (2021)44°F (2011)0.44 in0.0 in0.042160
July95°F58°F112°F (2021)51°F (2000)0.14 in0.0 in0.02360
August95°F58°F111°F (2024)49°F (1999)0.07 in0.0 in0.02344
September90°F52°F115°F (2022)43°F (2013)0.20 in0.0 in0.024198
October78°F44°F105°F (2024)33°F (2008)1.68 in0.0 in1.217543
November65°F37°F90°F (2010)24°F (2003)2.71 in0.0 in8.44271
December58°F34°F76°F (2006)19°F (1998)5.24 in0.3 in21.15920
Year74°F43°F32.96 in2.5 in893,5041,150

Precipitation

Rain and melted snow together. The chance of a wet day is the share of days with at least 0.01 inch of precipitation.

33.0 in in a normal year, most in January.

Chance of a wet day

The chance of at least 0.01 inch of precipitation on each date at Bass Lake, in percent, and of at least 0.1 inch of snowfall.00.20.40.60.81JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Chance of a wet day
  • Chance of snowfall

Snow

NOAA 1991-2020 snowfall normals for Coarsegold 1 Sw, 14.9 km away; N Fk RS keeps no snowfall normals.

2.5 in of snow in a normal year.

Frost and the growing season

NOAA's 1991-2020 freeze probabilities for N Fk RS. A median date has an even chance of a later freeze in spring, or an earlier one in fall.

The last spring freeze typically comes around April 24 and the first fall freeze around November 4, a growing season of about 192 days.

Median at 36°F
last May 13, first October 20
Median at 32°F
last April 24, first November 4
Median at 28°F
last April 5, first November 20

Frost dates, growing season and degree days

Plant hardiness zone

2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map GIS data (USDA-ARS and Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group), at the town’s center on the map’s 800 m grid. Zones are 10°F apart, half zones 5°F.

Bass Lake is in USDA zone 9a 9a: the coldest night of the winter averages 20°F, within zone 9a’s 20 to 25°F.

Zone
9a
Average coldest night
20°F1991-2020
Range of the half zone
20 to 25°F-6.7 to -3.9°C

Every town’s zone in California Zone map

Growing degree days this year

Observed: NOAA GHCN-Daily highs and lows at Madera (MAE) (USW00093242), through September 22, 2026; GHCN trails the calendar by a day or more. Normal: NOAA’s 1991-2020 daily normals at the same station, NCEI’s own for base 50°F and the corn method, and for bases 41°F and 32°F computed here from NCEI’s daily mean and its standard deviation (Thom’s method).

Since January 1, Bass Lake has gathered 4,605 growing degree days on a 50°F base, 248 more than normal by September 22, 2026: about 12 days ahead of the normal season.

Growing degree days since January 1 at Bass Lake, base 50°F, against normal.0200040006000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • 2026, observed
  • Normal
BaseSince Jan 1Normal to dateDepartureNormal year
Base 50°F4,6054,356+248 (+6%)5,176
Corn, 86/504,3784,117+261 (+6%)5,123
Base 41°F6,8926,595+296 (+4%)8,186
Base 32°F9,2778,973+304 (+3%)11,461

Base 50°F: The common base for warm-season crops, turf and most insect models; USA-NPN’s pest forecasts use it. Corn, 86/50: Modified growing degree days for corn: highs above 86°F count as 86 and lows below 50°F as 50 (Barger 1969; Purdue Extension). Base 41°F: 5°C, the base used for cool-season crops such as alfalfa and canola. Base 32°F: 0°C, the base USA-NPN uses for its accumulated temperature maps and for its hemlock woolly adelgid forecast. A day adds its mean temperature, (high + low) / 2, above the base; the corn method first holds the high and low between 50°F and 86°F. Corn typically needs 100 to 120 of those units from planting to emergence (Purdue Extension). The station missed 15 days this year; they are counted at normal.

With the forecast added Degree day map

Humidity and comfort

NASA POWER reanalysis, 1991-2020, for the grid cell around Bass Lake.

Days with a mean dew point of 65°F or more are rare here in every month.

MonthDew pointHumidityDryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable
January20°F74%100%0%0%0%0%0%
February22°F79%100%0%0%0%0%0%
March25°F78%100%0%0%0%0%0%
April28°F71%100%0%0%0%0%0%
May32°F62%100%0%0%0%0%0%
June33°F47%100%0%0%0%0%0%
July35°F37%100%0%0%0%0%0%
August31°F34%100%0%0%0%0%0%
September28°F38%100%0%0%0%0%0%
October23°F45%100%0%0%0%0%0%
November21°F58%100%0%0%0%0%0%
December19°F71%100%0%0%0%0%0%

Comfort is judged by the day's mean dew point: dry below 55°F, comfortable to 60°F, humid to 65°F, muggy to 70°F, oppressive to 75°F, miserable above.

Clouds

Average share of the sky covered, from satellite (CERES and GEWEX SRB) by way of NASA POWER, 1991-2020.

The clearest month is August, with the sky 19 percent covered on average; the cloudiest is February, at 57 percent.

Wind

The mean wind speed over the whole day, from the MERRA-2 reanalysis by way of NASA POWER. Gusts run well above it.

The windiest month is January, averaging 5.1 mph at 10 meters (33 feet) above the ground.

Daylight and sunshine

The longest day is Jun 22, with 14 h 45 min of daylight; the shortest is Dec 19, with 9 h 35 min.

Hours of daylight at Bass Lake through the year.0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Day length

Solar energy

Average daily sunshine reaching the ground on a flat surface, in kilowatt-hours per square meter, clouds included.

Sunrise and sunset calendar

How Madera County is running

NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, from the nClimGrid analysis of every station, updated early each month. A rank of 1 is the highest or lowest of all years since 1895.

August 2026 in Madera County: 77.3°F (+4.0 °F against 1991-2020), the warmest in 132 years on record.

August 2026 in Madera County: 0.16 in (+0.07 in against 1991-2020), the 36th wettest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Madera County: 61.4°F (+3.6 °F against 1991-2020), the warmest in 132 years on record.

January to August 2026 in Madera County: 10.75 in (-4.57 in against 1991-2020), the 34th driest in 132 years on record.

Warmest August
77.3°F in 2026
Coolest August
66.6°F in 1976
Wettest August
0.58 in in 1920
Driest August
0.00 in in 1903

Every year since 1895

Each year's average temperature in Madera County against the 1991-2020 average, in °F, 1895 to 2025.-4-20+2+41900192019401960198020002020NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance

California climate and rankings

Month pages

The weather in Bass Lake in each month, day by day.

What this means

A normal is the average of the thirty years 1991 to 2020, the period the World Meteorological Organization and NOAA use for comparison. It is an average, not a forecast: most days depart from it, and some by a long way.

A record is the highest or lowest value on the date in every year the station has reported, back to 1998. It rests on one station, so a neighbor a few miles away can hold different ones.

Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine come from a reanalysis: a weather model run over the past with every observation fed in, averaged over a grid cell about 50 km across. It is consistent everywhere on Earth; it smooths local detail such as a lake shore or a valley.

More for this place

Nearby

Sources

Normals: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020, station USC00046252 (N Fk RS), public domain. Records: NOAA GHCN-Daily, station USW00093242, every year on file, quality-flagged values removed. Cloud, humidity, wind and sunshine: NASA POWER (MERRA-2, CERES and GEWEX SRB), 1991-2020. The data was obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project funded through the NASA Earth Science Division: POWER Daily API v2, accessed 2026-09-24. Sun and moon: computed with the NOAA solar equations and Meeus. Rankings: NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, public domain.