Climate and average weather in Medford

In Medford, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early August to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Medford typically varies from 31°F to 84°F, and is rarely below 24°F or above 94°F. July is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Medford for warm-weather activities are from late May to late July and early August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
84°
Coldest
Dec
31°
Wettest
Dec
6.1 in
Driest
Jul
0.5 in
Rain / yr
37.1 in
115 wet days
Daylight
8.9–15.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,381 ft
42.3°N
Clearest
Aug
21% cloud

Medford is city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, United States.

Density
1,196/km²
people per km²
Founded
1884

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Medford weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early August to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Medford, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.1 months, from June 20 to September 22, with daily high temperatures above 76°F. The hottest month of the year in Medford is July, with an average high of 84°F and low of 56°F.

The cool season lasts 3.7 months, from November 14 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 53°F. The coldest month of the year in Medford is December, with an average low of 31°F and high of 45°F.

Days typically run about 22°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 29°F) in August.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4732
Feb5033
Mar5535
Apr5938
May6744
Jun7449
Jul8456
Aug8455
Sep7749
Oct6642
Nov5236
Dec4531

How hot and cold Medford really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about 26°F (around December 24), with roughly 115 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in December.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan47472832
Feb50502933
Mar54553235
Apr59593538
May67674244
Jun74744849
Jul84845656
Aug84845555
Sep77774849
Oct66664042
Nov52523336
Dec45452731

Average hourly temperature in Medford

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 84°F, and coldest before dawn in December, near 31°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Medford weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan47° / 32°5.013.85.79.31.4
Feb50° / 33°4.012.75.710.32.1
Mar55° / 35°4.815.15.411.63.0
Apr59° / 38°3.913.93.213.14.2
May67° / 44°3.110.30.314.46.2
Jun74° / 49°1.65.70157.8
Jul84° / 56°0.52.5014.87.2
Aug84° / 55°0.62.6013.77.3
Sep77° / 49°0.93.5012.38.4
Oct66° / 42°2.37.30.110.86.6
Nov52° / 36°4.312.82.99.62.7
Dec45° / 31°6.114.87.290.9

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Medford gets about 37.1 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.8 months, from around Oct 30 to May 25, peaking in March at about 50% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 19.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 6.1 in over about 15 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.5 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetMar 26 · 50%Aug 19 · 7%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4514
Feb4513
Mar4815
Apr4614
May3310
Jun186
Jul93
Aug83
Sep124
Oct237
Nov4213
Dec4815

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Medford collects about 37.1 in of rain across 115 wet days — roughly 3.1 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 6.1 in, while July is the driest at just 0.5 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec5.04.04.83.93.11.60.50.60.92.34.36.1
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan5.0146
Feb4.0136
Mar4.8155
Apr3.9143
May3.1100
Jun1.660
Jul0.530
Aug0.630
Sep0.940
Oct2.370
Nov4.3133
Dec6.1157

Snow in Medford

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Medford averages about 31 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 25 to May 6 — about 6.4 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 13 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 52 in of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 19
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan611
Feb612
Mar58
Apr34
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov34
Dec713

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Medford, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 29 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around October 27. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 89% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 28 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around May 28. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 68% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 26 · 90%Dec 12 · 30%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3466
Feb3268
Mar3367
Apr3664
May4951
Jun6733
Jul8713
Aug8911
Sep8020
Oct6139
Nov3763
Dec3268

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 13, brings about 15 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 8 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.37:444:58
Feb10.37:175:35
Mar11.66:326:11
Apr13.15:376:46
May14.44:567:20
Jun15.04:397:44
Jul14.84:537:41
Aug13.75:247:08
Sep12.35:576:14
Oct10.86:325:21
Nov9.67:104:43
Dec9.07:404:35

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Medford averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.7 months, from around Jun 3 to Oct 24. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 23 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is April, down near 7 sunny days — about 72% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2825 daysApr 65 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr6Gloomy
May10Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug24Brilliant
Sep20Bright
Oct14Mixed
Nov7Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Medford, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9910
Jun9550
Jul9191
Aug9371
Sep9730
Oct10000
Nov10000
Dec10000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Medford is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeDec 21 · 4 mphOct 5 · 3 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb4calm
Mar3calm
Apr3calm
May4calm
Jun4calm
Jul4calm
Aug4calm
Sep3calm
Oct3calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Hazard calendar for Medford

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Medford's rainy season runs November–May, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Medford

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Medford throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid August, Medford is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Medford for general outdoor tourist activities run from late May to late July and again from early August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 19 · 8.4

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan1.4poor
Feb2.1poor
Mar3.0poor
Apr4.2fair
May6.2good
Jun7.7ideal
Jul7.2good
Aug7.3good
Sep8.3ideal
Oct6.5good
Nov2.7poor
Dec1.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Medford for hot-weather activities is from late June to late September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 15 · 8.9

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Medford, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 84°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 45°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Medford sees daytime highs around 84°F and nights near 56°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Medford by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Medford peaks around July 11 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 11UV 9Dec 15UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May9Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug7Very high
Sep5High
Oct5Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Medford

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar4.50
Apr6.50.5
May85
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.53.5
Sep5.50
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Medford by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Medford is worst in September — around 110 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 25.0× the cleanest month (January, 4 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0306090120JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateUnhealthyGoodSep 11106 µg/m³Jan 175 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan4Good
Feb6Good
Mar7Good
Apr8Good
May7Good
Jun7Good
Jul24Moderate
Aug89Unhealthy
Sep110Unhealthy
Oct8Good
Nov11Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Medford typically lasts about 330 days, from around January 12 to December 7 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 27.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonJan 1250%Apr 2390%Oct 2790%Dec 750%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan5031
Feb5628
Mar7031
Apr8522
May980
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct965
Nov7230
Dec4631

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Medford banks about 2,247 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,5002,0002,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr9
May169
Jun353
Jul610
Aug596
Sep395
Oct116
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Medford receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.5 and 7.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Apr 1 to Sep 28. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.5 kWh/m² — roughly 80% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 87.9 kWhDec 141.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.8Dim
Feb2.7Moderate
Mar4.0Moderate
Apr5.3Bright
May6.5Intense
Jun7.5Intense
Jul7.9Intense
Aug7.0Intense
Sep5.5Bright
Oct3.5Moderate
Nov2.0Dim
Dec1.5Dim

Where is Medford?

Medford sits at 42.3°N, 122.9°W, 1,381 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Central Point, 3.7 mi away.

Topography around Medford

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Medford.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Medford has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 292 ft around an average of 1,401 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,078 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 8,825 ft.

The land around Medford is covered by artificial surfaces (54%) and trees (23%) within 2 miles, trees (52%) and grassland (34%) within 10 miles, and trees (84%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
292 ft
10 miles
4,078 ft
50 miles
8,825 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Central Point 3.7 mi · Ashland 12 mi · Grants Pass 24 mi · Klamath Falls 57 mi · Altamont 59 mi · Roseburg 66 mi · Coos Bay 99 mi · McKinleyville 114 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Medford (42.3265°, -122.8756°, elevation 1,381 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).