Climate and average weather in Pendleton

In Pendleton, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early May to early July

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Pendleton typically varies from 29°F to 87°F, and is rarely below 16°F or above 99°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 Pendleton for warm-weather activities are from early May to early July and late August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
87°
Coldest
Dec
29°
Wettest
Dec
2.5 in
Driest
Jul
0.2 in
Rain / yr
17.5 in
93 wet days
Daylight
8.5–15.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,066 ft
45.7°N
Clearest
Jul
23% cloud

Pendleton is city in and seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, United States.

Density
620/km²
people per km²
Founded
1851

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

Pendleton 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 May to early July.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.0 months, from June 17 to September 14, with daily high temperatures above 77°F. The hottest month of the year in Pendleton is July, with an average high of 87°F and low of 59°F.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 14 to March 1, with daily high temperatures below 50°F. The coldest month of the year in Pendleton is December, with an average low of 29°F and high of 41°F.

Days typically run about 20°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 28°F) in July.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4230
Feb4631
Mar5435
Apr6140
May7047
Jun7753
Jul8759
Aug8658
Sep7651
Oct6342
Nov4934
Dec4129

How hot and cold Pendleton 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 22°F (around December 27), with roughly 144 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)
Jan41422430
Feb46462531
Mar54543035
Apr61613640
May70704447
Jun77775353
Jul87875959
Aug86865858
Sep76765051
Oct63633842
Nov49492934
Dec41412329

Average hourly temperature in Pendleton

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 87°F, and coldest before dawn in December, near 29°F.

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

Pendleton 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
Jan42° / 30°2.312.64.38.90.2
Feb46° / 31°1.810.43.210.11.3
Mar54° / 35°2.110.91.411.63.1
Apr61° / 40°1.69.40.513.35.1
May70° / 47°1.57.3014.76.9
Jun77° / 53°0.94.6015.47.8
Jul87° / 59°0.21.1015.16.1
Aug86° / 58°0.31.4013.96.5
Sep76° / 51°0.52.9012.38.3
Oct63° / 42°1.57.60.210.75.8
Nov49° / 34°2.3122.19.31.9
Dec41° / 29°2.51358.60.0

Chance of rain

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

Pendleton gets about 17.5 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.1 months, from around Oct 21 to Apr 25, peaking in November at about 43% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 26.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 2.5 in over about 13 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.2 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 24 · 43%Jul 26 · 3%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4113
Feb3710
Mar3511
Apr319
May247
Jun155
Jul41
Aug51
Sep103
Oct248
Nov4012
Dec4213

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Pendleton collects about 17.5 in of rain across 93 wet days — roughly 1.5 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 2.5 in, while July is the driest at just 0.2 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 41% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.53JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2.31.82.11.61.50.90.20.30.51.52.32.5
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2.3134
Feb1.8103
Mar2.1111
Apr1.691
May1.570
Jun0.950
Jul0.210
Aug0.310
Sep0.530
Oct1.580
Nov2.3122
Dec2.5135

Snow in Pendleton

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.

Pendleton averages about 17 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 27 to Apr 12 — about 5.5 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 5 days of snow and an estimated 7 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 22 in of snow.

02468JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 25
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan46
Feb35
Mar12
Apr10
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov22
Dec57

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Pendleton, 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 31 and lasts for 4.8 months, ending around October 22. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 87% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 23 and lasts for 7.2 months, ending around May 30. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 69% 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 · 89%Dec 14 · 29%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3367
Feb3664
Mar3862
Apr4456
May5149
Jun6634
Jul8713
Aug8614
Sep7525
Oct5842
Nov3862
Dec3169

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 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 7 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.97:394:30
Feb10.17:085:12
Mar11.66:175:53
Apr13.35:176:34
May14.74:307:13
Jun15.44:117:40
Jul15.14:257:36
Aug13.95:016:58
Sep12.35:405:59
Oct10.76:205:01
Nov9.37:034:17
Dec8.67:364:07

Sunny days

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

Pendleton averages about 12 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 24 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Jun 6 to Oct 22. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 22 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 5 sunny days — about 77% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2724 daysJan 94 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May10Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul23Bright
Aug23Bright
Sep18Bright
Oct13Mixed
Nov7Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

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 Pendleton, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in May, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun991
Jul982
Aug982
Sep991
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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 Pendleton is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJun 12 · 7 mphSep 25 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep5calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Pendleton

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid May, Pendleton 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 Pendleton for general outdoor tourist activities run from early May to early July and again from late August to mid October, with a peak score in the third week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 15 · 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
Jan0.2poor
Feb1.3poor
Mar3.1poor
Apr5.1fair
May6.9good
Jun7.7ideal
Jul6.2good
Aug6.5good
Sep8.2ideal
Oct5.8good
Nov1.9poor
Dec0.1poor

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 Pendleton for hot-weather activities is from mid June to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 23 · 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 Pendleton, 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 87°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 41°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Pendleton sees daytime highs around 87°F and nights near 59°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Pendleton 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 Pendleton peaks around July 15 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 14 at about 1 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 8Dec 14UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5High
May8Very high
Jun7Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug6High
Sep5Moderate
Oct4Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Pendleton

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 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
Mar3.50
Apr5.50
May7.54
Jun84
Jul8.55
Aug72.5
Sep50
Oct2.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Pendleton 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 Pendleton is worst in August — around 29 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 4.4× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodAug 1827 µg/m³Dec 237 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb8Good
Mar11Good
Apr11Good
May9Good
Jun9Good
Jul16Moderate
Aug29Moderate
Sep20Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov12Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Pendleton typically lasts about 270 days, from around February 28 to November 24 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 11 to October 19.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2850%Apr 1190%Oct 1990%Nov 2450%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan3931
Feb4628
Mar7131
Apr9210
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9013
Nov6030
Dec3631

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. Pendleton banks about 2,659 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr37
May264
Jun451
Jul720
Aug689
Sep411
Oct87
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.

Pendleton receives about 4.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.3 and 7.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 27 to Sep 25. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.3 kWh/m² — roughly 83% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 107.9 kWhDec 171.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.5Dim
Feb2.5Moderate
Mar3.9Moderate
Apr5.5Bright
May6.6Intense
Jun7.3Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug6.8Intense
Sep5.1Bright
Oct3.1Moderate
Nov1.7Dim
Dec1.3Dim

Where is Pendleton?

Pendleton sits at 45.7°N, 118.8°W, 1,066 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Hermiston, 27 mi away.

Topography around Pendleton

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Pendleton has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 486 ft around an average of 1,250 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,136 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 6,581 ft.

The land around Pendleton is covered by grassland (41%), cropland (27%) and artificial surfaces (22%) within 2 miles, cropland (55%) and grassland (41%) within 10 miles, and grassland (43%), cropland (28%) and trees (27%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
486 ft
10 miles
2,136 ft
50 miles
6,581 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Hermiston 27 mi · Walla Walla 35 mi · Kennewick 41 mi · Pasco 42 mi · Tri-Cities 44 mi · Richland 48 mi · Sunnyside 74 mi · Lewiston 99 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 Pendleton (45.6721°, -118.7886°, elevation 1,066 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).