Climate and average weather in Spanaway

In Spanaway, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late June to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Spanaway typically varies from 36°F to 74°F, and is rarely below 27°F or above 85°F. August is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Spanaway for warm-weather activities is from late June to mid September.

Hottest
Aug
74°
Coldest
Dec
36°
Wettest
Nov
8.1 in
Driest
Jul
0.7 in
Rain / yr
53.2 in
150 wet days
Daylight
8.3–15.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
381 ft
47.1°N
Clearest
Jul
43% cloud

Spanaway is census designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States.

Density
1,149/km²
people per km²

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

Spanaway 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 late June to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Spanaway, 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 20 to September 18, with daily high temperatures above 68°F. The hottest month of the year in Spanaway is August, with an average high of 74°F and low of 54°F.

The cool season lasts 3.8 months, from November 13 to March 7, with daily high temperatures below 50°F. The coldest month of the year in Spanaway is December, with an average low of 36°F and high of 44°F.

Days typically run about 14°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 20°F) in August.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan4537
Feb4837
Mar5238
Apr5642
May6347
Jun6751
Jul7454
Aug7454
Sep6851
Oct5845
Nov4939
Dec4436

How hot and cold Spanaway 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 31°F (around January 3), with roughly 78 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°30°40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan45453137
Feb48483237
Mar52523438
Apr57563842
May63634447
Jun67675051
Jul74745454
Aug74745454
Sep68685051
Oct58584245
Nov49493539
Dec44443136

Average hourly temperature in Spanaway

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 August afternoons, near 74°F, and coldest before dawn in December, near 36°F.

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

Spanaway 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
Jan45° / 37°7.417.93.88.70.9
Feb48° / 37°5.314.73.1101.4
Mar52° / 38°6.118.12.411.62.1
Apr56° / 42°4.715.80.413.33.3
May63° / 47°3.111.5014.85.2
Jun67° / 51°2.18.5015.66.3
Jul74° / 54°0.73.7015.38.1
Aug74° / 54°1.040148.2
Sep68° / 51°2.37.2012.46.9
Oct58° / 45°5.013.2010.64.1
Nov49° / 39°8.118.11.19.11.7
Dec44° / 36°7.617.33.58.40.7

Chance of rain

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

Spanaway gets about 53.2 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 6.7 months, from around Oct 14 to May 4, peaking in November at about 61% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 29.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 8.1 in over about 18 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.7 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 19 · 61%Jul 29 · 9%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5718
Feb5415
Mar5718
Apr5216
May3712
Jun289
Jul134
Aug134
Sep247
Oct4213
Nov5918
Dec5717

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Spanaway collects about 53.2 in of rain across 150 wet days — roughly 4.4 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 8.1 in, while July is the driest at just 0.7 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec7.45.36.14.73.12.10.71.02.35.08.17.6
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan7.4184
Feb5.3153
Mar6.1182
Apr4.7160
May3.1120
Jun2.190
Jul0.740
Aug1.040
Sep2.370
Oct5.0130
Nov8.1181
Dec7.6174

Snow in Spanaway

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.

Spanaway averages about 14 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 12 to Apr 13 — about 5 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 3 days of snow and an estimated 6 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 22 in of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 26
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan45
Feb35
Mar23
Apr01
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov12
Dec46

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Spanaway, 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 June 16 and lasts for 4.1 months, ending around October 17. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 18 and lasts for 7.9 months, ending around June 15. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 78% 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 31 · 71%Dec 16 · 20%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2377
Feb2872
Mar2575
Apr2773
May3268
Jun3961
Jul6238
Aug6535
Sep5743
Oct3961
Nov2674
Dec2278

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 14, brings about 15 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, only 8 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.77:584:40
Feb10.07:255:24
Mar11.66:326:07
Apr13.35:296:51
May14.84:407:32
Jun15.64:208:00
Jul15.34:357:56
Aug14.05:127:15
Sep12.45:546:14
Oct10.66:365:13
Nov9.17:224:28
Dec8.47:564:15

Sunny days

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

Spanaway averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.8 months, from around Jun 22 to Oct 16. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 14 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 4 sunny days — about 74% fewer than the July peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJul 2917 daysDec 163 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May5Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul15Mixed
Aug15Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct8Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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 Spanaway, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 2% 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
May9820
Jun9280
Jul73252
Aug67312
Sep83171
Oct9730
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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Spanaway is typically calm, near 6 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Oct 21 to Apr 23. The windiest month is November, averaging about 6 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 24 to Oct 20, with September the calmest month at about 5 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeNov 25 · 7 mphSep 5 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Spanaway

In seasonPeak

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

Spanaway's rainy season runs October–April, 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 Spanaway

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early September, Spanaway is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 time of year to visit Spanaway for general outdoor tourist activities is from late June to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 29 · 8.7

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
Jan0.9poor
Feb1.4poor
Mar2.1poor
Apr3.3poor
May5.2fair
Jun6.3good
Jul8.1ideal
Aug8.2ideal
Sep6.9good
Oct4.1fair
Nov1.7poor
Dec0.7poor

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 Spanaway for hot-weather activities is from mid July to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 7.3

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 Spanaway, 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 August (highs near 74°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 44°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Spanaway sees daytime highs around 74°F and nights near 54°F. Worth packing: light clothes and sun protection. About 4 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Spanaway 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 Spanaway peaks around July 17 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 18 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 17UV 8Dec 18UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7Very high
Jun6High
Jul8Very high
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Spanaway

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 4.5 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
Mar30
Apr5.50
May7.53
Jun70.5
Jul8.54.5
Aug71
Sep4.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Spanaway 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 Spanaway is worst in September — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.4× the cleanest month (December, 7 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodGoodModerateGoodSep 1322 µg/m³Dec 177 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar12Moderate
Apr12Good
May11Good
Jun10Good
Jul10Good
Aug18Moderate
Sep22Moderate
Oct12Good
Nov8Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Spanaway is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 16 to November 14 (244 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1690%Nov 1490%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan7731
Feb8028
Mar8914
Apr980
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov8818
Dec7631

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. Spanaway banks about 1,637 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,5002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr8
May144
Jun267
Jul431
Aug443
Sep284
Oct60
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.

Spanaway receives about 3.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.9 and 6.4 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 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.9 kWh/m² — roughly 86% less than the July peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 246.4 kWhDec 170.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.1Dim
Feb2.0Dim
Mar3.0Moderate
Apr4.4Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun5.7Bright
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.6Bright
Sep4.1Bright
Oct2.3Moderate
Nov1.2Dim
Dec0.9Dim

Where is Spanaway?

Spanaway sits at 47.1°N, 122.4°W, 381 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Parkland, 3.7 mi away.

Topography around Spanaway

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Spanaway has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 226 ft around an average of 377 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 974 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 14,403 ft.

The land around Spanaway is covered by trees (62%) within 2 miles, trees (56%) and grassland (23%) within 10 miles, and trees (78%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
226 ft
10 miles
974 ft
50 miles
14,403 ft
treesgrasslandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Parkland 3.7 mi · Frederickson 3.7 mi · Lakewood 6.2 mi · Graham 7.5 mi · South Hill 8.1 mi · Puyallup 8.7 mi · Tacoma 11 mi · University Place 11 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 Spanaway (47.104°, -122.4346°, elevation 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).