Climate and average weather in Spokane

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

Best: late May to late July

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Spokane typically varies from 25°F to 84°F, and is rarely below 7°F or above 96°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 Spokane for warm-weather activities are from late May to late July and mid August to early October.

Hottest
Jul
84°
Coldest
Dec
25°
Wettest
Dec
3.1 in
Driest
Aug
0.5 in
Rain / yr
21.7 in
100 wet days
Daylight
8.2–15.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,873 ft
47.7°N
Clearest
Jul
29% cloud

Spokane is city in and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States.

Density
1,275/km²
people per km²
Founded
1871

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

Spokane 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 May to late July.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Spokane, 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 15, with daily high temperatures above 73°F. The hottest month of the year in Spokane is July, with an average high of 84°F and low of 58°F.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 14 to March 3, with daily high temperatures below 44°F. The coldest month of the year in Spokane is December, with an average low of 25°F and high of 35°F.

Days typically run about 18°F warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 26°F) in August.

20°40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan3525
Feb4027
Mar4832
Apr5738
May6746
Jun7452
Jul8458
Aug8357
Sep7349
Oct5839
Nov4331
Dec3525

How hot and cold Spokane 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 17°F (around January 4), with roughly 172 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 32°F), worst in January.

20°40°60°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan35351825
Feb40402027
Mar48482632
Apr57573338
May67674346
Jun74745152
Jul84845858
Aug83835757
Sep73734849
Oct58583539
Nov43432531
Dec34351825

Average hourly temperature in Spokane

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 25°F.

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

Spokane 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
Jan35° / 25°2.712.78.28.70.0
Feb40° / 27°1.99.95.79.90.0
Mar48° / 32°2.5123.611.61.7
Apr57° / 38°2.09.80.713.34.0
May67° / 46°1.88014.96.4
Jun74° / 52°1.36015.77.4
Jul84° / 58°0.52.7015.46.9
Aug83° / 57°0.52.3014.17.2
Sep73° / 49°0.84.20.112.47.9
Oct58° / 39°1.87.90.310.64.6
Nov43° / 31°2.912.64.59.10.6
Dec35° / 25°3.112.38.58.30.0

Chance of rain

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

Spokane gets about 21.7 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 44% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 5.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 3.1 in over about 12 wet days; August is the driest, with 0.5 in. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 21 · 44%Aug 5 · 6%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4013
Feb3610
Mar3812
Apr3210
May268
Jun206
Jul93
Aug72
Sep144
Oct258
Nov4113
Dec4012

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Spokane collects about 21.7 in of rain across 100 wet days — roughly 1.8 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 3.1 in, while August is the driest at just 0.5 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 40% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

00.511.522.533.54JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2.71.92.52.01.81.30.50.50.81.82.93.1
Rainfall (in)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2.7138
Feb1.9106
Mar2.5124
Apr2.0101
May1.880
Jun1.360
Jul0.530
Aug0.520
Sep0.840
Oct1.880
Nov2.9135
Dec3.1129

Snow in Spokane

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.

Spokane averages about 32 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 21 to Apr 15 — about 5.8 months.

December is snowiest, with roughly 8 days of snow and an estimated 16 in of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 55 in of snow.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonDec 29
Snow daysSnowfall (in)
Jan816
Feb69
Mar44
Apr11
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov59
Dec916

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Spokane, 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 7 and lasts for 4.5 months, ending around October 20. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 21 and lasts for 6.3 months, ending around May 1. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 73% 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 28 · 87%Dec 18 · 25%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2773
Feb3565
Mar3466
Apr3961
May4654
Jun5446
Jul8119
Aug8119
Sep6733
Oct5050
Nov3268
Dec2773

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 16, brings about 15 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 8 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.77:404:18
Feb9.97:065:02
Mar11.66:125:47
Apr13.35:086:31
May14.94:197:13
Jun15.73:577:43
Jul15.44:137:38
Aug14.14:516:57
Sep12.45:345:54
Oct10.66:174:52
Nov9.17:044:06
Dec8.37:393:53

Sunny days

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

Spokane averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.2 months, from around Jun 19 to Oct 23. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 20 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is December, down near 5 sunny days — about 76% fewer than the July peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2822 daysDec 184 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr6Gloomy
May9Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul20Bright
Aug20Bright
Sep15Bright
Oct11Mixed
Nov6Gloomy
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 Spokane, 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
Jul964
Aug973
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 Spokane is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeMar 27 · 7 mphJan 21 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit Spokane

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 6 · 8.2

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.1poor
Mar1.7poor
Apr4.1fair
May6.4good
Jun7.4good
Jul6.9good
Aug7.2good
Sep7.8ideal
Oct4.6fair
Nov0.7poor
Dec0.0poor

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 11 · 8.7

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 Spokane, 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 35°F), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Spokane sees daytime highs around 84°F and nights near 58°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Spokane 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 Spokane peaks around July 17 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 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 17UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7High
Jun6High
Jul9Very high
Aug6High
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Spokane

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
Mar30
Apr5.50
May7.53
Jun7.51.5
Jul8.55
Aug72
Sep50
Oct0.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Spokane 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 Spokane is worst in August — around 69 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 11.3× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

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

020406080JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateUnhealthyModerateGoodAug 1663 µg/m³Dec 216 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb8Good
Mar10Good
Apr11Good
May12Moderate
Jun10Good
Jul24Moderate
Aug69Unhealthy
Sep21Moderate
Oct16Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Spokane typically lasts about 241 days, from around March 16 to November 11 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 21 to October 15.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 1650%Apr 2190%Oct 1590%Nov 1150%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan2231
Feb2628
Mar5031
Apr8521
May980
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct8516
Nov4430
Dec2231

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. Spokane banks about 2,245 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
Apr5
May198
Jun384
Jul653
Aug631
Sep338
Oct36
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.

Spokane receives about 4.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.1 and 7.6 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 27 to Sep 24. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.5 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.1 kWh/m² — roughly 85% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 117.6 kWhDec 171.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.3Dim
Feb2.3Moderate
Mar3.6Moderate
Apr5.3Bright
May6.5Intense
Jun7.0Intense
Jul7.6Intense
Aug6.5Intense
Sep4.8Bright
Oct2.8Moderate
Nov1.5Dim
Dec1.1Dim

Where is Spokane?

Spokane sits at 47.7°N, 117.4°W, 1,873 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Opportunity, 8.7 mi away.

What Spokane looks like

Topography around Spokane

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Spokane has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 643 ft around an average of 1,939 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,139 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,610 ft.

The land around Spokane is covered by artificial surfaces (50%) and trees (41%) within 2 miles, trees (40%) and grassland (34%) within 10 miles, and trees (45%), grassland (26%) and cropland (25%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
643 ft
10 miles
2,139 ft
50 miles
4,610 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Opportunity 8.7 mi · Spokane Valley 8.7 mi · Post Falls 22 mi · Coeur d'Alene 30 mi · Pullman 65 mi · Moscow 67 mi · Lewiston 88 mi · Lewiston Orchards 91 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 Spokane (47.6597°, -117.4291°, elevation 1,873 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).