Climate
The park has either a Mediterranean climate or a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dsb/Csb) with cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Winters are cold with a January average of 27.2 °F (−2.7 °C) and temperatures below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) occur on 7.8 days per year. Most of the precipitation falls during the winter months with an average precipitation of 20.16 inches (512 mm) and an average snowfall of 112.2 inches (285 cm). Summers are dry with warm daytime temperatures (can exceed 90 °F (32.2 °C) on 5.6 days) and cold nighttime temperatures that often reach below 32 °F (0.0 °C). The average high in the warmest month, July is 81.2 °F (27.3 °C) and the average low is 41.2 °F (5.1 °C) with a mean precipitation of only 0.35 inches (8.89 mm). The record low is −31 °F (−35.0 °C) on December 25, 1965 and the record high is 99 °F (37.2 °C) in July 2002 and August 1981.
| Climate data for Donner Memorial State Park | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 61 (16) |
65 (18) |
72 (22) |
79 (26) |
88 (31) |
95 (35) |
99 (37) |
99 (37) |
96 (36) |
90 (32) |
75 (24) |
67 (19) |
99 (37) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 40.3 (4.6) |
43.2 (6.2) |
47.0 (8.3) |
53.3 (11.8) |
63.2 (17.3) |
72.6 (22.6) |
81.2 (27.3) |
80.5 (26.9) |
74.1 (23.4) |
62.8 (17.1) |
49.2 (9.6) |
40.9 (4.9) |
59.0 (15.0) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 27.2 (−2.7) |
29.4 (−1.4) |
33.6 (0.9) |
39.1 (3.9) |
47.3 (8.5) |
54.7 (12.6) |
61.2 (16.2) |
60.3 (15.7) |
54.3 (12.4) |
45.3 (7.4) |
35.6 (2.0) |
27.9 (−2.3) |
43.0 (6.1) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 14.2 (−9.9) |
15.7 (−9.1) |
20.2 (−6.6) |
25.0 (−3.9) |
31.4 (−0.3) |
36.9 (2.7) |
41.2 (5.1) |
40.1 (4.5) |
34.6 (1.4) |
27.8 (−2.3) |
22.1 (−5.5) |
15.2 (−9.3) |
27.0 (−2.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −18 (−28) |
−28 (−33) |
−10 (−23) |
0 (−18) |
10 (−12) |
21 (−6) |
23 (−5) |
20 (−7) |
16 (−9) |
4 (−16) |
−3 (−19) |
−31 (−35) |
−31 (−35) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 7.13 (181.1) |
6.19 (157.2) |
5.73 (145.5) |
2.69 (68.3) |
1.61 (40.9) |
0.85 (21.6) |
0.35 (8.9) |
0.50 (12.7) |
0.80 (20.3) |
2.05 (52.1) |
4.56 (115.8) |
6.83 (173.5) |
39.28 (997.7) |
| Snowfall inches (cm) | 39.9 (101.3) |
38.9 (98.8) |
35.8 (90.9) |
17.6 (44.7) |
3.7 (9.4) |
0.3 (0.8) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.2 (0.5) |
2.0 (5.1) |
14.2 (36.1) |
33.4 (84.8) |
186.0 (472.4) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 11 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 77 |
| Source: Western Regional Climate Center (normals and extremes 1893-present) | |||||||||||||
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