Whiskeytown offers a wide variety of outdoor recreation opportunities. During summer and fall, ozone and smoke can degrade the air quality, reducing visibility and posing a health concern, especially for sensitive people. Visit the resources below for current air quality information and smoke impacts in Whiskeytown
A Whiskeytown National Recreation Area natural resource manager at the park's official weather station. Park staff make daily recordings and then relay this information to the Bureau of Reclamation and National Weather Service. NPS Photo
Average Monthly Temperatures & Precipitation
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average high temperature (F)
54
58
63
69
78
87
97
96
90
77
61
53
Average low temperature (F)
38
40
43
47
54
61
66
64
60
52
43
38
Average precipitation (in)
10.61"
9.94"
9.12"
4.10"
2.44"
1.07"
0.44"
0.27"
1.00"
3.23"
7.84"
10.14"
* Weather/Climate data recorded at Park Headquarters.
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is like a desert in summer and a rainforest in winter - you can expect summers to be hot and dry and winters to be cool and wet. Park headquarters receives an average 60 inches of rain per year; that's 14 more inches than Eureka and almost double the amount of annual precipitation that Redding gets, even though Redding is just a few miles down the hill from the park!
Additional Information on Whiskeytown's Weather
Climate change is making the national recreation area hotter.
Winter precipitation is highly variable from year to year. For instance, it is not uncommon for the park to ping pong back and forth between dry winters and wet winters.
The wettest year on record at Whiskeytown occured in 1982 when over 119 inches of rain fell.
The park's driest year was in 2021 when only 21 inches of rain came down.
The park's driest three-year period on record occurred during the winters of 2019/2020, 2020/2021, and 2021/2022.
Daily high temperatures are often over 100 degrees Farenheit in the summer.
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area set a new record high temperature on Saturday, July 6, 2024, when afternoon temperatures peaked at 118 degrees at Park Headquarters on Whiskeytown Lake.
On July 23, 2018, the day the Carr Fire started, the high temperature was 111 degrees, tying the record for that day.
The coldest temperature ever recorded at lake level was 11 degrees in December of 1990. However, the average low temperature in winter is around 34 degrees. Snow is relatively uncommon except for at the highest elevations of the park.
