Climate - Crater Lake (Oregon)

The climate of Crater Lake is moderately continental, with cold, snowy winters and mild, sunny summers during the day, but with cold nights.
The national park is located in Oregon, in the Cascade Range. The lake, whose banks are located at 1,900 meters (6,200 feet) above sea level, was formed by the rain and snow that filled the caldera of Mount Mazama, a volcano that collapsed after an eruption that took place 7,700 years ago. The lake is 592 meters (1,942 ft) deep, and is therefore the deepest in the United States, and the second in North America after the Great Bear Lake. Before the eruption, Mount Mazama was 3,700 meters (12,100 ft) high. Today, the highest point in the area is Mount Scott, 2,723 meters (8,934 ft) high.
In winter, cold waves are possible, during which the temperature can drop to -20 °C (-4 °F) or even below. Snowfalls are very abundant: in an average year, almost 13 meters (505 inches) of snow fall. Usually, it snows from mid-October to mid-May. The accumulated snow is so high that it generally only melts in July.
In summer, the days are mild, and sometimes even hot, but at night it gets cold, and sometimes the temperature can drop below freezing.
The average temperature of the coldest month (December) is of -3.4 °C (25.9 °F), that of the warmest month (August) is of 13 °C (55.4 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 1,695 millimeters (66.8 inches) per year: it is therefore abundant. It ranges from 20 mm (0.8 in) in the driest months (July, August) to 285 mm (11.2 in) in the wettest (December). Here is the average precipitation.

On average, there are around 2,745 sunshine hours per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Best Time

The best time to visit Crater Lake National Park is the summer, and in particular the months of July and August, which are the mildest and driest of the year.

Back to the climate of Oregon.