Know Your National Park Weather
Weather decides when you should go, what will be open and what you need to bring. Get it wrong and the road you planned around is still snowed in, the trail is iced over, or you are hiking in 100°F heat. Here is how to read national park weather, and where to find it for your park.
Step 1 of every trip: know the weather. When to go and what to bring both start here. Click any park below for its full weather guide: live forecasts for each area of the park, plus average highs, lows, rain and snow for every month.
Choose your park
The bars show each month's average low to high, January to December, on the same scale for every park. The current month is in gold.
What you get in every park weather guide
Most park websites give you one forecast for one town. Weather in the parks does not work that way, so our guides go further.
- Forecasts by elevationA live National Weather Service 7-day forecast for each main area of the park, from the entrance town to the high passes and trailheads.
- All 12 months, side by sideAverage highs, lows, rain and snow for every month from NOAA climate normals, so you can pick your dates with real numbers.
- What each month meansRoad openings, storm seasons, snow, heat and crowds, explained month by month for that park.
- Hazards and what to packThe weather risks that matter in that park and the gear that handles them.
How weather shapes your national park trip
When to go: weather decides what is open
In the mountain parks, snow, not the calendar, sets the season. Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road is often not fully open until late June or July. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain usually opens around Memorial Day and closes in October. Yosemite's Tioga Road opens in late spring or early summer and closes with the first big snow. Most Yellowstone roads close to regular cars from early November to mid-April. Pick a month by checking what the weather allows, then check the road status before you leave: Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Yellowstone.
Elevation: one park, several climates
Air usually cools about 3 to 5°F for every 1,000 feet you climb. Rocky Mountain's forecast areas run from 7,840 to 11,796 feet, so it can be snowing on Trail Ridge Road while it is mild in Estes Park. At the Grand Canyon, the river at Phantom Ranch sits about 4,500 feet below the South Rim and is often 20°F or more hotter in summer. That is why Rocky Mountain weather and every other guide here show a forecast for each part of the park, not just the nearest town.
The big hazards: heat, storms and snow
Heat: desert parks like Zion and Arches average close to 100°F in July. Hike at sunrise and carry more water than you think you need. Afternoon storms: summer thunderstorms build over the Rockies and the Grand Canyon most afternoons; be off peaks and exposed ridges by early afternoon. Flash floods: rain miles away can send a flood through a slot canyon like Zion's Narrows, so check the flash flood forecast at the visitor center first. Snow and ice: high trails can hold snow into July, and the first storms can arrive in September.
What to bring: pack for the high and the low
Plan for the whole day, not the afternoon. In July, Grand Teton averages 79°F by day but drops to 43°F at night, a swing of about 36 degrees. Bring layers you can add and remove, a rain jacket for afternoon storms, sun protection and plenty of water. Each park's weather guide and packing list are built around that park's real numbers.
How to use our weather guides
Start with the month-by-month comparison below to pick your dates. Open your park's weather guide to read what that month brings. A week before you go, check the live forecast for each area you will visit. On the day, check the park's alerts page for closures.
Compare parks by month
Average daytime high and nighttime low in °F at each park's weather station (NOAA 1991-2020). Higher parts of each park are colder.
| Park | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acadia470 ft | 32°15° | 35°18° | 42°25° | 53°35° | 64°45° | 74°54° | 79°60° | 78°60° | 71°53° | 58°43° | 48°33° | 38°22° |
| Arches4,093 ft | 42°22° | 50°29° | 62°37° | 70°44° | 80°53° | 92°63° | 99°70° | 96°68° | 87°58° | 72°44° | 56°33° | 42°24° |
| Glacier3,148 ft | 30°19° | 34°19° | 42°25° | 53°31° | 64°39° | 70°45° | 80°50° | 79°48° | 68°41° | 52°33° | 37°26° | 29°20° |
| Grand Canyon6,785 ft | 44°19° | 46°21° | 54°25° | 61°29° | 70°36° | 82°43° | 85°50° | 82°50° | 76°44° | 65°33° | 53°25° | 43°18° |
| Grand Teton6,466 ft | 24°2° | 28°7° | 38°15° | 47°24° | 60°32° | 69°37° | 79°43° | 78°40° | 68°35° | 53°25° | 36°15° | 25°3° |
| Great Smoky Mountains1,454 ft | 47°27° | 51°29° | 59°35° | 69°42° | 75°51° | 80°59° | 83°63° | 82°62° | 78°56° | 68°44° | 58°34° | 50°29° |
| Rocky Mountain7,812 ft | 37°16° | 38°16° | 45°21° | 52°26° | 61°35° | 74°43° | 80°48° | 78°46° | 70°39° | 57°30° | 44°24° | 36°16° |
| Yellowstone6,195 ft | 31°12° | 34°12° | 42°19° | 50°26° | 60°35° | 70°42° | 81°48° | 80°46° | 69°39° | 54°29° | 39°19° | 30°12° |
| Yosemite4,018 ft | 48°28° | 51°30° | 57°34° | 63°38° | 70°44° | 80°51° | 89°57° | 89°57° | 83°51° | 71°41° | 56°32° | 46°28° |
| Zion4,038 ft | 54°30° | 58°34° | 66°39° | 73°44° | 84°52° | 95°62° | 100°70° | 98°69° | 91°61° | 78°49° | 64°37° | 52°29° |
Live forecasts for every park
Every park guide shows current conditions and a 7-day National Weather Service forecast near the top of the page.
- Acadia full weather guide
- American Samoa
- Arches full weather guide
- Badlands
- Big Bend
- Biscayne
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison
- Bryce Canyon
- Canyonlands
- Capitol Reef
- Carlsbad Caverns
- Channel Islands
- Congaree
- Crater Lake
- Cuyahoga Valley
- Death Valley
- Denali
- Dry Tortugas
- Everglades
- Gates of the Arctic
- Gateway Arch
- Glacier full weather guide
- Glacier Bay
- Grand Canyon full weather guide
- Grand Teton full weather guide
- Great Basin
- Great Sand Dunes
- Great Smoky Mountains full weather guide
- Guadalupe Mountains
- Haleakalā
- Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
- Hot Springs
- Indiana Dunes
- Isle Royale
- Joshua Tree
- Katmai
- Kenai Fjords
- Kings Canyon
- Kobuk Valley
- Lake Clark
- Lassen Volcanic
- Mammoth Cave
- Mesa Verde
- Mount Rainier
- Mount Rushmore
- New River Gorge
- North Cascades
- Olympic
- Petrified Forest
- Pinnacles
- Redwood
- Rocky Mountain full weather guide
- Saguaro
- Sequoia
- Shenandoah
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Virgin Islands
- Voyageurs
- White Sands
- Wind Cave
- Wrangell-St. Elias
- Yellowstone full weather guide
- Yosemite full weather guide
- Zion full weather guide
National park weather questions
Which national park has the mildest winter weather?
Of the 10 parks with full weather guides here, Zion is the mildest in January, averaging 54°F by day and 30°F at night at Zion Canyon (4,038 ft). For real winter warmth, look to desert and southern parks such as Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Saguaro, Big Bend and Everglades, or to Hawaiʻi, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands.
Which national park is coolest in summer?
Of the parks with full weather guides, Acadia has the coolest July, averaging 79°F by day and 60°F at night at Park headquarters (470 ft). Mountain parks get much colder higher up, so pack a warm layer for summer evenings in any of them.
Which national park is hottest in summer?
Of the parks with full weather guides, Zion is the hottest in July, averaging 100°F at Zion Canyon (4,038 ft). Death Valley is hotter still, often above 115°F in July. In desert parks, hike at sunrise and carry more water than you think you need.
Why is the forecast different in different parts of a park?
Air usually cools about 3 to 5°F for every 1,000 feet you climb, and mountains make their own weather. In Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road sits nearly 4,000 feet above Estes Park, so it can be snowing on the pass while it is mild in town. That is why our weather guides show a separate forecast for each main area of the park.
Where does this weather information come from?
Forecasts come live from the National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) each time you open a page. Monthly averages are NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals from a weather station in or next to each park.