How extreme does Downey's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Downey has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Long Beach Daugherty Ap station 14 km away. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days Downey has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

111°F Sep 27, 2010

That is about 29°F hotter than a normal September afternoon in Downey (typical high near 82°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 111°F Sep 27, 2010

2 109°F Jun 16, 1981

3 109°F Oct 10, 1991

❄️ Coldest night

28°F Dec 22, 1990

About 19°F colder than a normal December night in Downey (typical low near 47°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 28°F Dec 22, 1990

2 30°F Jan 17, 1987

3 30°F Dec 23, 1990

🌧️ Most rain in one day

3.97 in Jan 22, 2017

More rain in a single day than Downey usually gets in the whole month of January (typical January total about 2.9 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 3.97 in Jan 22, 2017

2 3.75 in Jan 4, 1995

3 3.72 in Jan 30, 1979

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

Downey's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — September's 111°F is about 29°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, Downey's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the high 40s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 111°F and as low as 28°F. A single day has delivered over 4 inches of rain. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at Santa Ana Fire Stn (NOAA GHCN station USC00047888), about 33 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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