Lassen Volcanic

A deep-snow volcano standing between Pacific storms and the dry Great Basin air behind it.

1916PARK SINCE

Deep winter snowpackContinental coldDry-season thunderstorms

Lassen sits where three regimes collide: wet Pacific storms climbing the southern Cascades, cold continental air spilling from the Modoc Plateau, and summer heat rising out of the Sacramento Valley. The park road crosses a snow belt high enough to remain closed well beyond the calendar's idea of spring. By late summer the same slopes are dry, exposed to thunderstorms, and capable of large day-to-night temperature swings.

1916National Park sinceDesignation year, not necessarily first protection.

2Weather regionsThe terrain systems crossed by the park.

13.0–42.6″Reference-station rainAnnual range across the selected gauges.

85–100°FJuly mean highsThe heat range visible in the transect.

Official NPS conditions

California map locating Lassen Volcanic National Park.

High Cascade plateau to 10,457-ft Lassen Peak. Highlighted frames are the atlas regions this park crosses.

The four seasons

THE PARK CHANGES VERTICALLY, TOO

Winter

Snow owns the high country; storms can add feet while wind erases tracks above timberline.

Spring

A calendar word more than a road condition — snow depth and avalanche terrain persist into early summer.

Summer

Short, bright and dry, with cold nights and occasional afternoon lightning over the volcanic plateau.

Autumn

The first hard freezes arrive early, and one October storm can return the summit country to winter.

The climate transect

REFERENCE STATIONS · NOT A PARK-WIDE AVERAGE

These named gauges expose the park's temperature and precipitation gradient. They may sit outside the legal boundary; each linked place page states the exact NOAA station, its elevation and its distance. None is presented as a current park forecast.

NOAA/NCEI 1991–2020 monthly normals. See each place page for station provenance and any precipitation substitute.
Atlas reference	Terrain region	Elevation	Jan low	Jul high	Annual precip	Snow
Mount Shasta City	Shasta Cascade	3,606	27°	85°	42.6″	89.3″
Susanville	Modoc Plateau & Northeast	4,180	22°	88°	13.0″	—
Redding	Sacramento Valley	495	38°	100°	33.5″	2.6″

What changes the day

CLIMATE CONTEXT · NOT A LIVE WARNING FEED

Snow closure

The through-road follows high terrain; opening date is a snow-removal outcome, not a fixed season.

Lightning

Dry summer thunderstorms can produce little rain but abundant ignition.

Cold nights

Clear, thin mountain air loses heat rapidly even after a warm afternoon.

For today's roads, trails, closures and alerts: this page supplies climate context only. Open Lassen Volcanic's official NPS conditions →

The terrain underneath it

GOLDEN STATE WEATHER REGIONS

Shasta CascadeTwo active volcanoes big enough to make their own weather.MOUNTAINS13,779 FT RELIEF Modoc Plateau & NortheastCalifornia's coldest ground — high desert with a continental winter.BEYOND THE CREST5,892 FT RELIEF

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