Tacoma, Washington Weather
Fog locks the valleys. Day 93 of summer. Read this microseason across nine climate regions →
Tacoma weather forecast — hour by hour, 7-day outlook, NOAA radar
Conditions updated 12:40 AM PDT · Open-Meteo
- TodaySep 21Clear——71°50°—
- TuesdaySep 22Overcast——69°53°-2°
- WednesdaySep 23Overcast——69°48°0°
- ThursdaySep 24Light Showers51%0.42″59°51°-10°
- FridaySep 25Light Rain57%0.13″66°49°+7°
- SaturdaySep 26Overcast——63°49°-3°
- SundaySep 27Overcast19%—69°50°+6°
Air quality now AQI 70 · Moderate
AQI 70 (Moderate), driven by PM2.5. AQI flat over the last 6 hours (within ±3 points). PM2.5 at 25.1 µg/m³ (AQI 81) with a 0.99 fine-to-coarse ratio and 5 mph wind — combustion smoke trapped in stagnant air, not road dust.
OK No precautions needed for the general population; unusually sensitive individuals may consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.
What's driving it
PM × Wind × Precip
PM2.5 at 25.1 µg/m³ (AQI 81) with a 0.99 fine-to-coarse ratio and 5 mph wind — combustion smoke trapped in stagnant air, not road dust.
- PM2.5/PM10
- 0.99
- Wind
- light
- Recent rain
- 0h in last 6h
- Pattern
- stagnant smoke
Trends
Seven days of AQI and PM2.5.
Hourly air-quality data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, charted across the past and next several days. Dashed lines mark the AQI breakpoints at 50 (Good → Moderate) and 100 (Moderate → Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups).
September dries up ditches or breaks down bridges.
- Moonrise
- —
- Moonset
- 1:09 AM
- In sign
- ♑︎ Capricorn
Fog locks the valleys
Read this microseason across nine climate regions →
All 72 microseasons on the year wheel →
Tacoma at a glance
- Today vs. normal: Today averages 61°F (high 71°F, low 50°F), about the 60°F normal for Sep 21
- Last frost: March 8 (1991–2020 median, NOAA station 3 km away)
- Microseason: Sep 21–25
- Planting calendar: September — harvest tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash, winter squash
16-Day Forecast — Tacoma
- Sun69°49°0%
- Mon71°50°1%
- Tue69°53°22%
- Wed69°48°4%
- Thu59°51°51%
- Fri66°49°57%
- Sat63°49°6%
- Sun69°50°19%
- Mon70°50°10%
- Tue71°51°13%
- Wed73°53°17%
- Thu73°53°19%
- Fri59°49°18%
- Sat61°47°16%
- Sun64°44°16%
- Mon60°45°23%
Forecast data from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Live wind & temperature near Tacoma
Interactive wind and temperature map centered on Tacoma — it loads in your browser. Open the full weather map.
Right now in the garden
Late season
As of September 21, the first frost (around November 14) is about 8 weeks away. Frost-tender plants keep producing until then. This city's planting calendar for September: harvest tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash, and winter squash.
Sun & seasons in Tacoma
Tacoma sits in Pierce County, where the year’s longest day runs 15h 56m of daylight and its shortest just 8h 28m — a swing of +7h 28m between the June and December solstices. Clocks spring forward on Sunday, March 8, 2026 and fall back on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Seattle, the state’s largest city, lies about 27 miles to the NNE. The nearest town Tacoma tracks is Kent, roughly 15 miles to the NE.
Air quality in Tacoma
Air quality in Tacoma’s county has held roughly steady since 2020; its cleanest year on record was 2020 (median AQI 42). See the full air-quality history for Tacoma.
Planting calendar
| Month | Plant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| February | lettuce, peas, spinach, radishes | — |
| March | lettuce, peas, spinach, radishes | lettuce, spinach, radishes |
| April | — | lettuce, peas, spinach, radishes |
| May | — | lettuce, peas, spinach, garlic |
| June | tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash | peas, garlic |
| July | tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash | — |
| August | tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, fall brassicas, carrots | tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash |
| September | — | tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash, winter squash |
| October | garlic (overwinter) | tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash, winter squash |
| November | — | tomatoes, peppers, beans, summer squash, winter squash, fall brassicas, carrots |
| December | — | fall brassicas, carrots |
A year in weather
August is Tacoma's warmest stretch (~69°F) and January its coldest (~40°F); precipitation crests in January at 7.2 inches and ebbs in July to 0.4 inches.
| Month | Mean temp | Precip |
|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 7.2″ |
| February | 41° | 5.3″ |
| March | 44° | 5.2″ |
| April | 49° | 3.6″ |
| May | 56° | 2.4″ |
| June | 61° | 1.9″ |
| July | 68° | 0.4″ |
| August | 69° | 0.7″ |
| September | 61° | 1.9″ |
| October | 53° | 5.3″ |
| November | 45° | 7.2″ |
| December | 40° | 6.9″ |
Regional context
Similar climates Fircrest, WA, Browns Point, WA, Ruston, WA
Tacoma's climate, from modelled 1991-2020 normals (EC_Earth3P_HR model via Open-Meteo), pairs 40°F Januarys with 68°F Julys — a 28°F swing. About 48.1 inches of precipitation falls each year.
Cool-season fronts carry Tacoma's rain: January logs 7.2 inches, against July's 0.4 inches — winter does the heavy lifting in Tacoma. It is a winter-storm rhythm Tacoma shares with places like Fircrest, WA, Browns Point, WA and Ruston, WA.
The cool-season window in Tacoma starts at March 8, when nights stop freezing — think peas, lettuce, spinach, and radishes. In Tacoma, warm-season transplants — tomatoes, peppers, basil — wait two weeks past Tacoma's frost date. Around November 14, freezing nights resume in Tacoma and tender crops must come in. In about half of years, Tacoma's last freeze comes after March 8.
Similar climates: Fircrest, WA, Browns Point, WA, Ruston, WA, Waller, WA, University Place, WA.
Frequently asked
- When does it freeze in Tacoma?
- Frost typically leaves Tacoma by March 8 and returns to Tacoma near November 14.
- What is the rainy season in Tacoma?
- Rainfall in Tacoma peaks in January near 7.2 inches, out of about 48 inches annually.
- What is the warmest month in Tacoma?
- Tacoma peaks in August, when the mean runs near 69°F.
- What is the coldest month in Tacoma?
- January is Tacoma's coldest month, averaging about 40°F.
- When can I start a vegetable garden in Tacoma?
- In Tacoma, sow peas and hardy greens around March 8; Tacoma's tomatoes and peppers wait two weeks more.
- What hardiness zone is Tacoma?
- Because Tacoma bottoms near 40°F in January, that winter low sets Tacoma's USDA zone — verify by ZIP.
- What is the 10-day forecast for Tacoma?
- Tacoma's extended outlook — daily high and low temperatures and precipitation chances for each upcoming day — is in the daily forecast above.
- Will it rain this week in Tacoma?
- See this week's day-by-day rain chances for Tacoma in the daily forecast above, and the next 24 hours in the hourly chart.
- What is the weather like right now in Tacoma?
- Current conditions for Tacoma and the next 24 hours — temperature, precipitation chance, and wind by the hour — are in the hourly forecast chart above.
- How often is the Tacoma forecast updated?
- The Tacoma forecast on this page is built from Open-Meteo weather-model data and refreshes regularly through the day.
- When are sunrise and sunset in Tacoma?
- Today's sunrise and sunset times for Tacoma are in the Almanac section above, along with civil dawn, civil dusk, and day length. Day length is longest near the summer solstice and shortest near the winter solstice.
- How accurate is the weather forecast for Tacoma?
- The next few days in Tacoma's forecast are the most reliable; accuracy declines beyond about a week as weather-model uncertainty grows.
Tacoma sits at 47.2°N; its climate zone is warm-summer Mediterranean (Köppen approximation).
ZIP codes in Tacoma
- 98401
- 98402
- 98403
- 98404
- 98405
- 98406
- 98407
- 98408
- 98409
- 98411
- 98412
- 98413
- 98415
- 98416
- 98417
- 98418
- 98419
- 98421
- 98422
- 98433
- 98443
- 98444
- 98445
- 98446
- 98447
- 98448
- 98465
- 98466
- 98471
- 98481
- 98490