CLIMATE OF WHITE PINE AND ELY, NEVADA

White Pine County's climate is characterized by sunny, clear days and a wide variation between day and night temperatures. Ely, Nevada is located at an altitude of 6,435 feet in the Steptoe Valley and is near the southern rim of the Great Basin. Because of the elevation, nights are always cool and a short (90 days average) growing season exists. Between 1951 to 1980, the average first occurrence of 32 degrees Fahrenheit in the fall is September 6, and the average last occurrence in the spring is June 16. This weather is a result of the altitude, night-time radiation, and cold air drainage from the mountain slopes as well as western storm patterns.

White Pine County has a annual mean temperature of 44.3 degrees Fahrenheit. During the summer, daytime temperatures range between 85 to 90 degrees, and fall to 50 to 60 degrees at night. July, the hottest month of the year, has a mean temperature of 67.3 degrees. January, the coldest month of the year, has a mean temperature of 24.0 degrees. Of the 247 weather stations in the Continental United States, 23 percent record colder temperatures for January.

The neighboring terrain of White Pine County consists of alternating mountain ranges reaching altitudes up to 13,000 feet and sagebrush covered valleys ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 feet in elevation. The Egan Range mountains are to the west, while the Schell Creek Range is to the east. The principal cover on the lower mountains is Juniper and Pinion trees. White Fir and White Pine grow at higher elevations.

Because of low annual precipitation, farming is limited to areas that can be irrigated from mountain streams or wells. Cultivated crops consist mostly of grains and forage. Livestock raising predominates in the area. The mountain ranges provide summer pasture for both cattle and sheep. All stock must be "finished" for market in feed yards. Flocks of sheep are moved to flat valleys at the approach of winter. It is not uncommon for bands of sheep to spend an entire winter without receiving supplemental feed. They eat snow for moisture and consume a wide variety of desert plants, including the lowly sagebrush.

Compiled by June Shaputis 1998

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White Pine Historical and Archeological Society
P.O. Box 151725
Ely, NV 89315

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