Weather & Climate

Ashland experiences a relatively mild climate with four distinct seasons that comes from its position on the west coast of North America and within the mountains of the region. Ashland is 365 miles to the north of San Francisco and 285 miles south of Portland. The town is just off of Interstate 5, 15 miles north of the California border, and at the southern end of the Rogue Valley at approximately 2000 feet above sea level. Mt Ashland, part of the Siskiyou Mountain Range, rises to 7500 feet above Ashland to the south, and the Cascades Range rises to the north and east. As a result of its location Ashland has a climate somewhat intermediate to central California and northern Oregon.

Despite Oregon’s reputation for rain, Ashland averages only 20 inches of rain per year due to being inland from the coast and in the rain shadow of the surrounding mountains. While the surrounding mountains receive plentiful snow, Ashland itself sees less than 10 inches annually. Ashland is in the USDA winter hardiness Zone 8a with relatively mild winters and Sunset Zone 7 with mild but pronounced winters and hot summers that supports plants and deciduous trees that require a marked seasonal pattern to do well—flower bulbs, peonies, lilacs, pears, apples, peaches, and cherries.