Alturas, California Weather
Alturas, California — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Alturas, Modoc County.
Full aviation weather for Alturas is published on the Alturas Municipal Airport (KAAT) page, 2 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 5 airfields within reach of Alturas have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Alturas: California Pines Airport (KA24) 14 km · Cedarville Airport (KO59) 32 km · Adin Airport (KA26) 48 km · Fort Bidwell Airport (KA28) 54 km
Conditions reported at KAAT describe the airfield itself. Weather 2 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Alturas specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Alturas.
About Alturas, California
Alturas rests in a wide basin, its low-slung buildings a modest punctuation against the vastness of the Modoc Plateau. It lies 114.7 miles east-north-east of Redding, CA (from Redding, CA: bearing 57°T), and is situated 19.3 miles west of Cedarville. Here, the sky is an almost constant presence, a boundless dome of cerulean that can, with startling swiftness, transform into bruised purples and bruised oranges at dusk, casting long, stark shadows across the sagebrush flats and the scattered groves of hardy juniper. The air, when it's not carrying the sharp scent of dry earth and wild herbs, can be surprisingly crisp, even in the height of summer, a lingering coolness from the high desert elevation. The Modoc National Forest begins its encroaching embrace just beyond the town's edges, a dark, undulating line of pine and fir that promises a different kind of wildness, a deeper, hushed quietude. The history of Alturas is deeply entwined with the ebb and flow of the cattle ranching and agricultural industries that have shaped this rugged landscape for generations. It was a necessary waypoint for those who drove herds across these open ranges, and later, the county seat, a hub for the scattered ranches and farms that coaxed a living from the semi-arid earth. The Sprague River, a ribbon of cool, clear water, whispers its presence nearby, a vital artery for both the land and its inhabitants, though the true grandeur of the region lies in the expansive vistas and the quiet resilience of the people who call Alturas home. The local economy, while modest, still relies on the enduring cycles of the land, a testament to the enduring spirit of this high desert outpost.
Live animated radar for Alturas and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Alturas, Modoc County, California |
| Coordinates | 41.487115°N, 120.542456°W |
| Timezone | Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 96101 |
| Area Code | 530 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Alturas, California Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Alturas, California, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Alturas includes coordinates 41.487115°N, 120.542456°W, situated in Modoc County. ZIP code 96101. Telephone area code: 530. Timezone: Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
