Cartago, California Weather
Cartago, California — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Cartago, Inyo County.
Full aviation weather for Cartago is published on the Independence Airport (K2O7) page, 57 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.
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.
Conditions reported at K2O7 describe the airfield itself. Weather 57 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Cartago specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Cartago.
About Cartago, California
Cartago lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, a sentinel against the vastness of Owens Valley. It lies 52.2 miles north-north-west of Ridgecrest, CA (from Ridgecrest, CA: bearing 338°T), and is situated 19.8 miles south of Lone Pine. The land here is a study in muted ochres and sun-bleached greys, where the stark beauty of the desert floor rises abruptly to meet the jagged, snow-kissed peaks. Sagebrush, tenacious and silvered, carpets the ground, its dry scent a constant perfume on the air, mingling with the faint, mineral tang of dust. The sky overhead is an immense, an almost impossibly deep blue, stretching from horizon to horizon, a canvas where clouds drift like slow ships on an unseen ocean. Evenings here bring a remarkable clarity, the setting sun igniting the western mountains in a final, fleeting blaze of rose and vermilion before the profound, star-strewn darkness descends. The history of Cartago is inextricably linked to water and the land's promise, a story whispered by the ancient lakebed that surrounds it. Once a bustling hub for early prospectors and later for the agricultural endeavors that sought to tame this arid expanse, Cartago has seen its fortunes ebb and flow with the availability of precious water. The fertile soil, coaxed into productivity by irrigation, still yields surprising bounty, a testament to the enduring spirit of those who chose to make their lives here. While the grander ambitions of mining and large-scale agriculture have largely receded, a quiet resilience persists in Cartago, a community that understands the delicate balance of existence in this dramatic landscape, where the memory of water’s power and the sun’s relentless gaze shape every moment.
Live animated radar for Cartago 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 | Cartago, Inyo County, California |
| Coordinates | 36.320771°N, 118.026472°W |
| Timezone | Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 93549 |
| Area Code | 760 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Cartago, California Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Cartago, 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 Cartago includes coordinates 36.320771°N, 118.026472°W, situated in Inyo County. ZIP code 93549. Telephone area code: 760. 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.
