Ridgecrest Heights, California Weather
Ridgecrest Heights, California — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Ridgecrest Heights, Kern County.
Full aviation weather for Ridgecrest Heights is published on the China Lake Naws (Armitage Field) Airport (KNID) page, 9 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. 3 airfields within reach of Ridgecrest Heights 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 Ridgecrest Heights: Inyokern Airport (KIYK) 14 km · California City Municipal Airport (KL71) 58 km
Conditions reported at KNID describe the airfield itself. Weather 9 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Ridgecrest Heights specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Ridgecrest Heights.
About Ridgecrest Heights, California
Ridgecrest Heights unfolds across a vast, sun-baked expanse, a landscape etched by the relentless hand of desert geology. It lies 2.2 miles south-west of Ridgecrest, CA (from Ridgecrest, CA: bearing 227°T), and is situated 4.6 miles south-east of China Lake Acres. The terrain here is a study in muted earth tones – ochre, rust, and pale tan – where low-lying scrub and tenacious cacti cling to the sandy soil, their forms stark against the immense, cobalt sky. The air itself carries a dry, mineral tang, and at dusk, the distant peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains are brushed with a roseate glow, a fleeting testament to the day’s fading warmth. The land slopes gently, a prelude to the more dramatic geological formations that punctuate the horizon, and the silence here is profound, broken only by the whisper of the wind or the occasional, sharp call of a desert bird. The story of Ridgecrest Heights is inextricably linked to the mineral wealth that lies beneath its parched surface, a legacy of boom-and-bust cycles driven by the demand for gold and borax. This history is subtly woven into the fabric of the locality, a reminder of the hardy souls who first sought fortune in this unforgiving environment. Today, the local economy, while still touched by resource extraction, has diversified, with a growing presence in technology and advanced manufacturing, drawing upon the skilled workforce that has grown alongside the town. Ridgecrest Heights also serves as a gateway to the wonders of the surrounding natural parks, drawing visitors who come to explore the stark beauty of the desert, hike its rugged trails, and gaze at the unpolluted night sky, a celestial spectacle that unfolds with breathtaking clarity.
Live animated radar for Ridgecrest Heights 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 | Ridgecrest Heights, Kern County, California |
| Coordinates | 35.600718°N, 117.699221°W |
| Timezone | Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 93555 |
| Area Code | 760 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Ridgecrest Heights, California Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Ridgecrest Heights, 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 Ridgecrest Heights includes coordinates 35.600718°N, 117.699221°W, situated in Kern County. ZIP code 93555. 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.
