When to paint a house exterior in Cathedral City, CA
When to paint in Cathedral City, CA
A normal season: plan the job, do not leave it late. The painting window is February to March, with 3 good months a year. The best month is November, at about 17 painting days. Book a painter by December.
If you want the house done in February to March, call for quotes in December or earlier; a job pushed past March is likely to wait until next year. For a deck, the months with enough staining days to spare are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 7Jan
- 13Feb
- 15Mar
- 12Apr
- 8May
- 1Jun
- under 1Jul
- under 1Aug
- 1Sep
- 9Oct
- 17Nov
- 7Dec
Month by month
| Month | Painting days | Staining days | With low-temp paint | Avg low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7 | 5 | 27 | 46° / 72°F |
| February | 13 | 11 | 25 | 49° / 76°F |
| March | 15 | 13 | 22 | 53° / 82°F |
| April | 12 | 11 | 13 | 59° / 91°F |
| May | 8 | 5 | 8 | 64° / 96°F |
| June | 1 | 1 | 1 | 74° / 107°F |
| July | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 81° / 112°F |
| August | under 1 | under 1 | under 1 | 81° / 111°F |
| September | 1 | under 1 | 1 | 74° / 104°F |
| October | 9 | 9 | 9 | 64° / 94°F |
| November | 17 | 16 | 25 | 53° / 81°F |
| December | 7 | 7 | 28 | 47° / 73°F |
Deck stain does best in November. Low-temperature paint adds about 70 days a year here.
Towns near Cathedral City compared
2 get fewer, down to 41 a year. A gap like that between towns is usually elevation, a coast or a lake, which is why a painter from a few towns over can be on a different schedule. Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs are read from the same station as Cathedral City, so their numbers match; the real difference is the distance from that station.
| Place | From Cathedral City | Painting days a year | Window | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Springs, CA | 5 mi southwest | 88 | February to March | same station |
| Rancho Mirage, CA | 5 mi south | 88 | February to March | same station |
| Palm Desert, CA | 9 mi southeast | 88 | February to March | same station |
| Desert Hot Springs, CA | 10 mi northwest | 88 | February to March | same station |
| Indio, CA | 15 mi southeast | 41 | March to April | Desert Resorts Rgnl Airport |
| La Quinta, CA | 17 mi southeast | 41 | March to April | Desert Resorts Rgnl Airport |
How Cathedral City ranks in CA
Of 376 CA places with 10,000 people or more, Cathedral City (population 52,517, 171st largest) ranks 250th for painting days, 40 days below the state median of 128. The longest season in the state is Santa Clarita, 269 days, 123 miles west. The shortest is Susanville at 4. Switching to low-temperature paint here is worth 70 extra days, more than most of the summer months on their own.
Where these numbers come from
Daily records from Palm Springs International Airport (2.5 miles away), 2015 to 2024, NOAA Global Summary of the Day. A month is good at 12+ painting days and possible at 6+.