With only an average of 8 -15 inches of precipitation per year, warm days and cool nights it appeals to many from areas with a reputation for rain (Portland, Seattle) as well as those used to sunny, warmer climates such as (San Jose and Los Angeles). Interestingly, the region lies on one of the nation's largest rain gradients: Redmond receives an average of 8.6 inches of precipitation and is only 60 miles away from a region in the Cascade Mountains that receives 120 inches.

Every community in Central Oregon has its own variations of temperature and precipitation, relative to its elevation and proximity to the mountains. Central Oregon’s weather is influenced by storms that come off the Pacific Ocean, which typically bring warmer, moist air. Most of the moisture is dumped in Western Oregon in the form of rain (and lots of it) in the lowlands and snow in the upper elevations as the storm system hits the Cascades. Little of this moisture makes it to Central Oregon, thereby creating our desirable high desert climate.