Pool season · Washington
Tacoma Pool Season: the Year on One Bar
Last updated: July 25, 2026 · dates · water temp
One bar, one year, one Tacoma pool. The season bar below draws everything the model knows — opening window, prime season, closing window — against today's date, with the working details one click away on the opening and closing pages.
Tacoma, WA — 0 swim days a yearReading it takes ten seconds: 52 dots, one per week. Solid teal is Tacoma's swim season; the hollow teal run before it (May 17 to June 7) is when to open; the hollow amber run after is when to close, with September 29 as the deadline; gray is the covered season. Today's marker shows where you stand in that cycle right now.
The Tacoma pool calendar
Opening — target May 24
Target May 24; the practical window runs May 17–June 7, and the 7-day mean crosses the 61°F threshold around June 7. Cold-water starts are the cheap ones.
Closing — deadline September 29
Hold the cover until September 19, then winterize by September 29, a week ahead of the November 14 freeze normal. Late and cold beats early and warm.
Estimated water temperature by month
This is Tacoma's typical-year water curve: the same EWMA model as the live widget, run on the 1991–2020 normals instead of this week's weather.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42° | 43° | 46° | 50° | 55° | 60° | 65° | 68° | 65° | 58° | 50° | 44° |
The curve peaks near 68°F — comfortable-water months here usually involve a heater or a solar cover.
Every station tells its own story: compare this curve with Spokane Valley's pool season and Vancouver's — neighboring normals stations can shift the windows by a week or more. The full ranking lives on the Washington season index.
Tacoma pool season FAQ
When should I open my pool in Tacoma, WA?
Open by May 24 — the model places Tacoma's 61°F crossing about two weeks later, and every warm day you wait pushes the water toward the 65°F algae zone. The Tacoma opening guide has the 12-step sequence.
When should I close my pool in Tacoma?
Close by September 29: cool water keeps its winter chemistry, but freeze damage is the hard stop. The Tacoma closing guide sequences the work backward from that date.
How long is the swim season in Tacoma?
Tacoma averages 0 days a year with normal highs of 80°F or better — right on the statewide median. The Washington season index ranks all 21 covered cities by the same metric.
How warm does pool water get in Tacoma?
An unheated pool near Tacoma typically peaks around 68°F in high summer and bottoms out near 42°F in winter, never quite reaching the 78°F comfort line without a heater or solar cover. The month-by-month curve above shows the whole cycle; the methodology page explains the ±5°F error bars.
Email me when Tacoma hits the closing window
Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Tacoma #1 (1.9 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.