Albemarle, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Albemarle's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 48.3 inches of precipitation and less than an inch of snow (0.8 in) a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.7°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,226 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAlbemarle
- Station IDUSC00310090
- Location35.40°N 80.20°W
- Elevation610 ft (186 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population17,344
On October 23, the normal high in Albemarle is 71°F and the normal low 47°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 19%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Albemarle.
- Jan 51° 31°
- Feb 55° 33°
- Mar 63° 40°
- Apr 72° 48°
- May 79° 57°
- Jun 86° 66°
- Jul 89° 69°
- Aug 87° 68°
- Sep 81° 62°
- Oct 73° 50°
- Nov 62° 40°
- Dec 54° 34°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Albemarle each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.23 in), the least in February (2.96 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51°F | 31°F | 40.9°F | 3.80 | 8 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 55°F | 33°F | 44.0°F | 2.96 | 7 | <1 | 15 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 40°F | 51.5°F | 3.99 | 8 | <1 | 8 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 72°F | 48°F | 59.9°F | 3.74 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 57°F | 68.0°F | 3.50 | 7 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 66°F | 75.6°F | 4.74 | 8 | 9 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 89°F | 69°F | 78.9°F | 5.23 | 8 | 15 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 87°F | 68°F | 77.7°F | 4.85 | 8 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 81°F | 62°F | 71.4°F | 4.62 | 6 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 50°F | 61.1°F | 3.59 | 6 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 62°F | 40°F | 50.8°F | 3.34 | 6 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 54°F | 34°F | 44.0°F | 3.92 | 8 | <1 | 16 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 71°F | 50°F | 60.3°F | 48.28 | 87 | 39 | 66 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −1°C | 4.9°C | 97 mm |
| February | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 75 mm |
| March | 17°C | 5°C | 10.8°C | 101 mm |
| April | 22°C | 9°C | 15.5°C | 95 mm |
| May | 26°C | 14°C | 20.0°C | 89 mm |
| June | 30°C | 19°C | 24.2°C | 120 mm |
| July | 31°C | 21°C | 26.1°C | 133 mm |
| August | 31°C | 20°C | 25.4°C | 123 mm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 117 mm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 91 mm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.4°C | 85 mm |
| December | 12°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 100 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310090; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Albemarle?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310090.
When is the last frost in Albemarle?
In Albemarle, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 29 in half of years and after April 14 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 4 in half of years and before October 24 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- March 291 year in 10 after April 14; 9 in 10 after March 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 41 year in 10 before October 24; 9 in 10 before November 20
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 220 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 246 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 16 in half of springs and before November 16 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Albemarle in zone 8a in ZIP code 28001. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Albemarle's NOAA station is in zone 8a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00310090; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
How hot and how cold does it get in Albemarle?
In a normal year in Albemarle, 39 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 66 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 87 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 66a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 87a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1911) is 109°F, on July 28, 1940; the lowest is −7°F, on January 28, 1940.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2003, with 73.91 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 23.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00310090; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00310090. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Albemarle?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Albemarle, 4.5 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75% | 2.6 |
| February | 72% | 3.3 |
| March | 73% | 4.4 |
| April | 77% | 5.5 |
| May | 77% | 6.0 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 80% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 78% | 2.9 |
| December | 73% | 2.3 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Albemarle need?
A normal year in Albemarle brings 3,276 heating degree days, 39% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,597 cooling degree days, 76% more than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,762 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 747 | 0 |
| February | 588 | 0 |
| March | 426 | 6 |
| April | 192 | 39 |
| May | 51 | 144 |
| June | 4 | 322 |
| July | 0 | 431 |
| August | 0 | 392 |
| September | 18 | 210 |
| October | 166 | 45 |
| November | 431 | 5 |
| December | 652 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,276 | 1,597 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310090. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Albemarle been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 61.0°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 60.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60.3°F | at normal | 53.33 |
| 2022 | 60.7°F | +0.4°F | 51.04 |
| 2023 | 61.8°F | +1.5°F | 54.70 |
| 2024 | 62.1°F | +1.8°F | 63.76 |
| 2025 | 61.0°F | +0.7°F | 42.88 |
Over 72 complete years from 1912 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.8°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00310090; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Albemarle's climate compare?
Albemarle is warmer than 72 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 42. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.3°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Albemarle is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Albemarle share this climate record?
11 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Norwood, NC2,520 people · 13 mi SE
- Oakboro, NC2,270 people · 14 mi SW
- Badin, NC1,871 people · 5 mi E
- Mount Gilead, NC1,185 people · 17 mi SE
- Red Cross, NC819 people · 13 mi SW
- Misenheimer, NC657 people · 7 mi NW
- New London, NC648 people · 3 mi NW
- Richfield, NC614 people · 6 mi NW
- Millingport, NC455 people · 7 mi W
- Gold Hill, NC401 people · 12 mi NW
- Aquadale, NC357 people · 12 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Albemarle's climate
What is the coldest month in Albemarle?
January, with a normal high of 51°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 69°F at night).
Does it snow in Albemarle?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is 0.8 inch a year.
What is the rainiest month in Albemarle?
July, with 5.23 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.96 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Albemarle in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Albemarle in zone 8a in ZIP code 28001. By the same method at Albemarle's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 12°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 8a.
How late can frost come in Albemarle?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 29; in one year in ten it comes after April 14. Waiting until April 14 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Concord, NC22 miles from this station, 60.7°F a year
- Salisbury, NC25 miles from this station, 59.3°F a year
- Asheboro, NC29 miles from this station, 59.0°F a year
- Lexington, NC31 miles from this station, 59.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made