Alderson, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Alderson's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 84°F July afternoons, with 40.7 inches of precipitation and 12 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 11.6°C, January lows of −6°C, July highs of 29°C, 1,033 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAlderson
- Station IDUSC00460102
- Location37.73°N 80.66°W
- Elevation1,552 ft (473 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population933
On October 23, the normal high in Alderson is 65°F and the normal low 37°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 26%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Alderson.
- Jan 41° 22°
- Feb 45° 24°
- Mar 54° 30°
- Apr 66° 39°
- May 75° 49°
- Jun 81° 58°
- Jul 84° 62°
- Aug 83° 60°
- Sep 78° 54°
- Oct 68° 41°
- Nov 55° 30°
- Dec 45° 25°
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 Alderson each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 84°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.42 in), the least in November (2.55 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41°F | 22°F | 31.4°F | 3.02 | 3.6 | 11 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 45°F | 24°F | 34.6°F | 2.88 | 4.2 | 10 | <1 | 23 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 54°F | 30°F | 41.8°F | 3.81 | 2.0 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 39°F | 52.6°F | 3.57 | 0.1 | 11 | <1 | 7 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 49°F | 61.7°F | 4.42 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 81°F | 58°F | 69.3°F | 3.71 | 0.0 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 84°F | 62°F | 73.1°F | 4.21 | 0.0 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 83°F | 60°F | 71.9°F | 3.13 | 0.0 | 10 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 54°F | 65.9°F | 3.35 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 41°F | 54.3°F | 2.62 | 0.1 | 8 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 55°F | 30°F | 42.9°F | 2.55 | 0.2 | 8 | <1 | 20 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 45°F | 25°F | 34.9°F | 3.39 | 2.0 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 41°F | 52.8°F | 40.66 | 12.2 | 124 | 20 | 127 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −6°C | −0.3°C | 77 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 7°C | −5°C | 1.4°C | 73 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 12°C | −1°C | 5.4°C | 97 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 19°C | 4°C | 11.4°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 24°C | 9°C | 16.5°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 27°C | 14°C | 20.7°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29°C | 17°C | 22.8°C | 107 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 16°C | 22.2°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 20°C | 5°C | 12.4°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 13°C | −1°C | 6.1°C | 65 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 7°C | −4°C | 1.6°C | 86 mm | 5 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00460102; 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 Alderson?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (8).
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 USC00460102.
When is the last frost in Alderson?
In Alderson, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 17 in half of years and before October 5 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
- April 261 year in 10 after May 15; 9 in 10 after April 11
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 171 year in 10 before October 5; 9 in 10 before October 30
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 173 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 196 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 12 in half of springs and before October 26 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Alderson in zone 6b in ZIP code 24910, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Alderson's NOAA station is in zone 7a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (20 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00460102; 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 Alderson?
In a normal year in Alderson, 20 days a year reach 90°F, 127 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 124 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 20a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 127a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 14high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 124a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 4a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1944) is 102°F, on July 14, 1954; the lowest is −12°F, on February 9, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 61.51 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 69.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00460102; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00460102. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Alderson?
Over a year 71% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Alderson, 4.1 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and January the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 65% | 2.2 |
| February | 65% | 2.9 |
| March | 67% | 3.9 |
| April | 71% | 5.1 |
| May | 70% | 5.5 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 75% | 5.9 |
| August | 76% | 5.3 |
| September | 74% | 4.4 |
| October | 72% | 3.4 |
| November | 73% | 2.6 |
| December | 65% | 1.9 |
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 Alderson need?
A normal year in Alderson brings 5,173 heating degree days, 4% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 773 cooling degree days, 15% fewer than the median (908). Seven months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,238 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,041 | 0 |
| February | 850 | 0 |
| March | 719 | 0 |
| April | 375 | 4 |
| May | 153 | 49 |
| June | 20 | 148 |
| July | 3 | 252 |
| August | 5 | 217 |
| September | 67 | 92 |
| October | 343 | 11 |
| November | 663 | 0 |
| December | 935 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,173 | 773 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00460102. 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 Alderson been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 53.7°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 52.8°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53.4°F | +0.6°F | 38.47 | 12.0 |
| 2022 | 52.3°F | −0.5°F | 45.00 | 11.4 |
| 2023 | 54.0°F | +1.2°F | 37.88 | 1.9 |
| 2024 | 55.4°F | +2.6°F | 39.59 | 6.8 |
| 2025 | 53.7°F | +0.9°F | 42.44 | 25.8 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00460102. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Alderson's climate compare?
Alderson is warmer than 31 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 9. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 52.8°F is warmer than 53%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Alderson is Dfa: continental, 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 Alderson share this climate record?
Meadow Bridge has no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of its 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.
- Meadow Bridge, WV311 people · 14 mi NW
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 Alderson's climate
What is the coldest month in Alderson?
January, with a normal high of 41°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (84°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow in Alderson?
Yes: 12 inches in a normal year, falling on 7 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (4.2 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Alderson?
May, with 4.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 2.55 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Alderson in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Alderson in zone 6b in ZIP code 24910, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Alderson's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 2°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 7a.
How late can frost come in Alderson?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 15. Waiting until May 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Bluestone Lake, WV14 miles from this station, 55.0°F a year
- Union, WV14 miles from this station, 52.8°F a year
- Lewisburg, WV17 miles from this station, 50.7°F a year
- White Sulphur Springs, WV20 miles from this station, 51.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made