Altoona, PA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Altoona's primary NOAA station, ALTOONA 3 W - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for Altoona
Altoona, Pennsylvania has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 50°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 50°F
- average temperature, NOAA 1991-2020 normal
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 44.7"
- annual precipitation · 38" snow
- 179 days
- growing season, frost-free days
Altoona: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00360140 · Altoona, PA 50°F mean · 44.7" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 50°F
- RANK-COOL #2,607
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Renovo
- PRCP-MID 44.7"
- SWING-WIDE 45°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,175 HDD
- STN-MULTI USC00360140
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Renovo, PA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every PA station list.
- Altoona (this station) 50°F
- Cold Wooster Wayne C…, OH 50°F
- Hot Renovo, PA 50°F
- Near Norton W, MA 50°F
- Near Middleboro, MA 50°F
Climate Living Index · Altoona
Altoona: 49/100 · grade D
Altoona publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Altoona, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 44.7 in · 9.7 from 35 in | 66/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 133 calendar days | 57/100 · C |
| Frost-free season | 179 days/year | 49/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 49.6°F · 17.9° from 67.5°F | 39/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 38.1 inches/year | 30/100 · F |
Altoona · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Altoona is a continental Köppen climate: Dfb
Coldest-month mean 26.3°F and warmest-month mean 71.4°F place this station in continental, no dry season, warm summer climates (Dfb). Class Dfb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfb
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 71.4°F
- Coldest month
- 26.3°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Altoona sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Altoona's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 38th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 68th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 60th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Altoona compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Altoona's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
59 37th percentile score exceeds 37% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). This entry sits in this band.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Above this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Above this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Altoona's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 49 complete annual observations from 1969 to 2025, ALTOONA 3 W warmed at a fitted rate of 0.34°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Altoona primary station fitted change +0.34 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F (1°C) | 19°F (-7°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 2.9" | 10.1" | 28.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 20°F (-6°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 2.6" | 11.0" | 25.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 46°F (8°C) | 28°F (-2°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 3.5" | 7.6" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 60°F (15°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 3.8" | 0.6" | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 70°F (21°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| June | 77°F (25°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| August | 80°F (27°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| September | 73°F (23°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| October | 61°F (16°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 3.8" | 0.0" | 3.4 | 0.0 |
| November | 49°F (9°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 3.6" | 1.2" | 15.7 | 0.0 |
| December | 38°F (3°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 3.4" | 7.6" | 26.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 82°F around July 14, short of 90°F on every date, while 133 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 18°F near January 22.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 29, then returns to freezing around November 18, covering 133 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is May 9, when 52% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 28 at 36%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 159 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 23 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Altoona.
Where Altoona Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Altoona earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 10.1"
14.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 11.0"
12.3 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.6"
12.4 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.6"
13.9 days with precipitation
15.8 days with precipitation
12.8 days with precipitation
12.6 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
11.5 days with precipitation
13.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.2"
13.7 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.6"
14.4 days with precipitation
Altoona spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 27% of the annual total and December through February 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Altoona has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 45.1°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 4.4" and February 2.6". The three wettest months together take 29% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
How Altoona's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 158 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 44.7" between them, or roughly 0.28 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Winter brings real snow to Altoona
Altoona averages 38.1 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 22 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 38.1 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 22 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 9% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
October 21
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 25
50% probability date
Growing Season
179 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,175
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
586
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside PA closest to Altoona on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (50°F here).
- Castle Rock, CO 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Hershey, NE 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Kewanee, IL 50°F · 0.0°F off
- Leon, IA 50°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (44.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Springfield, MO 44.7" · 0.0" off
- Corinna, ME 44.7" · 0.0" off
- Northfield, VT 44.7" · 0.0" off
- Athens, TX 44.8" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Altoona
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Altoona's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,175 annual heating degree days against 586 for cooling. Its 45.1°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Altoona's frost-free season lasts about 179 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Altoona coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 26°F (-3°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Altoona typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Altoona snow peak
February
Altoona averages 38.1 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Altoona's climate
How much snow does Altoona get? ▼
How cold does Altoona get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Altoona? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Altoona's primary station: ALTOONA 3 W (USC00360140). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the Altoona area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 4202184). Match rule for Altoona: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Altoona comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.