Amherst, MA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Amherst's primary NOAA station, AMHERST.
The climate verdict for Amherst
Water is the standout signal in Amherst, Massachusetts: 46.6 inches of precipitation in a normal year. Against that wet profile, NOAA records an annual average of 48°F. Its climate comfort score of 59/100 (moderate) lands mid-pack nationally, exceeding 37% of station-mapped location scores.
- 48°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 59/100
- comfort score, above 37% of station-mapped location scores
- 46.6"
- annual precipitation · 37" snow
- 156 days
- frost-free growing season
Amherst: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00190120 · Amherst, MA 48°F mean · 46.6" precip
TEMP-COOL · RANK-COOL · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-WIDE · COMF-MID · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-COOL 48°F
- RANK-COOL #2,196
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Copake
- PRCP-MID 46.6"
- SWING-WIDE 48°F
- COMF-MID 59/100
- LOAD-HEAT 6,664 HDD
- STN-1 USC00190120
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Copake, NY (+ 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 MA station list.
- Amherst (this station) 48°F
- Hot Orange, MA 48°F
- Near Copake, NY 48°F
- Near Elmira, NY 48°F
- Near Manchester, MI 48°F
Climate Living Index · Amherst
Amherst: 39/100 · grade F
Amherst publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Amherst, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 59/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Precipitation balance | 46.6 in · 11.6 from 35 in | 59/100 · C |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 157 calendar days | 41/100 · D |
| Annual temperature balance | 48.2°F · 19.3° from 67.5°F | 32/100 · F |
| Snowfall burden | 36.5 inches/year | 32/100 · F |
| Frost-free season | 156 days/year | 30/100 · F |
Amherst · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Amherst is a continental Köppen climate: Dfa
Coldest-month mean 23.9°F and warmest-month mean 71.7°F place this station in continental, no dry season, hot summer climates (Dfa). Class Dfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: continental, specifically continental, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Dfa
- Group
- Continental
- Warmest month
- 71.7°F
- Coldest month
- 23.9°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 Amherst sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Amherst's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 32nd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Top 28% wettest
- Amherst's annual total ranks in the wetter third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Wider than 72%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Amherst is large versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Amherst compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Amherst'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
Amherst's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 117 complete annual observations from 1886 to 2025, AMHERST warmed at a fitted rate of 0.15°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Amherst primary station fitted change +0.15 °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) | 14°F (-10°C) | 24°F (-5°C) | 3.4" | 8.1" | 29.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 37°F (3°C) | 15°F (-9°C) | 26°F (-3°C) | 2.9" | 11.0" | 26.7 | 0.0 |
| March | 45°F (7°C) | 24°F (-4°C) | 35°F (2°C) | 3.5" | 7.3" | 25.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 58°F (15°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 3.8" | 1.0" | 12.8 | 0.2 |
| May | 70°F (21°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 58°F (14°C) | 3.7" | 0.0" | 1.6 | 0.6 |
| June | 78°F (26°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| July | 83°F (28°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 4.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| August | 82°F (28°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 4.1" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 3.2 |
| September | 74°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 4.6" | 0.0" | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| October | 62°F (17°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 4.7" | 0.0" | 9.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 50°F (10°C) | 29°F (-2°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 3.4" | 1.6" | 20.5 | 0.0 |
| December | 39°F (4°C) | 21°F (-6°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 3.9" | 7.5" | 27.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 84°F around July 17, short of 90°F on every date, while 157 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 13°F near January 26.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into April 9, then returns to freezing around November 5, covering 157 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 16, when 40% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 4 at 28%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 125 wet dates a year.
The widest day
May 1 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 25°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Amherst.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 8.1"
10.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 11.0"
9.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.3"
9.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.0"
11.1 days with precipitation
12.6 days with precipitation
11.3 days with precipitation
11.0 days with precipitation
10.0 days with precipitation
8.9 days with precipitation
10.8 days with precipitation
Snow: 1.6"
9.5 days with precipitation
Snow: 7.5"
10.6 days with precipitation
Amherst 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 22%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Amherst has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a wide 47.8°F gap between its warmest and coldest month.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: October averages 4.7" and February 2.9". The three wettest months together take 30% 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.
When it rains in Amherst, it arrives in quantity
46.6" of precipitation falls across only about 125 wet days here, averaging 0.37 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 125 a year, 34% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.37 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 13
- Fewest wet days
- September, about 9
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Amherst
Amherst averages 36.5 inches of snowfall a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 19 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: 36.5 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 19 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 8% 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 8
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
May 5
50% probability date
Growing Season
156 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
6,664
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
580
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MA closest to Amherst 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 (48°F here).
- Belle Plaine, IA 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Broadus, MT 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Compton, IL 48°F · 0.0°F off
- Copake, NY 48°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (46.6" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Newark, NJ 46.6" · 0.0" off
- Charlotte Court House, VA 46.6" · 0.0" off
- Spavinaw, OK 46.6" · 0.0" off
- Asheboro, NC 46.6" · 0.0" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Amherst
heating led · wet · mid swing
Amherst's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 6,664 annual heating degree days against 580 for cooling. Its 47.8°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Amherst's frost-free season lasts about 156 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Amherst coldest normal
January
Averaging 24°F (-5°C), this month sits below freezing for the month as a whole, not merely overnight.
-
2. Amherst typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Amherst snow peak
February
Amherst averages 36.5 inches of snow a year, with February the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Amherst's climate
How much snow does Amherst get? ▼
How cold does Amherst get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Amherst? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Amherst's primary station: AMHERST (USC00190120). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Amherst; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Amherst 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.