Arcola, North Carolina climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Arcola's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 89°F July afternoons, with 47.7 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.4°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 32°C, 1,211 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationArcola
- Station IDUSC00310241
- Location36.29°N 77.98°W
- Elevation330 ft (101 m)
On October 22, the normal high in Arcola is 71°F and the normal low 45°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 23%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Arcola.
- Jan 53° 29°
- Feb 56° 32°
- Mar 63° 37°
- Apr 73° 46°
- May 79° 55°
- Jun 86° 64°
- Jul 89° 68°
- Aug 87° 66°
- Sep 82° 60°
- Oct 73° 48°
- Nov 63° 38°
- Dec 56° 33°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Arcola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 89°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.09 in), the least in February (2.67 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 29°F | 41.0°F | 3.72 | 3.0 | 9 | <1 | 23 | 10 h |
| February | 56°F | 32°F | 43.7°F | 2.67 | 1.0 | 7 | <1 | 19 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 63°F | 37°F | 49.9°F | 4.49 | 0.3 | 9 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 73°F | 46°F | 59.1°F | 3.80 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 55°F | 67.1°F | 3.19 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 86°F | 64°F | 74.6°F | 4.29 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 89°F | 68°F | 78.6°F | 5.09 | 0.0 | 9 | 19 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 87°F | 66°F | 76.7°F | 4.82 | 0.0 | 7 | 13 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 82°F | 60°F | 70.8°F | 5.09 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 48°F | 60.3°F | 3.88 | 0.0 | 7 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 63°F | 38°F | 50.9°F | 3.30 | 0.1 | 7 | <1 | 10 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 56°F | 33°F | 44.3°F | 3.32 | 1.1 | 9 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 72°F | 48°F | 59.8°F | 47.66 | 5.5 | 98 | 50 | 86 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C | −2°C | 5.0°C | 94 mm | 8 cm |
| February | 13°C | 0°C | 6.5°C | 68 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 17°C | 3°C | 9.9°C | 114 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 23°C | 8°C | 15.1°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.5°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 18°C | 23.7°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 25.9°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 24.8°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 129 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 15.7°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 17°C | 4°C | 10.5°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 0°C | 6.8°C | 84 mm | 3 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310241; 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.
Which months are mildest at Arcola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, September and October. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USC00310241.
When is the last frost at Arcola?
In Arcola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 3 in half of years and after April 19 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 5 in half of years and before October 16 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 31 year in 10 after April 19; 9 in 10 after March 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 51 year in 10 before October 16; 9 in 10 before November 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 217 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 240 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 23 in half of springs and before November 17 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Arcola in zone 8a in ZIP code 27844, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (16 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 North Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00310241; 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 at Arcola?
In a normal year in Arcola, 50 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 86 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 98 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 50a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 86a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 2high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 98a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 2a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1943) is 104°F, on June 19, 1944; the lowest is −7°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1999, with 63.66 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 26.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00310241; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00310241. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Arcola?
Over a year 77% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Arcola, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (81%) and March the cloudiest (72%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74% | 2.5 |
| February | 72% | 3.2 |
| March | 72% | 4.2 |
| April | 76% | 5.4 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 81% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.1 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 76% | 4.5 |
| October | 75% | 3.5 |
| November | 77% | 2.8 |
| December | 73% | 2.2 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Arcola record?
A normal year at Arcola brings 3,342 heating degree days, 38% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,462 cooling degree days, 61% 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 4,539 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 744 | 0 |
| February | 595 | 0 |
| March | 471 | 3 |
| April | 206 | 30 |
| May | 53 | 117 |
| June | 5 | 295 |
| July | 0 | 420 |
| August | 1 | 365 |
| September | 18 | 193 |
| October | 180 | 36 |
| November | 426 | 3 |
| December | 644 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,342 | 1,462 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310241. 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.
How does Arcola's climate compare?
Arcola is warmer than 67 of the 131 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 35. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 59.8°F is warmer than 74%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Arcola 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 Arcola share this climate record?
3 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.
- Hollister, NC897 people · 3 mi SE
- Littleton, NC539 people · 11 mi N
- Centerville, NC136 people · 10 mi SW
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 Arcola's climate
What is the coldest month at Arcola?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (89°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow at Arcola?
Yes: 6 inches in a normal year, falling on 3 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.0 inches).
What is the rainiest month at Arcola?
July, with 5.09 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.67 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Arcola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Arcola in zone 8a in ZIP code 27844, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 9°F (16 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come at Arcola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 3; in one year in ten it comes after April 19. Waiting until April 19 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
- Roanoke Rapids, NC18 miles from this station, 60.6°F a year
- Louisburg, NC22 miles from this station, 59.1°F a year
- Henderson, NC24 miles from this station, 58.2°F a year
- John H Kerr Dam, VA28 miles from this station, 60.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made