Asheville, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Asheville's normal year runs from 29°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 49.6 inches of precipitation and 10 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.1°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,260 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAsheville Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00003812
- Location35.43°N 82.54°W
- Elevation2,117 ft (645 m)
- From the center10 miles
- Population94,992
On October 23, the normal high in Asheville is 67°F and the normal low 43°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Asheville.
- Jan 49° 29°
- Feb 53° 31°
- Mar 60° 37°
- Apr 69° 45°
- May 76° 53°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 85° 65°
- Aug 84° 64°
- Sep 79° 58°
- Oct 70° 46°
- Nov 60° 36°
- Dec 52° 31°
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 Asheville each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 29°F. The most precipitation falls in August (5.04 in), the least in October (3.37 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 29°F | 38.7°F | 4.13 | 3.6 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 31°F | 42.1°F | 3.46 | 1.9 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 60°F | 37°F | 48.4°F | 3.80 | 1.9 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 45°F | 57.0°F | 4.17 | 0.2 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 13 h |
| May | 76°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 71.8°F | 4.79 | 0.0 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 85°F | 65°F | 75.1°F | 4.67 | 0.0 | 14 | 4 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 84°F | 64°F | 74.0°F | 5.04 | 0.0 | 13 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 79°F | 58°F | 68.3°F | 4.13 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 70°F | 46°F | 57.9°F | 3.37 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 60°F | 36°F | 47.8°F | 3.72 | 0.2 | 9 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 31°F | 41.4°F | 4.18 | 2.5 | 10 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 46°F | 57.3°F | 49.59 | 10.3 | 131 | 9 | 88 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.7°C | 105 mm | 9 cm |
| February | 12°C | 0°C | 5.6°C | 88 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 15°C | 3°C | 9.1°C | 97 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 21°C | 7°C | 13.9°C | 106 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 22.1°C | 122 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 119 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29°C | 18°C | 23.3°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 26°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 105 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 21°C | 8°C | 14.4°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 15°C | 2°C | 8.8°C | 94 mm | 1 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.2°C | 106 mm | 6 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003812; 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 Asheville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, 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 USW00003812.
When is the last frost in Asheville?
In Asheville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 9 in half of years and after April 27 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 28 in half of years and before October 14 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 91 year in 10 after April 27; 9 in 10 after March 22
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 281 year in 10 before October 14; 9 in 10 before November 9
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 201 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 228 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 26 in half of springs and before November 8 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Asheville in zone 7b across its 5 ZIP code areas (7b in 28806, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Asheville's NOAA station is in zone 7b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (30 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 USW00003812; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Asheville ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Asheville's 5 ZIP code areas are all in zone 7b. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Asheville?
In a normal year in Asheville, 9 days a year reach 90°F, 88 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 131 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 9a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 88a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 5high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 131a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 3a normal year
The highest temperature in Asheville's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1876) is 100°F, on August 21, 1983; the lowest is −16°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 79.48 in; the snowiest season is 1968–69, with 48.2 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003812; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record AVLthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Asheville, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 64°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 65°F; the driest air comes in January (26°F). February is the windiest month (8.5 mph on average), and October has the most clear or nearly clear hours (62%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26°F | 63% | 43% | 8.0 mph | 58% | 29% |
| February | 31°F | 62% | 43% | 8.5 mph | 54% | 32% |
| March | 38°F | 61% | 41% | 7.9 mph | 55% | 29% |
| April | 47°F | 66% | 45% | 6.8 mph | 57% | 23% |
| May | 58°F | 73% | 52% | 5.3 mph | 55% | 21% |
| June | 63°F | 75% | 56% | 4.7 mph | 57% | 17% |
| July | 65°F | 78% | 58% | 4.5 mph | 56% | 18% |
| August | 63°F | 78% | 56% | 4.0 mph | 53% | 23% |
| September | 54°F | 77% | 53% | 4.9 mph | 58% | 24% |
| October | 41°F | 70% | 45% | 6.2 mph | 62% | 24% |
| November | 33°F | 68% | 46% | 7.2 mph | 61% | 26% |
| December | 29°F | 69% | 50% | 8.0 mph | 55% | 31% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00003812. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Asheville?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Asheville, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. November is the sunniest month (77%) and February the cloudiest (70%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 330th (with 21 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 73% | 2.6 |
| February | 70% | 3.3 |
| March | 71% | 4.3 |
| April | 74% | 5.4 |
| May | 74% | 5.9 |
| June | 76% | 6.2 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.4 |
| September | 76% | 4.7 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 77% | 3.0 |
| December | 71% | 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 Asheville need?
A normal year in Asheville brings 3,841 heating degree days, 29% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,049 cooling degree days, 16% 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 3,901 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 814 | 0 |
| February | 643 | 0 |
| March | 515 | 1 |
| April | 254 | 14 |
| May | 84 | 76 |
| June | 9 | 213 |
| July | 0 | 313 |
| August | 0 | 279 |
| September | 34 | 133 |
| October | 239 | 19 |
| November | 517 | 1 |
| December | 732 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 3,841 | 1,049 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003812. 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 Asheville been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 57.9°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 57.3°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57.5°F | +0.2°F | 54.51 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 56.7°F | −0.6°F | 49.02 | 10.9 |
| 2023 | 58.5°F | +1.2°F | 38.42 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 59.2°F | +1.9°F | 66.05 | 0.1 |
| 2025 | 57.9°F | +0.6°F | 43.90 | 2.0 |
Over 121 complete years from 1903 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.4°F per century (+0.19°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003812; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Asheville's climate compare?
Asheville is warmer than 31 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 55. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.3°F is warmer than 67%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Asheville 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 Asheville share this climate record?
2 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.
- Royal Pines, NC4,528 people · 4 mi NE
- Hoopers Creek, NC1,623 people · 6 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Asheville's other NOAA stations record?
3 more NOAA stations keep 1991-2020 normals in or near Asheville. This page uses Asheville Regional Airport; the others differ by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville (13 mi S) USW00053878 | 11 mi S | 2,103 ft | 55.4°F | 27°F | 83°F | 51.4 | – | April 17 |
| Asheville (8 mi SSW) USW00053877 | 6 mi SW | 2,151 ft | 54.5°F | 25°F | 83°F | 51.2 | – | April 24 |
| Asheville station USW00013872 | 2 mi N | 2,238 ft | 57.3°F | 29°F | 86°F | 40.6 | 12 | April 6 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Asheville's climate
What is the coldest month in Asheville?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 29°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Asheville?
Yes: 10 inches in a normal year, falling on 6 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (3.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Asheville?
August, with 5.04 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.37 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Asheville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Asheville in zone 7b across its 5 ZIP code areas (7b in 28806, the largest). By the same method at Asheville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 8°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 7b.
How late can frost come in Asheville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 9; in one year in ten it comes after April 27. Waiting until April 27 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Asheville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- North Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Fletcher, NC1 miles from this station, 55.2°F a year
- Bent Creek, NC6 miles from this station, 54.4°F a year
- Hendersonville, NC9 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Enka, NC10 miles from this station, 56.0°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made