Ashland, Kentucky climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Ashland's normal year runs from 23°F January nights to 85°F July afternoons, with 46.7 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 12.1°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 30°C, 1,186 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAshland
- Station IDUSC00150254
- Location38.45°N 82.61°W
- Elevation560 ft (171 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population21,066
On October 22, the normal high in Ashland is 64°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Ashland.
- Jan 40° 23°
- Feb 44° 24°
- Mar 54° 32°
- Apr 67° 41°
- May 75° 51°
- Jun 83° 61°
- Jul 85° 65°
- Aug 84° 63°
- Sep 78° 56°
- Oct 67° 43°
- Nov 54° 32°
- Dec 44° 27°
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 Ashland each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 85°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 23°F. The most precipitation falls in May (4.85 in), the least in October (2.97 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 23°F | 31.2°F | 3.51 | 12 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 44°F | 24°F | 34.3°F | 3.69 | 11 | <1 | 24 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 54°F | 32°F | 42.7°F | 4.36 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 41°F | 53.9°F | 3.85 | 12 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 75°F | 51°F | 62.9°F | 4.85 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 83°F | 61°F | 71.5°F | 4.46 | 11 | 7 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 85°F | 65°F | 75.0°F | 4.58 | 11 | 12 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 84°F | 63°F | 73.6°F | 3.91 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 78°F | 56°F | 66.9°F | 3.32 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 67°F | 43°F | 54.7°F | 2.97 | 9 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 54°F | 32°F | 43.2°F | 2.98 | 10 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 44°F | 27°F | 35.5°F | 4.20 | 12 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 65°F | 43°F | 53.8°F | 46.68 | 130 | 35 | 125 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4°C | −5°C | −0.4°C | 89 mm |
| February | 7°C | −4°C | 1.3°C | 94 mm |
| March | 12°C | 0°C | 5.9°C | 111 mm |
| April | 19°C | 5°C | 12.2°C | 98 mm |
| May | 24°C | 11°C | 17.2°C | 123 mm |
| June | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 113 mm |
| July | 30°C | 18°C | 23.9°C | 116 mm |
| August | 29°C | 17°C | 23.1°C | 99 mm |
| September | 26°C | 13°C | 19.4°C | 84 mm |
| October | 19°C | 6°C | 12.6°C | 75 mm |
| November | 12°C | 0°C | 6.2°C | 76 mm |
| December | 7°C | −3°C | 1.9°C | 107 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, South Point (2 miles away), gets 6 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00150254; 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 Ashland?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, August, September and October. Of those, September 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 USC00150254.
When is the last frost in Ashland?
In Ashland, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 22 in half of years and after May 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 23 in half of years and before October 11 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 221 year in 10 after May 11; 9 in 10 after April 6
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 231 year in 10 before October 11; 9 in 10 before November 3
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 181 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 205 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 8 in half of springs and before November 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ashland in zone 7a in ZIP code 41101.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Kentucky · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00150254; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Ashland?
In a normal year in Ashland, 35 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 125 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 130 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 35a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 125a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 17high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 130a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1897) is 107°F, on July 28, 1930; the lowest is −25°F, on January 20, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2020, with 56.47 in; the snowiest season is 1993–94, with 31.4 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00150254; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00150254. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Ashland?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Ashland, 4.0 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (80%) and December the cloudiest (59%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 60% | 1.9 |
| February | 60% | 2.6 |
| March | 65% | 3.7 |
| April | 71% | 5.0 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 78% | 6.2 |
| July | 77% | 5.9 |
| August | 80% | 5.5 |
| September | 78% | 4.5 |
| October | 72% | 3.3 |
| November | 70% | 2.3 |
| December | 59% | 1.6 |
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 Ashland need?
A normal year in Ashland brings 5,078 heating degree days, 5% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,018 cooling degree days, 12% more 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 3,564 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,049 | 0 |
| February | 858 | 0 |
| March | 693 | 1 |
| April | 350 | 15 |
| May | 137 | 74 |
| June | 15 | 212 |
| July | 1 | 311 |
| August | 3 | 268 |
| September | 65 | 122 |
| October | 335 | 14 |
| November | 656 | 0 |
| December | 916 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,078 | 1,018 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00150254. 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 Ashland been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 56.6°F, 2.8°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 53.8°F. 1 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 53.7°F | −0.1°F | 43.58 |
| 2023 | 56.6°F | +2.8°F | 35.84 |
Over 86 complete years from 1884 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.2°F per century (+0.12°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00150254; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Ashland's climate compare?
Ashland is warmer than 3 of the other 67 places with their own NOAA record in Kentucky, and wetter than 4. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 53.8°F is warmer than 56%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Ashland 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 Ashland share this climate record?
4 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.
- Ironton, OH10,147 people · 6 mi NW
- South Point, OH3,663 people · 3 mi SE
- Coal Grove, OH1,804 people · 3 mi NW
- Hanging Rock, OH193 people · 10 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 Ashland's climate
What is the coldest month in Ashland?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 23°F. The warmest is July (85°F by day, 65°F at night).
Does it snow in Ashland?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Ashland's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, South Point (2 miles away), records 6 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Ashland?
May, with 4.85 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 2.97 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Ashland in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Ashland in zone 7a in ZIP code 41101.
How late can frost come in Ashland?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 22; in one year in ten it comes after May 11. Waiting until May 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Kentucky climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- South Point, OH2 miles from this station, 55.7°F a year
- Huntington Sewage Plant, WV6 miles from this station, 56.3°F a year
- Huntington, WV7 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Pea Ridge, WV17 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made