Athens, Tennessee climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Athens's normal year runs from 28°F January nights to 88°F July afternoons, with 60.4 inches of precipitation and 4 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.9°C, January lows of −2°C, July highs of 31°C, 1,534 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationAthens
- Station IDUSC00400284
- Location35.43°N 84.58°W
- Elevation940 ft (287 m)
- Population15,050
On October 22, the normal high in Athens is 70°F and the normal low 44°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 29%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Athens.
- Jan 49° 28°
- Feb 53° 31°
- Mar 62° 37°
- Apr 71° 45°
- May 79° 55°
- Jun 85° 63°
- Jul 88° 68°
- Aug 88° 66°
- Sep 83° 60°
- Oct 73° 47°
- Nov 61° 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 Athens each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 88°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 28°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.91 in), the least in October (3.58 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 28°F | 38.4°F | 5.56 | 1.0 | 12 | <1 | 21 | 10 h |
| February | 53°F | 31°F | 41.9°F | 5.07 | 1.3 | 12 | <1 | 17 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 62°F | 37°F | 49.5°F | 5.51 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 11 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 71°F | 45°F | 58.3°F | 5.50 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 3 | 13 h |
| May | 79°F | 55°F | 66.8°F | 4.59 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 85°F | 63°F | 74.4°F | 5.03 | 0.0 | 12 | 6 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 88°F | 68°F | 77.9°F | 5.52 | 0.0 | 12 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 88°F | 66°F | 77.2°F | 4.03 | 0.0 | 10 | 12 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 83°F | 60°F | 71.5°F | 5.20 | 0.0 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 47°F | 59.9°F | 3.58 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 4.88 | 0.1 | 10 | <1 | 13 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 5.91 | 0.4 | 12 | <1 | 19 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 47°F | 58.8°F | 60.38 | 3.6 | 131 | 39 | 85 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9°C | −2°C | 3.6°C | 141 mm | 3 cm |
| February | 12°C | −1°C | 5.5°C | 129 mm | 3 cm |
| March | 17°C | 3°C | 9.7°C | 140 mm | 2 cm |
| April | 22°C | 7°C | 14.6°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 26°C | 13°C | 19.3°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 23.6°C | 128 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 31°C | 20°C | 25.5°C | 140 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 31°C | 19°C | 25.1°C | 102 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 28°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 132 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 23°C | 8°C | 15.5°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 124 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 11°C | 0°C | 5.3°C | 150 mm | 1 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00400284; 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 Athens?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, 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 USC00400284.
When is the last frost in Athens?
In Athens, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 6 in half of years and after April 24 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 31 in half of years and before October 20 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 61 year in 10 after April 24; 9 in 10 after March 20
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 311 year in 10 before October 20; 9 in 10 before November 13
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 208 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 230 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 27 in half of springs and before November 10 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Athens in zone 7b in ZIP code 37303. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Athens'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 Tennessee · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00400284; 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 in Athens?
In a normal year in Athens, 39 days a year reach 90°F, 85 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 131 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 39a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 85a 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
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1962) is 105°F, on July 18, 1980; the lowest is −16°F, on January 30, 1966.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 86.56 in; the snowiest season is 1992–93, with 23.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00400284; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00400284. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Athens?
Over a year 74% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Athens, 4.3 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (79%) and February the cloudiest (63%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 67% | 2.4 |
| February | 63% | 2.9 |
| March | 68% | 4.0 |
| April | 75% | 5.3 |
| May | 76% | 5.9 |
| June | 79% | 6.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.0 |
| August | 79% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 4.8 |
| October | 76% | 3.8 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 65% | 2.1 |
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 Athens need?
A normal year in Athens brings 3,700 heating degree days, 31% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 1,479 cooling degree days, 63% 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 4,495 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 825 | 0 |
| February | 646 | 0 |
| March | 485 | 4 |
| April | 229 | 28 |
| May | 67 | 123 |
| June | 4 | 286 |
| July | 0 | 402 |
| August | 0 | 378 |
| September | 19 | 214 |
| October | 198 | 40 |
| November | 496 | 3 |
| December | 731 | 1 |
| Year (annual) | 3,700 | 1,479 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00400284. 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 Athens been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 60.5°F, 1.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.8°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59.8°F | +1.0°F | 61.59 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 59.3°F | +0.5°F | 58.68 | 6.8 |
| 2023 | 60.0°F | +1.3°F | 58.03 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 60.5°F | +1.7°F | 54.28 | 2.6 |
Over 55 complete years from 1963 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.2°F per century (+0.34°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00400284; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Athens's climate compare?
Athens is warmer than 69 of the other 115 places with their own NOAA record in Tennessee, and wetter than 98. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.8°F is warmer than 71%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Athens 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 Athens share this climate record?
5 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.
- Etowah, TN3,742 people · 7 mi SE
- Englewood, TN1,590 people · 5 mi E
- Niota, TN821 people · 6 mi N
- Riceville, TN776 people · 7 mi SW
- Delano, TN767 people · 12 mi S
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 Athens's climate
What is the coldest month in Athens?
January, with a normal high of 49°F and a normal low of 28°F. The warmest is July (88°F by day, 68°F at night).
Does it snow in Athens?
Yes: 4 inches in a normal year, falling on 2 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (1.3 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Athens?
December, with 5.91 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is October with 3.58 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Athens in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Athens in zone 7b in ZIP code 37303. By the same method at Athens'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 Athens?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 6; in one year in ten it comes after April 24. Waiting until April 24 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Tennessee climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Decatur, TN15 miles from this station, 58.4°F a year
- Tellico Plains, TN17 miles from this station, 59.2°F a year
- Cleveland, TN19 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Spring City, TN23 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