Banner Elk, North Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Banner Elk's normal year runs from 22°F January nights to 77°F July afternoons, with 53.8 inches of precipitation and 31 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.1°C, January lows of −5°C, July highs of 25°C, 1,366 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBanner Elk
- Station IDUSC00310506
- Location36.16°N 81.87°W
- Elevation3,770 ft (1,149 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population1,186
On October 23, the normal high in Banner Elk is 60°F and the normal low 37°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 Banner Elk.
- Jan 40° 22°
- Feb 44° 24°
- Mar 50° 30°
- Apr 60° 39°
- May 68° 47°
- Jun 74° 56°
- Jul 77° 59°
- Aug 76° 57°
- Sep 71° 52°
- Oct 62° 40°
- Nov 52° 31°
- Dec 44° 26°
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 Banner Elk each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 77°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 22°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.68 in), the least in November (3.30 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40°F | 22°F | 31.2°F | 4.62 | 6.9 | 14 | <1 | 25 | 10 h |
| February | 44°F | 24°F | 33.9°F | 3.70 | 11.4 | 11 | <1 | 22 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 50°F | 30°F | 40.4°F | 4.87 | 4.8 | 13 | <1 | 19 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 60°F | 39°F | 49.5°F | 4.83 | 0.8 | 12 | <1 | 9 | 13 h |
| May | 68°F | 47°F | 57.7°F | 5.13 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | 1 | 14 h |
| June | 74°F | 56°F | 64.8°F | 5.12 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 77°F | 59°F | 67.8°F | 5.68 | 0.0 | 15 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 76°F | 57°F | 66.8°F | 4.31 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 71°F | 52°F | 61.4°F | 4.55 | 0.0 | 12 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 62°F | 40°F | 51.1°F | 3.41 | 0.1 | 9 | <1 | 7 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 52°F | 31°F | 41.5°F | 3.30 | 1.6 | 10 | <1 | 18 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 44°F | 26°F | 34.7°F | 4.25 | 5.8 | 13 | <1 | 23 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 40°F | 50.1°F | 53.77 | 31.4 | 152 | <1 | 127 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | −5°C | −0.4°C | 117 mm | 18 cm |
| February | 6°C | −4°C | 1.1°C | 94 mm | 29 cm |
| March | 10°C | −1°C | 4.7°C | 124 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 16°C | 4°C | 9.7°C | 123 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 20°C | 9°C | 14.3°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23°C | 13°C | 18.2°C | 130 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25°C | 15°C | 19.9°C | 144 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25°C | 14°C | 19.3°C | 109 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 11°C | 16.3°C | 116 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 17°C | 5°C | 10.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 84 mm | 4 cm |
| December | 7°C | −4°C | 1.5°C | 108 mm | 15 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310506; 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 Banner Elk?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, September has the fewest days with rain (12).
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 USC00310506.
When is the last frost in Banner Elk?
In Banner Elk, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 30 in half of years and after May 17 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 14 in half of years and before October 1 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 301 year in 10 after May 17; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 141 year in 10 before October 1; 9 in 10 before October 27
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 167 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 192 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 23 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Banner Elk in zone 6b in ZIP code 28604, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Banner Elk's NOAA station is in zone 6b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (17 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 USC00310506; 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 Banner Elk?
In a normal year in Banner Elk, a 90°F day is rare, 127 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 152 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 127a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 20high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 152a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 13a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 98°F, on June 26, 1948; the lowest is −31°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2018, with 73.78 in; the snowiest season is 1959–60, with 100.7 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00310506; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00310506. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Banner Elk?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Banner Elk, 4.2 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (75%) and February the cloudiest (66%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 68% | 2.4 |
| February | 66% | 3.0 |
| March | 69% | 4.1 |
| April | 72% | 5.2 |
| May | 71% | 5.7 |
| June | 75% | 6.1 |
| July | 74% | 5.8 |
| August | 75% | 5.3 |
| September | 74% | 4.6 |
| October | 74% | 3.6 |
| November | 75% | 2.8 |
| December | 68% | 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 Banner Elk need?
A normal year in Banner Elk brings 5,690 heating degree days, 6% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 268 cooling degree days, 71% fewer 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 2,395 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,048 | 0 |
| February | 871 | 0 |
| March | 763 | 0 |
| April | 466 | 1 |
| May | 236 | 8 |
| June | 59 | 52 |
| July | 16 | 103 |
| August | 24 | 80 |
| September | 130 | 22 |
| October | 434 | 2 |
| November | 703 | 0 |
| December | 939 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 5,690 | 268 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00310506. 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 Banner Elk been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 49.6°F, 0.5°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 50.1°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50.5°F | +0.4°F | 53.99 | 29.4 |
| 2022 | 49.5°F | −0.6°F | 54.29 | 31.6 |
| 2023 | 50.3°F | +0.2°F | 51.23 | 12.7 |
| 2024 | 50.7°F | +0.6°F | 68.11 | 28.2 |
| 2025 | 49.6°F | −0.5°F | 45.66 | 32.3 |
Over 82 complete years from 1908 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00310506; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Banner Elk's climate compare?
Banner Elk is warmer than 2 of the other 130 places with their own NOAA record in North Carolina, and wetter than 87. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.1°F is warmer than 40%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Banner Elk is Dfb: continental, no dry season, warm 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 Banner Elk 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.
- Sugar Mountain, NC382 people · 2 mi S
- Seven Devils, NC316 people · 3 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.
Questions about Banner Elk's climate
What is the coldest month in Banner Elk?
January, with a normal high of 40°F and a normal low of 22°F. The warmest is July (77°F by day, 59°F at night).
Does it snow in Banner Elk?
Yes: 31 inches in a normal year, falling on 19 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in February (11.4 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Banner Elk?
July, with 5.68 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.30 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Banner Elk in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Banner Elk in zone 6b in ZIP code 28604, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Banner Elk's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −3°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 6b.
How late can frost come in Banner Elk?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 30; in one year in ten it comes after May 17. Waiting until May 17 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
- Beech Mountain, NC2 miles from this station, 45.8°F a year
- Grandfather Mountain, NC5 miles from this station, 47.5°F a year
- Flat Springs (1 mi E), NC7 miles from this station, 52.2°F a year
- Blowing Rock, NC9 miles from this station, 49.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made