Bartow, Florida climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bartow's normal year runs from 50°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 50.9 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 22.8°C, January lows of 10°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,292 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBartow (1 mi SE)
- Station IDUSC00080478
- Location27.89°N 81.83°W
- Elevation111 ft (34 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population22,084
On October 22, the normal high in Bartow is 84°F and the normal low 64°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bartow.
- Jan 73° 50°
- Feb 76° 52°
- Mar 80° 56°
- Apr 84° 61°
- May 89° 66°
- Jun 91° 71°
- Jul 92° 73°
- Aug 92° 73°
- Sep 90° 72°
- Oct 85° 66°
- Nov 79° 58°
- Dec 75° 53°
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 Bartow each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 50°F. The most precipitation falls in June (8.28 in), the least in November (1.49 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 73°F | 50°F | 61.2°F | 2.66 | 6 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 30 min |
| February | 76°F | 52°F | 64.0°F | 2.10 | 5 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 80°F | 56°F | 67.7°F | 2.84 | 6 | 1 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 84°F | 61°F | 72.5°F | 2.72 | 5 | 5 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 89°F | 66°F | 77.6°F | 2.95 | 7 | 16 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| June | 91°F | 71°F | 81.1°F | 8.28 | 13 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| July | 92°F | 73°F | 82.3°F | 7.56 | 15 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| August | 92°F | 73°F | 82.3°F | 7.78 | 16 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| September | 90°F | 72°F | 80.7°F | 7.31 | 12 | 20 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 85°F | 66°F | 75.5°F | 3.03 | 7 | 6 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 79°F | 58°F | 68.3°F | 1.49 | 4 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 50 min |
| December | 75°F | 53°F | 63.6°F | 2.16 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 84°F | 62°F | 73.1°F | 50.88 | 101 | 121 | 2 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 68 mm |
| February | 24°C | 11°C | 17.8°C | 53 mm |
| March | 27°C | 13°C | 19.8°C | 72 mm |
| April | 29°C | 16°C | 22.5°C | 69 mm |
| May | 32°C | 19°C | 25.3°C | 75 mm |
| June | 33°C | 22°C | 27.3°C | 210 mm |
| July | 33°C | 23°C | 27.9°C | 192 mm |
| August | 33°C | 23°C | 27.9°C | 198 mm |
| September | 32°C | 22°C | 27.1°C | 186 mm |
| October | 30°C | 19°C | 24.2°C | 77 mm |
| November | 26°C | 14°C | 20.2°C | 38 mm |
| December | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 55 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00080478; 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 Bartow?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, April, November and December. Of those, November has the fewest days with rain (4).
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 USC00080478.
When is the last frost in Bartow?
In Bartow, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 24 in half of years and after February 20 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before January 7 in half of years and before December 17 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 65% of years here (NOAA).
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 241 year in 10 after February 20; 9 in 10 after December 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- January 71 year in 10 before December 17; 9 in 10 before February 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 352 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 19 in half of springs and before January 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bartow in zone 10a in ZIP code 33830. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bartow's NOAA station is in zone 10a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 31°F (20 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Florida · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00080478; 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 Bartow?
In a normal year in Bartow, 121 days a year reach 90°F, 2 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 101 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 121a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 2a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 101a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1892) is 103°F, on June 12, 1977; the lowest is 18°F, on January 3, 1898.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1959, with 83.44 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00080478; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00080478. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bartow?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bartow, 5.0 kWh per square metre a day. April is the sunniest month (85%) and June the cloudiest (76%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81% | 3.6 |
| February | 81% | 4.3 |
| March | 83% | 5.4 |
| April | 85% | 6.2 |
| May | 84% | 6.5 |
| June | 76% | 5.9 |
| July | 77% | 5.8 |
| August | 77% | 5.5 |
| September | 79% | 5.1 |
| October | 84% | 4.6 |
| November | 83% | 3.8 |
| December | 80% | 3.3 |
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 Bartow need?
A normal year in Bartow brings 479 heating degree days, 91% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,440 cooling degree days, 3.8 times the median (908). No month reaches 300 heating degree days. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 8,459 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 164 | 47 |
| February | 95 | 67 |
| March | 48 | 132 |
| April | 7 | 232 |
| May | 0 | 389 |
| June | 0 | 483 |
| July | 0 | 535 |
| August | 0 | 536 |
| September | 0 | 473 |
| October | 4 | 331 |
| November | 41 | 139 |
| December | 118 | 76 |
| Year (annual) | 479 | 3,440 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00080478. 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 Bartow been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 73.8°F, 0.7°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 73.1°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74.1°F | +1.0°F | 49.52 |
| 2022 | 74.0°F | +0.9°F | 68.74 |
| 2023 | 74.8°F | +1.7°F | 47.92 |
| 2024 | 74.3°F | +1.2°F | 53.82 |
| 2025 | 73.8°F | +0.7°F | 41.66 |
Over 59 complete years from 1893 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.8°F per century (+0.10°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00080478; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bartow's climate compare?
Bartow is warmer than 58 of the other 105 places with their own NOAA record in Florida, and wetter than 23. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 73.1°F is warmer than 97%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bartow 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 Bartow 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.
- Highland City, FL12,732 people · 6 mi NW
- Fort Meade, FL5,341 people · 8 mi S
- Bradley Junction, FL772 people · 11 mi SW
- Homeland, FL348 people · 5 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 Bartow's climate
What is the coldest month in Bartow?
January, with a normal high of 73°F and a normal low of 50°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 73°F at night).
Does it snow in Bartow?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Bartow?
June, with 8.28 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 1.49 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bartow in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bartow in zone 10a in ZIP code 33830. By the same method at Bartow's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 31°F (20 years, 1991-2020): zone 10a.
How late can frost come in Bartow?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 24; in one year in ten it comes after February 20. Waiting until February 20 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Florida climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Winter Haven, FL13 miles from this station, 74.6°F a year
- Lakeland, FL13 miles from this station, 73.9°F a year
- Lake Wales, FL15 miles from this station, 73.9°F a year
- Plant City, FL21 miles from this station, 74.3°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made