Bay City, Texas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bay City's normal year runs from 43°F January nights to 91°F August afternoons, with 49.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 20.4°C, January lows of 6°C, August highs of 33°C, 1,246 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBay City Water Works
- Station IDUSC00410569
- Location28.98°N 95.97°W
- Elevation52 ft (16 m)
- Population17,471
On October 14, the normal high in Bay City is 82°F and the normal low 61°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 24%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bay City.
- Jan 63° 43°
- Feb 67° 47°
- Mar 72° 53°
- Apr 78° 59°
- May 84° 66°
- Jun 89° 72°
- Jul 91° 73°
- Aug 91° 73°
- Sep 88° 69°
- Oct 81° 60°
- Nov 72° 51°
- Dec 65° 45°
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 Bay City each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 91°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 43°F. The most precipitation falls in September (5.79 in), the least in February (2.53 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63°F | 43°F | 53.0°F | 3.76 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 30 min |
| February | 67°F | 47°F | 56.9°F | 2.53 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 72°F | 53°F | 62.5°F | 3.03 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 59°F | 68.3°F | 3.24 | 6 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 84°F | 66°F | 74.8°F | 4.44 | 7 | 3 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| June | 89°F | 72°F | 80.1°F | 5.69 | 8 | 16 | <1 | 14 h |
| July | 91°F | 73°F | 81.7°F | 4.51 | 8 | 25 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| August | 91°F | 73°F | 82.1°F | 4.27 | 8 | 27 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| September | 88°F | 69°F | 78.3°F | 5.79 | 10 | 16 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 60°F | 70.9°F | 4.24 | 7 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 72°F | 51°F | 61.8°F | 4.00 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 65°F | 45°F | 55.2°F | 3.56 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 10 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 78°F | 59°F | 68.8°F | 49.06 | 96 | 88 | 7 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 96 mm |
| February | 19°C | 8°C | 13.8°C | 64 mm |
| March | 22°C | 12°C | 16.9°C | 77 mm |
| April | 25°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 82 mm |
| May | 29°C | 19°C | 23.8°C | 113 mm |
| June | 32°C | 22°C | 26.7°C | 145 mm |
| July | 33°C | 23°C | 27.6°C | 115 mm |
| August | 33°C | 23°C | 27.8°C | 108 mm |
| September | 31°C | 20°C | 25.7°C | 147 mm |
| October | 27°C | 16°C | 21.6°C | 108 mm |
| November | 22°C | 11°C | 16.6°C | 102 mm |
| December | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 90 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00410569; 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 Bay City?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, May, October, November and December. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (6).
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 USC00410569.
When is the last frost in Bay City?
In Bay City, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 20 in half of years and after March 15 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 3 in half of years and before November 10 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
- February 201 year in 10 after March 15; 9 in 10 after January 19
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 31 year in 10 before November 10; 9 in 10 before January 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 290 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 329 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 31 in half of springs and before December 22 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bay City in zone 9b in ZIP code 77414, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bay City's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 26°F (24 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Texas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00410569; 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 Bay City?
In a normal year in Bay City, 88 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 7 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 96 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 88a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 7a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 96a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1912) is 109°F, on September 4, 2000; the lowest is 7°F, on December 23, 1989.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1961, with 65.94 in; the snowiest season is 1957–58, with 3.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00410569; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00410569. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bay City?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bay City, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (87%) and February the cloudiest (67%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 69% | 2.9 |
| February | 67% | 3.4 |
| March | 74% | 4.7 |
| April | 79% | 5.6 |
| May | 85% | 6.4 |
| June | 87% | 6.8 |
| July | 85% | 6.5 |
| August | 87% | 6.2 |
| September | 81% | 5.1 |
| October | 84% | 4.6 |
| November | 79% | 3.5 |
| December | 69% | 2.6 |
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 Bay City need?
A normal year in Bay City brings 1,326 heating degree days, 75% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,733 cooling degree days, 3.0 times the median (908). Two months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 7,078 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 383 | 10 |
| February | 246 | 18 |
| March | 134 | 58 |
| April | 41 | 138 |
| May | 4 | 308 |
| June | 0 | 454 |
| July | 0 | 518 |
| August | 0 | 530 |
| September | 0 | 401 |
| October | 31 | 213 |
| November | 161 | 65 |
| December | 325 | 21 |
| Year (annual) | 1,326 | 2,733 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00410569. 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 Bay City been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 71.7°F, 2.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 68.8°F. 3 of the 3 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69.3°F | +0.5°F | 59.11 |
| 2023 | 71.3°F | +2.5°F | 31.09 |
| 2024 | 71.7°F | +2.9°F | 54.87 |
Over 34 complete years from 1944 to 2024, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 3.9°F per century (+0.22°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00410569; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bay City's climate compare?
Bay City is warmer than 235 of the other 320 places with their own NOAA record in Texas, and wetter than 274. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 68.8°F is warmer than 94%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bay City 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 Bay City share this climate record?
3 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.
- Van Vleck, TX1,812 people · 6 mi NE
- Markham, TX1,042 people · 6 mi W
- Boling, TX732 people · 19 mi N
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 Bay City's climate
What is the coldest month in Bay City?
January, with a normal high of 63°F and a normal low of 43°F. The warmest is August (91°F by day, 73°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Bay City?
September, with 5.79 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.53 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bay City in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bay City in zone 9b in ZIP code 77414, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bay City's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 26°F (24 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Bay City?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 20; in one year in ten it comes after March 15. Waiting until March 15 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Texas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Danevang (1 mi W), TX16 miles from this station, 69.8°F a year
- Matagorda, TX21 miles from this station, 69.0°F a year
- El Campo, TX23 miles from this station, 70.7°F a year
- Palacios, TX24 miles from this station, 71.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made