Bayard, West Virginia climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bayard's normal year runs from 16°F January nights to 79°F July afternoons, with 52.7 inches of precipitation and 118 inches of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 8.3°C, January lows of −9°C, July highs of 26°C, 1,338 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBayard
- Station IDUSC00460527
- Location39.27°N 79.37°W
- Elevation2,412 ft (735 m)
- Population210
On October 23, the normal high in Bayard is 58°F and the normal low 34°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 42%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bayard.
- Jan 35° 16°
- Feb 38° 18°
- Mar 47° 24°
- Apr 59° 33°
- May 68° 43°
- Jun 76° 51°
- Jul 79° 55°
- Aug 78° 54°
- Sep 72° 47°
- Oct 61° 36°
- Nov 49° 27°
- Dec 39° 21°
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 Bayard each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 79°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 16°F. The most precipitation falls in July (5.55 in), the least in November (3.33 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35°F | 16°F | 25.5°F | 4.27 | 31.9 | 21 | <1 | 29 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 38°F | 18°F | 28.2°F | 4.11 | 30.1 | 18 | <1 | 26 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 47°F | 24°F | 35.5°F | 4.53 | 19.6 | 17 | <1 | 25 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 59°F | 33°F | 46.1°F | 4.50 | 4.4 | 16 | <1 | 16 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 68°F | 43°F | 55.6°F | 5.39 | 0.0 | 17 | <1 | 4 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 76°F | 51°F | 63.4°F | 5.25 | 0.0 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 79°F | 55°F | 67.3°F | 5.55 | 0.0 | 13 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| August | 78°F | 54°F | 65.9°F | 4.19 | 0.0 | 13 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 72°F | 47°F | 59.3°F | 3.93 | 0.0 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 61°F | 36°F | 48.6°F | 3.38 | 2.0 | 13 | <1 | 12 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 49°F | 27°F | 37.8°F | 3.33 | 7.5 | 14 | <1 | 22 | 10 h |
| December | 39°F | 21°F | 30.0°F | 4.25 | 22.3 | 19 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 58°F | 36°F | 46.9°F | 52.68 | 117.8 | 185 | 1 | 163 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | −9°C | −3.6°C | 108 mm | 81 cm |
| February | 3°C | −8°C | −2.1°C | 104 mm | 76 cm |
| March | 8°C | −4°C | 1.9°C | 115 mm | 50 cm |
| April | 15°C | 1°C | 7.8°C | 114 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 20°C | 6°C | 13.1°C | 137 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24°C | 11°C | 17.4°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26°C | 13°C | 19.6°C | 141 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26°C | 12°C | 18.8°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22°C | 8°C | 15.2°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 16°C | 2°C | 9.2°C | 86 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 9°C | −3°C | 3.2°C | 85 mm | 19 cm |
| December | 4°C | −6°C | −1.1°C | 108 mm | 57 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00460527; 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 Bayard?
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 (11).
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 USC00460527.
When is the last frost in Bayard?
In Bayard, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after May 13 in half of years and after May 30 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 3 in half of years and before September 19 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
- May 131 year in 10 after May 30; 9 in 10 after April 27
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 31 year in 10 before September 19; 9 in 10 before October 17
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 140 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 165 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 30 in half of springs and before October 14 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bayard in zone 6a in ZIP code 26720, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bayard's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in West Virginia · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00460527; 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 Bayard?
In a normal year in Bayard, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, 163 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 185 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 163a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 40high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 185a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 33a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1902) is 95°F, on July 4, 1911; the lowest is −30°F, on January 13, 1912.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1929, with 78.81 in; the snowiest season is 2009–10, with 284.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00460527; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00460527. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bayard?
Over a year 68% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bayard, 3.8 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (76%) and December the cloudiest (55%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 55% | 1.7 |
| February | 59% | 2.5 |
| March | 62% | 3.5 |
| April | 66% | 4.7 |
| May | 67% | 5.3 |
| June | 73% | 5.9 |
| July | 75% | 5.8 |
| August | 76% | 5.2 |
| September | 74% | 4.3 |
| October | 67% | 3.0 |
| November | 66% | 2.1 |
| December | 55% | 1.5 |
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 Bayard need?
A normal year in Bayard brings 6,828 heating degree days, 27% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 271 cooling degree days, 70% fewer than the median (908). Eight months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,114 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,223 | 0 |
| February | 1,030 | 0 |
| March | 916 | 0 |
| April | 566 | 1 |
| May | 304 | 13 |
| June | 97 | 49 |
| July | 36 | 107 |
| August | 49 | 79 |
| September | 194 | 22 |
| October | 512 | 2 |
| November | 816 | 0 |
| December | 1,085 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,828 | 271 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00460527. 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 Bayard been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 47.3°F, 0.4°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 46.9°F. 4 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48.0°F | +1.1°F | 44.69 | 65.0 |
| 2022 | 46.2°F | −0.7°F | 50.19 | 84.3 |
| 2023 | 48.1°F | +1.2°F | 45.61 | 38.3 |
| 2024 | 49.3°F | +2.4°F | 47.05 | 76.1 |
| 2025 | 47.3°F | +0.4°F | 50.43 | 104.5 |
Over 84 complete years from 1906 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00460527; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bayard's climate compare?
Bayard is warmer than 1 of the other 62 places with their own NOAA record in West Virginia, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 46.9°F is warmer than 27%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bayard 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 Bayard 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.
- Mountain Lake Park, MD2,118 people · 9 mi N
- Loch Lynn Heights, MD483 people · 8 mi N
- Deer Park, MD300 people · 11 mi N
- Gorman, MD262 people · 2 mi NE
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 Bayard's climate
What is the coldest month in Bayard?
January, with a normal high of 35°F and a normal low of 16°F. The warmest is July (79°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Bayard?
Yes: 118 inches in a normal year, falling on 47 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (31.9 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Bayard?
July, with 5.55 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 3.33 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bayard in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bayard in zone 6a in ZIP code 26720, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bayard's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −9°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Bayard?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after May 13; in one year in ten it comes after May 30. Waiting until May 30 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- West Virginia climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Oakland, MD10 miles from this station, 49.7°F a year
- Davis, WV12 miles from this station, 45.7°F a year
- Terra Alta, WV16 miles from this station, 47.7°F a year
- Canaan Valley #2, WV16 miles from this station, 46.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made