Beaufort, South Carolina climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Beaufort's normal year runs from 40°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 45.0 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 19.6°C, January lows of 5°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,144 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBeaufort Marine Corps Air Station
- Station IDUSW00093831
- Location32.48°N 80.72°W
- Elevation37 ft (11 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population14,334
On October 14, the normal high in Beaufort is 79°F and the normal low 60°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 27%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Beaufort.
- Jan 60° 40°
- Feb 64° 43°
- Mar 70° 49°
- Apr 77° 56°
- May 84° 64°
- Jun 89° 71°
- Jul 92° 75°
- Aug 90° 74°
- Sep 86° 70°
- Oct 78° 59°
- Nov 69° 48°
- Dec 63° 43°
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 Beaufort each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 40°F. The most precipitation falls in August (6.50 in), the least in May (2.50 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F | 40°F | 50.2°F | 2.90 | 9 | <1 | 8 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 64°F | 43°F | 53.3°F | 2.91 | 9 | <1 | 3 | 11 h |
| March | 70°F | 49°F | 59.3°F | 3.11 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 12 h |
| April | 77°F | 56°F | 66.5°F | 3.06 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 84°F | 64°F | 74.2°F | 2.50 | 8 | 6 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 89°F | 71°F | 80.1°F | 4.99 | 13 | 16 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 92°F | 75°F | 83.2°F | 5.57 | 13 | 23 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 90°F | 74°F | 82.2°F | 6.50 | 13 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 86°F | 70°F | 77.6°F | 4.03 | 10 | 9 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 78°F | 59°F | 68.6°F | 3.77 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 69°F | 48°F | 58.8°F | 2.51 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 63°F | 43°F | 52.8°F | 3.17 | 10 | <1 | 4 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 77°F | 58°F | 67.2°F | 45.02 | 118 | 73 | 17 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 5°C | 10.1°C | 74 mm |
| February | 18°C | 6°C | 11.8°C | 74 mm |
| March | 21°C | 9°C | 15.2°C | 79 mm |
| April | 25°C | 13°C | 19.2°C | 78 mm |
| May | 29°C | 18°C | 23.4°C | 64 mm |
| June | 32°C | 22°C | 26.7°C | 127 mm |
| July | 33°C | 24°C | 28.4°C | 141 mm |
| August | 32°C | 23°C | 27.9°C | 165 mm |
| September | 30°C | 21°C | 25.3°C | 102 mm |
| October | 26°C | 15°C | 20.3°C | 96 mm |
| November | 21°C | 9°C | 14.9°C | 64 mm |
| December | 17°C | 6°C | 11.6°C | 81 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093831; 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 Beaufort?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May, October and November. Of those, November 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 USW00093831.
When is the last frost in Beaufort?
In Beaufort, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 28 in half of years and after March 21 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 3 in half of years and before November 14 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 281 year in 10 after March 21; 9 in 10 after February 2
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 31 year in 10 before November 14; 9 in 10 before January 1
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 279 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 312 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after February 8 in half of springs and before December 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Beaufort in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 29906, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Beaufort's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 23°F (23 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in South Carolina · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00093831; 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.
What hardiness zone is each Beaufort ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Beaufort's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Beaufort?
In a normal year in Beaufort, 73 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more), 17 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 118 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 73a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 17a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 118a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1945) is 106°F, on June 2, 1985; the lowest is 5°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1964, with 67.63 in; the snowiest season is 1989–90, with 6.5 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00093831; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00093831. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Beaufort, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 72°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 74°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (39°F). March is the windiest month (7.6 mph on average), and October has the most clear or nearly clear hours (57%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39°F | 67% | 48% | 6.9 mph | 47% | 26% |
| February | 45°F | 67% | 48% | 7.4 mph | 47% | 21% |
| March | 51°F | 67% | 48% | 7.6 mph | 48% | 18% |
| April | 58°F | 69% | 50% | 7.1 mph | 49% | 13% |
| May | 68°F | 73% | 57% | 6.5 mph | 42% | 12% |
| June | 72°F | 75% | 59% | 5.7 mph | 44% | 10% |
| July | 74°F | 77% | 61% | 5.5 mph | 40% | 10% |
| August | 72°F | 78% | 62% | 5.6 mph | 46% | 13% |
| September | 65°F | 76% | 58% | 6.0 mph | 46% | 15% |
| October | 54°F | 74% | 52% | 5.6 mph | 57% | 15% |
| November | 46°F | 73% | 53% | 5.8 mph | 56% | 16% |
| December | 41°F | 70% | 52% | 6.3 mph | 53% | 23% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00093831. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Beaufort?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Beaufort, 4.8 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (84%) and February the cloudiest (75%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77% | 3.0 |
| February | 75% | 3.6 |
| March | 78% | 4.8 |
| April | 84% | 6.1 |
| May | 84% | 6.5 |
| June | 83% | 6.5 |
| July | 84% | 6.4 |
| August | 82% | 5.7 |
| September | 80% | 4.9 |
| October | 82% | 4.2 |
| November | 81% | 3.3 |
| December | 76% | 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 Beaufort need?
A normal year in Beaufort brings 1,732 heating degree days, 68% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,570 cooling degree days, 2.8 times the median (908). Three months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 6,582 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 463 | 4 |
| February | 337 | 8 |
| March | 210 | 33 |
| April | 63 | 108 |
| May | 6 | 290 |
| June | 0 | 453 |
| July | 0 | 563 |
| August | 0 | 533 |
| September | 1 | 379 |
| October | 45 | 155 |
| November | 219 | 35 |
| December | 388 | 10 |
| Year (annual) | 1,732 | 2,570 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00093831. 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 Beaufort been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 69.4°F, 2.2°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 67.2°F. 2 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 68.5°F | +1.3°F | 40.22 |
| 2023 | 69.4°F | +2.2°F | 46.43 |
Over 56 complete years from 1960 to 2023, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 6.4°F per century (+0.36°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00093831; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Beaufort's climate compare?
Beaufort is warmer than 72 of the other 72 places with their own NOAA record in South Carolina, and wetter than 5. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 67.2°F is warmer than 92%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Beaufort 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 Beaufort 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.
- Laurel Bay, SC5,627 people · 4 mi W
- Ridgeland, SC3,744 people · 12 mi W
- Seabrook, SC959 people · 4 mi NW
- Dale, SC622 people · 5 mi N
- Lobeco, SC178 people · 5 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.
What do Beaufort's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Beaufort. This page uses Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station; the other differs by site and elevation, and the linked ones have pages of their own:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort Wastewater Treatment Plant USC00380559 | 5 mi S | 25 ft | 67.8°F | 41°F | 91°F | – | – | March 3 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Beaufort's climate
What is the coldest month in Beaufort?
January, with a normal high of 60°F and a normal low of 40°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 75°F at night).
Does it snow in Beaufort?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Beaufort?
August, with 6.50 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is May with 2.50 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Beaufort in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Beaufort in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 29906, the largest). By the same method at Beaufort's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 23°F (23 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Beaufort?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 28; in one year in ten it comes after March 21. Waiting until March 21 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Beaufort in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- South Carolina climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Beaufort Wastewater Treatment Plant, SC6 miles from this station, 67.8°F a year
- Yemassee, SC17 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Edisto Island Middleton Plantation, SC24 miles from this station, 66.7°F a year
- Edisto Beach, SC25 miles from this station, 65.5°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made