Bellefontaine, Ohio climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Bellefontaine's normal year runs from 18°F January nights to 83°F July afternoons, with 42.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 10.3°C, January lows of −8°C, July highs of 28°C, 1,083 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBellefontaine
- Station IDUSC00330563
- Location40.35°N 83.78°W
- Elevation1,176 ft (358 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population14,100
On October 23, the normal high in Bellefontaine is 61°F and the normal low 40°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 34%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Bellefontaine.
- Jan 34° 18°
- Feb 37° 20°
- Mar 48° 29°
- Apr 61° 39°
- May 71° 51°
- Jun 80° 60°
- Jul 83° 63°
- Aug 81° 62°
- Sep 76° 54°
- Oct 64° 43°
- Nov 50° 32°
- Dec 38° 24°
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 Bellefontaine each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 18°F. The most precipitation falls in June (4.96 in), the least in February (2.46 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34°F | 18°F | 25.5°F | 3.04 | 15 | <1 | 27 | 9 h 40 min |
| February | 37°F | 20°F | 28.4°F | 2.46 | 12 | <1 | 25 | 10 h 40 min |
| March | 48°F | 29°F | 38.0°F | 3.20 | 13 | <1 | 21 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 61°F | 39°F | 49.8°F | 4.11 | 13 | <1 | 8 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 71°F | 51°F | 60.9°F | 4.31 | 14 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| June | 80°F | 60°F | 69.7°F | 4.96 | 13 | 2 | <1 | 15 h |
| July | 83°F | 63°F | 72.8°F | 4.45 | 11 | 3 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| August | 81°F | 62°F | 71.4°F | 3.90 | 9 | 2 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| September | 76°F | 54°F | 65.2°F | 3.18 | 9 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 64°F | 43°F | 53.1°F | 2.82 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 11 h 10 min |
| November | 50°F | 32°F | 41.0°F | 3.13 | 11 | <1 | 16 | 10 h |
| December | 38°F | 24°F | 31.0°F | 3.08 | 13 | <1 | 25 | 9 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 60°F | 41°F | 50.6°F | 42.64 | 141 | 8 | 127 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1°C | −8°C | −3.6°C | 77 mm |
| February | 3°C | −7°C | −2.0°C | 62 mm |
| March | 9°C | −2°C | 3.3°C | 81 mm |
| April | 16°C | 4°C | 9.9°C | 104 mm |
| May | 22°C | 10°C | 16.1°C | 109 mm |
| June | 26°C | 16°C | 20.9°C | 126 mm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.7°C | 113 mm |
| August | 27°C | 16°C | 21.9°C | 99 mm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 18.4°C | 81 mm |
| October | 18°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 72 mm |
| November | 10°C | 0°C | 5.0°C | 80 mm |
| December | 4°C | −5°C | −0.6°C | 78 mm |
NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for this station. The nearest record that keeps one, Kenton (22 miles away), gets 26 inches of snow in a normal year; elevation and distance can change that.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00330563; 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 Bellefontaine?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in May, June, July, August and September. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (9).
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 USC00330563.
When is the last frost in Bellefontaine?
In Bellefontaine, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after April 26 in half of years and after May 12 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before October 20 in half of years and before October 7 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 261 year in 10 after May 12; 9 in 10 after April 12
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- October 201 year in 10 before October 7; 9 in 10 before October 31
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 175 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 196 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after April 16 in half of springs and before October 30 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Bellefontaine in zone 6a in ZIP code 43311, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Bellefontaine's NOAA station is in zone 6a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Ohio · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00330563; 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 Bellefontaine?
In a normal year in Bellefontaine, 8 days a year reach 90°F, 127 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 141 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 8a 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
- 41high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 141a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1894) is 106°F, on July 22, 1934; the lowest is −27°F, on January 19, 1994.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2011, with 62.20 in; the snowiest season is 1935–36, with 51.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00330563; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00330563. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Bellefontaine?
Over a year 72% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Bellefontaine, 3.9 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (81%) and December the cloudiest (56%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 57% | 1.7 |
| February | 63% | 2.6 |
| March | 63% | 3.5 |
| April | 69% | 4.8 |
| May | 72% | 5.5 |
| June | 77% | 6.2 |
| July | 80% | 6.2 |
| August | 81% | 5.6 |
| September | 78% | 4.5 |
| October | 70% | 3.0 |
| November | 67% | 2.1 |
| December | 56% | 1.4 |
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 Bellefontaine need?
A normal year in Bellefontaine brings 6,027 heating degree days, 12% more than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 803 cooling degree days, 11% 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 3,138 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,223 | 0 |
| February | 1,025 | 0 |
| March | 838 | 1 |
| April | 465 | 7 |
| May | 185 | 60 |
| June | 31 | 172 |
| July | 4 | 246 |
| August | 9 | 207 |
| September | 91 | 96 |
| October | 383 | 14 |
| November | 720 | 0 |
| December | 1,054 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 6,027 | 803 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00330563. 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 Bellefontaine been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 50.6°F, equal to the 1991-2020 normal of 50.6°F. 2 of the 4 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51.7°F | +1.1°F | 41.73 |
| 2022 | 50.3°F | −0.3°F | 43.03 |
| 2023 | 52.3°F | +1.6°F | 39.12 |
| 2025 | 50.6°F | at normal | 38.68 |
Over 105 complete years from 1895 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 0.9°F per century (+0.05°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00330563; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Bellefontaine's climate compare?
Bellefontaine is warmer than 28 of the other 98 places with their own NOAA record in Ohio, and wetter than 64. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 50.6°F is warmer than 43%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Bellefontaine is Dfa: continental, 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 Bellefontaine share this climate record?
6 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.
- West Liberty, OH1,760 people · 7 mi S
- De Graff, OH1,258 people · 8 mi W
- West Mansfield, OH758 people · 13 mi E
- East Liberty, OH397 people · 10 mi E
- Valley Hi, OH231 people · 6 mi SE
- Zanesfield, OH192 people · 5 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 Bellefontaine's climate
What is the coldest month in Bellefontaine?
January, with a normal high of 34°F and a normal low of 18°F. The warmest is July (83°F by day, 63°F at night).
Does it snow in Bellefontaine?
Yes. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Bellefontaine's NOAA station; the nearest record that keeps one, Kenton (22 miles away), records 26 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Bellefontaine?
June, with 4.96 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is February with 2.46 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Bellefontaine in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Bellefontaine in zone 6a in ZIP code 43311, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at Bellefontaine's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches −7°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 6a.
How late can frost come in Bellefontaine?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after April 26; in one year in ten it comes after May 12. Waiting until May 12 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Ohio climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Huntsville, OH9 miles from this station, 52.0°F a year
- Urbana, OH17 miles from this station, 51.2°F a year
- Sidney, OH21 miles from this station, 50.9°F a year
- Kenton, OH22 miles from this station, 50.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made