Beltsville, MD Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Beltsville's primary NOAA station, BELTSVILLE.
The climate verdict for Beltsville
Beltsville, Maryland has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 56°F. It scores 78/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 72% of them.
- 56°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 78/100
- comfort score, above 72% of station-mapped location scores
- 44.0"
- annual precipitation · 16" snow
- 205 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Beltsville: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00180700 · Beltsville, MD 56°F mean · 44.0" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 56°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,322
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Jemez Dam
- PRCP-MID 44.0"
- SWING-MID 43°F
- COMF-TOP 78/100
- LOAD-HEAT 4,568 HDD
- STN-1 USC00180700
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Jemez Dam, NM (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every MD station list.
- Beltsville (this station) 56°F
- Cold Bronx, NY 56°F
- Hot Upper Marlboro, MD 56°F
- Near Jemez Dam, NM 56°F
- Near Chestertown, MD 56°F
Climate Living Index · Beltsville
Beltsville: 67/100 · grade C
Beltsville publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Beltsville, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 78/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 96 calendar days | 77/100 · B |
| Frost-free season | 205 days/year | 68/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 44.0 in · 9.0 from 35 in | 68/100 · C |
| Annual temperature balance | 55.9°F · 11.6° from 67.5°F | 62/100 · C |
| Snowfall burden | 15.8 inches/year | 55/100 · C |
Beltsville · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Beltsville is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 34.0°F and warmest-month mean 77.4°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 77.4°F
- Coldest month
- 34.0°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Beltsville sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Beltsville's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 63rd percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 66th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- 50th percentile swing
- Typical seasonal amplitude versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Beltsville compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Beltsville's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
78 Top 28% score exceeds 72% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Beltsville's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 59 complete annual observations from 1949 to 2025, BELTSVILLE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.25°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Beltsville primary station fitted change +0.25 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F (6°C) | 25°F (-4°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 2.9" | 5.7" | 24.6 | 0.0 |
| February | 46°F (8°C) | 27°F (-3°C) | 36°F (2°C) | 2.4" | 5.0" | 21.3 | 0.0 |
| March | 53°F (12°C) | 34°F (1°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 3.7" | 2.5" | 13.9 | 0.0 |
| April | 65°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 3.3" | 0.1" | 2.5 | 0.2 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 4.3" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| June | 83°F (28°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 73°F (23°C) | 4.2" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| July | 87°F (31°C) | 68°F (20°C) | 77°F (25°C) | 4.5" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 11.5 |
| August | 86°F (30°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 76°F (24°C) | 3.9" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 7.8 |
| September | 79°F (26°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 4.4" | 0.0" | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| October | 68°F (20°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 4.0" | 0.0" | 1.0 | 0.1 |
| November | 57°F (14°C) | 37°F (3°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 2.9" | 0.2" | 10.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 47°F (8°C) | 30°F (-1°C) | 38°F (3°C) | 3.5" | 2.3" | 21.6 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Summer here tops out rather than builds: the warmest normal high is 87°F around July 9, short of 90°F on every date, while 96 dates carry a normal low at or below freezing, the coldest 25°F near January 21.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into March 9, then returns to freezing around December 5, covering 96 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is April 26, when 36% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is September 11 at 27%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 116 wet dates a year.
The widest day
April 20 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 22°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Beltsville.
Where Beltsville Stands Nationally
Days and nights track unusually close together; the widest normal swing, about 22°F, is narrower than most stations record.
Beltsville earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall and snowfall
Snow: 5.7"
10.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 5.0"
8.9 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.5"
10.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.1"
10.8 days with precipitation
10.9 days with precipitation
10.3 days with precipitation
10.1 days with precipitation
9.2 days with precipitation
8.6 days with precipitation
9.0 days with precipitation
Snow: 0.2"
8.2 days with precipitation
Snow: 2.3"
9.8 days with precipitation
Beltsville spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 29% of the annual total and December through February 20%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Beltsville has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 43.4°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: July averages 4.5" and February 2.4". The three wettest months together take 30% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
When it rains in Beltsville, it arrives in quantity
44.0" of precipitation falls across only about 116 wet days here, averaging 0.38 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 116 a year, 32% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.38 inches
- Most wet days
- May, about 11
- Fewest wet days
- November, about 8
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Winter brings real snow to Beltsville
Beltsville averages 15.8 inches of snowfall a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals, spread across roughly 8 days that record measurable snow. That is depth accumulating on the ground, which is why it can exceed the annual precipitation figure: precipitation counts the liquid the snow melts down to, and fresh snow is mostly air.
- Annual snowfall: 15.8 inches of depth.
- Days recording measurable snow: about 8 a year.
- At a rough ten-to-one melt ratio, snow accounts for on the order of 4% of the year's precipitation.
NOAA 1991-2020 normals. The ten-to-one ratio is a convention, not a measurement: real ratios vary with temperature, so treat the share as an order of magnitude rather than an exact split.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 1
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 10
50% probability date
Growing Season
205 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
4,568
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
1,269
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside MD closest to Beltsville on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (56°F here).
- Chanute, KS 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Dodge City, KS 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Elizabethton, TN 56°F · 0.0°F off
- Groveland, CA 56°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (44.0" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Effingham, IL 44.0" · 0.0" off
- Salem, MO 44.0" · 0.0" off
- Coudersport, PA 44.0" · 0.0" off
- Ava, MO 44.1" · 0.1" off
Snow and freeze rhythm
When cold and snow define Beltsville
heating led · moderate · mid swing
Beltsville's energy balance leans toward cold weather: 4,568 annual heating degree days against 1,269 for cooling. Its 43.4°F seasonal range still makes the monthly rows more useful than the annual average alone.
Beltsville's frost-free season lasts about 205 days, a middle-length window whose endpoints matter more than the annual average. It describes freeze probability, not year-specific planting conditions.
-
1. Beltsville coldest normal
January
The monthly mean of 34°F (1°C) sits near freezing, so cold nights and above-freezing afternoons share the same month.
-
2. Beltsville typical freeze period
January through December
The station reports average freezing days from January through December.
-
3. Beltsville snow peak
January
Beltsville averages 15.8 inches of snow a year, with January the snowiest month on the normals.
Questions about Beltsville's climate
How much snow does Beltsville get? ▼
How cold does Beltsville get in winter? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Beltsville? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Beltsville's primary station: BELTSVILLE (USC00180700). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as a census-designated place (GEOID 2406400), not an incorporated municipality. Match rule for Beltsville: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Beltsville comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.