Benton, Arkansas climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Benton's normal year runs from 31°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 53.4 inches of precipitation and 1 inch of snow a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.0°C, January lows of −1°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,357 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBenton
- Station IDUSC00030582
- Location34.57°N 92.60°W
- Elevation310 ft (95 m)
- Population38,088
On October 23, the normal high in Benton is 73°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 20%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Benton.
- Jan 53° 31°
- Feb 57° 34°
- Mar 66° 41°
- Apr 75° 50°
- May 82° 60°
- Jun 89° 69°
- Jul 93° 72°
- Aug 93° 71°
- Sep 87° 63°
- Oct 76° 51°
- Nov 64° 40°
- Dec 55° 33°
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 Benton each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 31°F. The most precipitation falls in April (5.63 in), the least in August (3.52 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. | Snow | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F | 31°F | 41.6°F | 3.84 | 0.6 | 6 | <1 | 19 | 10 h |
| February | 57°F | 34°F | 45.7°F | 4.20 | 0.4 | 6 | <1 | 14 | 11 h |
| March | 66°F | 41°F | 53.6°F | 5.05 | 0.3 | 7 | <1 | 6 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 75°F | 50°F | 62.2°F | 5.63 | 0.0 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 13 h |
| May | 82°F | 60°F | 70.6°F | 5.22 | 0.0 | 8 | 3 | <1 | 14 h |
| June | 89°F | 69°F | 78.8°F | 3.94 | 0.0 | 5 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 93°F | 72°F | 82.6°F | 4.16 | 0.0 | 6 | 24 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| August | 93°F | 71°F | 81.7°F | 3.52 | 0.0 | 5 | 22 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 87°F | 63°F | 74.8°F | 3.80 | 0.0 | 5 | 11 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 76°F | 51°F | 63.5°F | 4.37 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 64°F | 40°F | 52.2°F | 4.77 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 7 | 10 h 20 min |
| December | 55°F | 33°F | 44.0°F | 4.91 | 0.0 | 6 | <1 | 17 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 74°F | 51°F | 62.6°F | 53.41 | 1.3 | 74 | 74 | 64 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11°C | −1°C | 5.3°C | 98 mm | 2 cm |
| February | 14°C | 1°C | 7.6°C | 107 mm | 1 cm |
| March | 19°C | 5°C | 12.0°C | 128 mm | 1 cm |
| April | 24°C | 10°C | 16.8°C | 143 mm | 0 cm |
| May | 28°C | 15°C | 21.4°C | 133 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 32°C | 20°C | 26.0°C | 100 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 34°C | 22°C | 28.1°C | 106 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 34°C | 22°C | 27.6°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 30°C | 17°C | 23.8°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 24°C | 11°C | 17.5°C | 111 mm | 0 cm |
| November | 18°C | 5°C | 11.2°C | 121 mm | 0 cm |
| December | 13°C | 1°C | 6.7°C | 125 mm | 0 cm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030582; 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 Benton?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, April, May and October. Of those, October 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 USC00030582.
When is the last frost in Benton?
In Benton, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after March 24 in half of years and after April 13 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before November 7 in half of years and before October 26 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
- March 241 year in 10 after April 13; 9 in 10 after March 3
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- November 71 year in 10 before October 26; 9 in 10 before November 23
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 229 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 254 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after March 9 in half of springs and before November 18 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Benton in zone 8a in ZIP code 72015.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Arkansas · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00030582; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026. 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 Benton?
In a normal year in Benton, 74 days a year reach 90°F (6 of them 100°F or more), 64 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 74 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 74a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 64a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- 3high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 74a normal year
- Days with 1 inch of snow or more
- 1a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1907) is 112°F, on July 31, 1986; the lowest is −17°F, on February 2, 1951.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1973, with 80.66 in; the snowiest season is 1965–66, with 22.8 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00030582; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00030582. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Benton?
Over a year 76% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Benton, 4.4 kWh per square metre a day. July is the sunniest month (82%) and February the cloudiest (65%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 70% | 2.5 |
| February | 65% | 3.0 |
| March | 70% | 4.2 |
| April | 74% | 5.3 |
| May | 75% | 5.8 |
| June | 82% | 6.5 |
| July | 82% | 6.3 |
| August | 82% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.0 |
| October | 77% | 3.8 |
| November | 74% | 2.8 |
| December | 70% | 2.3 |
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 Benton need?
A normal year in Benton brings 2,994 heating degree days, 44% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,150 cooling degree days, 2.4 times the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 5,499 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 728 | 1 |
| February | 543 | 2 |
| March | 368 | 13 |
| April | 142 | 58 |
| May | 28 | 201 |
| June | 1 | 414 |
| July | 0 | 546 |
| August | 0 | 518 |
| September | 10 | 302 |
| October | 130 | 84 |
| November | 393 | 9 |
| December | 653 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 2,994 | 2,150 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00030582. 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 Benton been warmer than normal lately?
2024 averaged 64.6°F, 2.0°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 62.6°F.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 64.6°F | +2.0°F | 59.37 | 2.0 |
Over 45 complete years from 1939 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.6°F per century (+0.09°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00030582; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Benton's climate compare?
Benton is warmer than 64 of the other 85 places with their own NOAA record in Arkansas, and wetter than 62. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.6°F is warmer than 82%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Benton 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 Benton share this climate record?
10 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.
- Bryant, AR22,271 people · 7 mi NE
- Shannon Hills, AR4,740 people · 12 mi E
- Haskell, AR4,279 people · 5 mi SW
- Alexander, AR3,792 people · 9 mi NE
- Salem, AR2,727 people · 5 mi NE
- Avilla, AR1,549 people · 9 mi N
- Bauxite, AR660 people · 5 mi E
- Sardis, AR657 people · 11 mi E
- Traskwood, AR520 people · 9 mi SW
- Tull, AR496 people · 9 mi S
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 Benton's climate
What is the coldest month in Benton?
January, with a normal high of 53°F and a normal low of 31°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 72°F at night).
Does it snow in Benton?
Yes: 1 inch in a normal year, falling on 1 days with 0.1 inch or more, the most in January (0.6 inches).
What is the rainiest month in Benton?
April, with 5.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 3.52 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Benton in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Benton in zone 8a in ZIP code 72015.
How late can frost come in Benton?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after March 24; in one year in ten it comes after April 13. Waiting until April 13 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Benton in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Arkansas climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Malvern, AR18 miles from this station, 61.3°F a year
- Alum Fork, AR21 miles from this station, 59.9°F a year
- Sheridan, AR22 miles from this station, 61.3°F a year
- Little Rock, AR24 miles from this station, 61.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made